Someone recently asked me what I feed my children to ensure they are all healthy and growing as they should. So I figured I would write out a few of the guiding principles we live by, or at least try to!
1) We give at least 1 fruit and 1 veggie per meal. I love my sectioned plates that make it easy to divide out fruits and veggies for each child.
2) We give a yogurt or probiotic supplement at lunch time, or dinner if we miss it at lunch, every single day. Your body's health begins in your gut and you need the good bacteria that probiotics supply.
3) We greatly limit sugar as much as possible. We go as far as to ask family NOT to give candy, chocolate, etc to our children even on special occasions like Easter, Christmas, Birthday's, etc. Your immune system is compromised for 3-4 hours after eaten one small piece of sugary anything.
4) We offer only fruit or vegetables as snacks. They can have an apple, grapes, celery, carrots, etc. No chips, cookies, etc. We also try to keep snack time far enough away from meal time, and small enough in portion size, to ensure they'll be hungry enough to eat their whole meals.
5) We limit pre-made, boxed, processed and fake foods as much as possible. I hate feeding my children boxed mac 'n' cheese. I try to only buy boxed anything if I can read every ingredient on the label.
6) We use whole wheat whenever possible. Whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta's, whole wheat cereals, etc. White Bread, Rice, Sugar, it all decreases your immune system.
7) We buy organic as much as possible. We don't have a limitless budget but try to stick to the Dirty Dozen and Clean 10. The dirty dozen are always purchased organic and the clean 10 are organic as much as that week's budget allows.
8) We're not members of the clean plate club. When our children say they're full, they can be done. However, if we're having any dessert after said meal, they only get the sweet treat if they've cleaned their plates. We want mostly nutrient dense foods filling their bellies!
9) We offer choices. "Do you want strawberries or Grapes, Green Bean's or Broccoli"? If the kids feel like they've had a say in the foods they'll be more likely to consume them!
10) Finally: my biggest tip! Eat what you want them to eat! Sit down with your children while they're eating and eat when you are asking them to eat. We say 1 bite to be polite. Even if I don't like peas, which I don't, I still try at least one good spoonful and ask the same of them. If they see me eating cookies, candies, etc and not eating the fruits and veggies, they won't want to eat them either!!!
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