Healthy Eating for Kids

I posted my weekly calendar of meals yesterday, and if you read it, you probably wondered if I feed my kids THM food or if they get something different. The answer is, "Yes." :)

My kids mostly eat what we eat, but I occasionally give them something different. I have been known to give them a cookie or a scoop of frozen yogurt after dinner, or goldfish crackers for snack. But most of the time, they get healthy food and can actually make fairly good choices already.

On days that I make eggs for breakfast, they get eggs, too.  They might also get a piece of wheat toast with homemade sugar-free strawberry chia jam on it. They love it!  On days that I have a shake, they usually have a banana, kefir, and a bowl of cereal. It will be something like Cheerios or homemade oatmeal, not something dyed, sugary, and cartoon-like in any way. Little Girl also usually comes after my shake. She thinks its pretty great. :)

For snacks they get a variety of things. They enjoy yogurt, apples, pears, mandarin oranges, plums, berries, nuts, cheese cubes, wasa crackers and laughing cow cheese, CLIF kids bars (once in awhile), and goldfish crackers (once in awhile). As I write, they are enjoying carrots and broccoli. They love cut veggies,  but not with dip. They reject all kinds of dip for some reason. I'm okay with that.

Lunches are often different from what the Rev and I are eating. The kids get sick of salad, soup, and leftovers, so when I eat those I give them something else.  They do like sandwiches, so if we have a sandwich, they do too.  Some of their lunches will be breaded chicken breast "nuggets" and a vegetable, or Peanut Butter and homemade jam on wheat with fruit. They really love it when they get to make their own personal pizzas. They do this on a whole grain pita, with tomato paste, mozzarella, spices, and pepperoni. They'll also have cut veggies with it.

Dinners are always the same for everyone. The kids eat it happily most of the time, but if they are unhappy about it for any reason, we gently remind them that they will eat it for breakfast if they don't eat it at supper. But they usually like it enough to just scarf it up anyway. ;)

As far as beverages go, they mostly drink water. When the kids were little they would drink water with a splash of juice in it, but as I learned how bad the sugar was for them, I started weaning them off of it.  The only time they ever have juice is if someone gives it to them at the church potluck, which happens sometimes, but life is for living, so I am not going to get freaked out by it. They like water: ice water, bubbly (seltzer) water, whatever. It's wet, they like it.  They also like to sip off of my GGMS (which means Good Girl MoonShine, and is NOT an alcholic beverage, but rather a ACV and Ginger drink that I whip up in the morning). They also like Almond Milk and Kefir, which is a lacto-fermented dairy beverage. That sounds weird, so we'll just refer to it as yogurt drink. It's yummy, has good bacteria in it like yogurt, is lactose free so it is gentle on their tummy, and has great protein and calcium.  You can find it in the dairy section of your grocery store.

That's pretty much it.  I don't give them much sugar in general, but I also don't freak out if they have some. Someone usually slips them a donut at church on Sunday, and that's okay. Their little metabolisms can handle it.  Every parent has to decide what is best for their kids. Some people feed their kids entirely homemade food made from sprouted grain and fruit and veggies they grew in their terrace garden. Other people feed them spaghettios. There is a whole range in between there, and only you can choose where to fall on it. I'm just telling what is typical for our family right now.  Feel free to share what your kids eat!