Nutrition Suggestions

Today was MOPS and you all know how much I love my MOPS.

The topic today was about healthy snacks. There was a nutritionist that came in and gave a talk about healthy choices, things to avoid like the plague (aspertame, trans fats, fast food...etc), things to eat lots of (fruits, veggies, lean protein, whole grains...etc) and she showed us a video that had nine ways to improve our lives and our children's lives.

The nine things were:

1. Shape young tastes by only offering healthy snacks.

2. Feed your family the right carbohydrates. (Whole grains and carbs from good foods. Protein and fiber help to regulate the energy provided by the carbs.)

3. Feed your family the right fats. (No trans fats, no hydrogenated fats, use Olive Oil and Canola oil)

4. Feed your family grow foods. (Legumes, whole grains, yogurt, eggs, oils, cheese...)

5. Raise a grazer. (Children should eat 5-6 mini meals instead of three)

6. Start the day with a brainy breakfast. (No sugar cereals)

7. Feed your family lots of fruits and veggies. (Include lots of color in your diet)

8. Take your children to the supermarket. Get them involved in their food choices.

9. Add a whole food based supplement to the family diet. (We take Juice Plus gummies in our house, so we are good there)

Another thing was to have a nosh tray or a nibble tray for your kids to graze from all day. Offer bite sized bits of healthy foods with healthy dips (like peanut butter, low fat ranch or yogurt) and put them into a cupcake tray and leave it out for the kids to eat as they like. This is especially good since a lot of kids won't eat a new food until they have seen it 10 - 14 times (like Alexis, Logan eats everything). I made one and although Alexis is choosing to avoid the green stuff for now, it is there for her to try if she wants. I filled mine with lots of dried fruits and some multi grain wheat thins. I think this will be a great thing when Logan gets a bit older (and gets a mouth full of teeth). Another idea was given by a mom that has been having great success with a book by Jessica Seinfeld called Deceptively Delicious. It has ideas that she has been using with her own kids where she purees veggies and mixes them into things that her kids will eat. This mom brought in some awesome brownies that had spinach and carrot puree in it and I didn't taste it at all. I plan on getting sneaky myself. This way I can actually get veggies into Bob as well.

The last idea is just mine. I was watching Rachel Ray (I love her show for some reason) and she had a mom that had created an awesome chart for tracking what her kids had been eating and giving the responsibility to them to help keep track too. Her company is called Chickinfeed.

I figured that this was a very appropriate post since Laura was needing suggestions for dealing with a picky eater herself.

If you have other suggestions, feel free to lay them on me! You can't have too many ideas.