Kids Can Do It Too!

Today my friend Ella has made a great post on smarter food choices for kids. I began typing a comment on her blog but it grew into a blog post so, without further adieu here is Kids Can Do It Too!

The very fact that parents are purchasing processed “food stuffs” for their kids, rather than teaching them how to feed themselves by preparing real food lunches and snacks reveals how the food industry has sucked in and mucked up the last three generations. In fact, what immediately comes to mind is the “quality time” slogan of the ’90s. Well, it’s past time for us all to reject such bogus sloganeering and face the truth.

There is no substitute for the actual time parents/caregivers spend with kids and there never will be.

It takes time to accomplish anything and it takes an extraordinary amount of time in early the years to prepare kids well for living rest of their lives consciously. The time investment is worth the effort because the “quality education,” they receive will remain with them their whole lives long and will be passed on to their own children.

One excellent way parents can spend actual and meaningful time with their kids every day is for them to prepare healthy real food lunches and snacks together. Here are the benefits:

1. It means that kids become aware what real, whole foods are and educated with regard to what their bodies actually require to support healthy growth.
2. It provides and opportunity for dialog about what’s going on in the lives of both the kids at school and the parents at work.
3. It also provides a way for dads to break down the ridiculous notion that food preparation is “women’s work”.
4. It’s preventative medicine, so to speak. There will be a reduction in illnesses and associated health care costs because most of the dis-eases humans of all ages suffer from are self-inflicted and many of them are “food centered”.

As a former caregiver, part of the care I provided was food based education. My charges arrived behaving like seagulls, who filled themselves with garbage but they departed with food smart habits and skills. The kids went from from sitting in front of a computer terminal or TV, while their mom or babysitter plopped prepared “food stuffs” into lunch bags all the way to food shopping and making their own lunches and snacks over the course of 12 weeks.

In 3 months time they were making shopping lists and accompanying me to farms, fruit and vegetable stands and to grocery stores to make sure there was plenty of fresh fruit and veggies on hand. (If it was not on the list I did not buy it – no quick trips to the corner store were allowed). They quickly learned how to cut up melons and fruits or vegetables like celery and carrots in advance and how to package them into small serving bags we kept in the fridge, ready to grab and go at a moment’s notice. They learned how to make their own make their soups, stews, granola and granola bars, trail mix and fruit leathers and a variety of other snacks (see below). Best of all, they each had a stash of pocket cash that they saved by not purchasing prepared foods at corner stores or from vending machines.

After School Treats to Try
Here are a few healthy snacking ideas:

• * Ants on a log — Spread peanut butter on celery sticks and top with raisins.
• * Banana ice — Peel several very ripe bananas, break them into 1-inch pieces, and freeze the pieces in a sealed plastic bag. Just before serving, whirl the pieces in the blender with a small amount of water or juice. Serve right away. Add berries for a different flavor or top with fruit or nuts.
• * Mini pizzas — Spoon pizza sauce onto half a bagel, English muffin, or mini pita. Top with low-fat mozzarella cheese and your favorite veggies and toast or bake at a low setting until the cheese is melted and the bagel is crispy.
• * Healthy ice pops — Freeze fresh, unsweetened 100% fruit juice in ice pop molds or ice cube trays.
• * Low-fat pita and hummus — Warm a pita in the oven on low, then cut it into small triangles. Dip it in a tasty, low-fat hummus. Hummus is available in yummy flavors like garlic and spicy red pepper.
• * Happy trails mix — Combine 1 cup whole-grain toasted oat cereal with 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup dried cranberries for a healthy trail mix.

Five Reasons to Pack Your Lunch and Snacks

1. Control – A healthy packed lunch lets you avoid the lunch line (and any temptations). Bringing your own lunch also lets you control exactly what goes into the food you eat.

2. Variety – It doesn’t hurt to cave in and enjoy the occasional serving of pizza and hot dogs on the weekend. But if you’re eating these foods all the time, your body is craving a change. A packed lunch and snack’s during the week means you can enjoy some favorites that you might not find at every school — like a piping hot thermos of your mom’s chicken soup; hummus and pita bread; or some crisp, farm-stand apples.

3. Energy – When you have a big game or activity after school, plan a lunch and snacks that combine lean proteins with carbohydrates to give you lasting energy and keep you going through the late afternoon. (Ideas: your own “trail” mix of dried fruit and nuts or sunflower seeds, fruit leathers, whole-grain pretzels and low-fat cheese, or a bagful of baby carrots and yogurt dip.)

4. Cold hard cash – Pack healthy snacks so you don’t feel tempted to go for a fast-food lunch, or hit the vending machine or corner store. Put the money you save on such snacks aside.

5. Learning is fun: Remember to share the events of the day and to laugh and joke together, while you teach your dad and/or mom and brothers and sisters how to prepare and pack healthy lunches and snacks to take to school and work.

About timethief

A down to earth woman, a passionate wordpress blogging tips blogger, a meditator, and a conscious living and self improvement blogger.

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