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Five Tips to Get Our Kids to Eat More Nourishing Food

by Stephanie

Five Tips to Get Our Kids to Eat More Nourishing Food

Kids need to have access to nourishing food just like adults do and sometimes that means we have to work a bit harder to get that nutritious food into their bodies.

More than ever, we have access to pre-packaged snacks and food that aren’t always serving our bodies in a positive way.

I get it, we’re busy. We have to get out the door early to bring the kids to before-school care so that we can get to work on time.

But many of the snacks that we offer our kids aren’t giving our kids the nutrients they need to maintain energy during the day.

It’s important to create a foundation now so that when they’re teens and adults they have some knowledge to make healthier choices with their food.

With everything that is going on in the world, more than ever it’s important to eat as many whole and real foods as our budgets allow to keep our immunity strong.

Nutritious Food = Energy!

Here are five things we can do to get provide our kids with more nourishing food:

1. Make More Smoothies.

Almost anything can go into a smoothie and if you make it nut-free you can send them to school.

Add health-building fats like avocado, nut or seed butter, or coconut oil along with ground flax, mixed greens, and berries. Vegetables like zucchini, cauliflower, and spinach won’t alter the taste of smoothies so try them out!

If your kids go to after-school care, get a little thermos that is specifically meant for an after-school smoothie. Have them drink it when they get picked up and then they won’t be ravenous when you pick them up.

Smoothies are also great if you have to leave really early in the morning and you just don’t have time for breakfast. Make a big batch for your whole family the night before so they’re ready to grab and go in the morning.

2. Give Them a Nutrient-Packed Breakfast.

We need to give our kids a great start to the day (P.S. Adults need this too!)

If you have time to give your kids breakfast, offer eggs, high-fat yogurt (forget about the fruit-bottom—too much sugar), smoothies, oatmeal (not the flavoured kind), a high-quality toast with nut or seed butter, avocado, and nuts. These things will give them energy for the day and won’t cause them to crash as soon as they get to school.

3. Make Your Own Granola Bars.

Granola bars are super easy to make, and again, if you make them nut-free, you can send them to school with the kids. Add ingredients like chocolate chips, coconut flakes, sunflower seed butter, banana and pumpkin seeds for a nutrient-packed punch.



4. Cut Down on Sugary Foods.

You’ve likely heard it before, but too much sugar isn’t health-building for anyone.

In fact, sugar can suppress our immune system which leaves us vulnerable in the winter months to those dreaded colds, flu, and viruses.

Sugar is everywhere and our kids are really getting used to having it.

It’s in our bear paws, our granola bars, juice, sour key candies—you name it, it likely has some form of refined sugar. Also watch out for those gummy vitamins! They can have added sugars for sweetness and can get stuck in kids’ teeth causing cavities.

I encourage all parents to slowly wean kids off of refined sugar. Swap out refined sugars with natural ones like maple syrup, coconut sugar, and raw honey.

Be mindful that these are still forms of sugar, but they have added nutrients and they are helpful when we’re trying to get your kids to cut down on the white stuff.

The next time you’re down the kids’ snack aisle, check the label to see how much sugar is in each serving.

**Anything over 6 grams of sugar per serving is too much sugar.**

I would argue that we should keep it under 5 grams per serving or less if possible.

This goes for those breakfast cereals too!

5. Add Veggies to the Dinner Table.

If you find that your kids don’t like veggies (or even if they do of course!) add cut-up veggies to the table and don’t make a big deal about it.

I like to serve cut veggies with hummus and my kids will munch on them along with their dinner.

I’m all for ‘sneaking’ veggies into certain recipes, but kids also need to know what real food looks like. Sneak the spinach into the pasta sauce, but put veggies on the table. You can even start a conversation about the veggies to see how many they can name.

Bonus Tip: Make Food a Regular Conversation Topic.

Have conversations about food and where food comes from to get your kids thinking about it and they will become more aware of the food around them.

If they’ve been used to getting bear paws for lunch, start offering a homemade chocolate chip cookie and talk about the ingredients in both.

Ask questions about what ingredients they think are health-building vs. not-so-health building. 

  • What food makes us strong?
  • Bring them to the farmers’ market and talk to the people growing the food.
  • Pick one new fruit or vegetable each month and research where it came from.
  • How does it taste? Would you eat it again? What did you like or what did you not like about it?

P.S.: Follow me on Instagram to get weekly tips and tricks!

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: real food kids

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Follow me on Instagram • @lealoulemonade

Don't forget to pick up my new Salads + Bowls reci Don't forget to pick up my new Salads + Bowls recipe book!⁠
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My neighbour went on a road trip and before she le My neighbour went on a road trip and before she left she gave me some veggies she had in her fridge. ⁠
⁠
I decided to make a simple soup with them along with a few other bits of food I had in the fridge. ⁠
⁠
Here's what I made:⁠
⁠
⭐Nice Neighbour Fridge Soup⭐⁠
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💚3 small ribs of celery⁠
💚1 cup of cabbage, chopped⁠
💚1 cup of kale, chopped⁠
💚1 can of chickpeas⁠
💚1-2 'cakes' of ramen noodles⁠
💚6 cups of water or broth⁠
💚2-3 tbsp tamari⁠
💚3 cloves of garlic⁠
💚1/4 cup cilantro⁠
💚1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil⁠
💚1 tbsp chicken bone broth powder from Organika (optional)⁠
⁠
👉🏻In a heated pan, add the olive oil⁠
👉🏻Saute the celery and cabbage until translucent⁠
👉🏻Add the chickpeas and garlic and cook for 3 minutes being mindful not to burn the garlic.⁠
👉🏻Add the water/broth, tamari and bone broth; cook for 5 more minutes⁠
👉🏻Add the kale and cook until slightly wilted⁠
⁠
While that simmers on low...⁠
👉🏻Boil a pot of water for the ramen noodles and cook according to the package instructions.⁠
⁠
👉🏻Once the noodles are done, add some to a soup bowl and top with soup, add cilantro & eat!⁠
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P.S. This would be SO good with leftover shredded chicken!⁠
⁠
Get more recipes like this one at lealoucooks.com under the recipe tab.
One of the best ways to save time is prepping your One of the best ways to save time is prepping your meal ingredients in advance.⁠
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When the weather gets nicer, I personally want to spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying the sun. ⁠
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Sounds good to me.⁠
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This month, I have a new recipe book called Salad + Bowls. It includes 10 fresh and simple recipes to ease into summer.⁠
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Get it here: @lealoucooks or directly here>> https://bit.ly/saladsbowls⁠
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About Stephanie

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Hey! I'm Stephanie. I'm a Writer, Culinary Nutrition Expert and Cooking Instructor helping families cook nourishing meals. Read more about me {here}.

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