Elemental Kids: Food in the Home

Happy New Year to ALL. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

I started a New Year tradition and wrote about what I learned in 2018 then what my intentions will be 2019. One intention I set was to cook more. Preparing a meal in the kitchen allows me to get out of my head, tap into my creative side, and overall makes me happy. Do you and your families want to mix it up in the kitchen?

For the next 5 weeks Emilie and I are coordinating to help the WHOLE family try new foods, discuss the benefits of cooking together, providing fun recipe ideas to try at home, and a few more ideas we want to keep a surprise for now.

There are a variety of foods we ALL can try. Choose my plate is a wonderful visual resource to remind the whole family of what is needed in our daily food intake to keep us feeling good mentally, physically, and emotionally. Check out my blog post on Back to School Mindset for more on the benefits food can have for the whole family.

It doesn’t have to be just gold fish, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and, cookies. Food fuels our body and mind. Some foods(packaged and processed) just don’t do that for us. They may taste amazing, but they can leave us feeling tired, upset stomach, headaches, and affect our overall health in the long run.

I completely understand children and even ourselves can be PICKY when it comes to eating, but I promise it is possible to provide yourself and your family with delicious, quick, easy, inexpensive, and nutritious meals .

Have each person in the family try one new food a week to add in their lunch or to the family dinner menu.

Here are a few food swap ideas:

Slices of cheese instead of goldfish
- (Emilie’s Tip!) try a good quality brand, like Apple Gate. White cheddar & muenster are both known for their probiotic qualities, so let the little ones try them both. If they are picky - avoid letting them see the package before their first taste :)
Energy bites for cookies( i just made some energy bites with peanut butter, honey, oats, chocolate chips, and chia seeds… they taste like a dessert! And I don’t joke about desserts!
- (Emilie’s Tip) Pick a SIMPLE recipe where they can be the chef & you don’t have to stress! This one by Minimalist Baker was perfect for my 10 year old client! He completely took the reins to safely & easily used the food processor!
Peanut butter/banana or honey sandwich for peanut butter/jelly sandwich
- (Emilie’s Tip) Snag the small packets of different nut butters & have your kiddo(s) sample the various flavors. Cashew butter is a creamy treat and sunflower butter is super decadent & sweet, while almond butter is a bit more savory. Kids LOVE to make their own choices.

Again, I know it can be difficult to have your children and even yourself try a new food(I am a preschool teacher by day,so trust me I get it), but I promise food swaps can be simple. Go back to the basics and build from there.

Leave Emilie and I a comment below and we will be happy to help you and your families any way we can.

Yoga for ALL

Love for ALL

Food for ALL

Laura