This is a great article written by my Friend Andrea Ferguson from Life Designs Fitness and Nutrition. My wife just finished doing a webinar with Andrea and found it very informative and practical. We are now on a great nutritional path weekly and the family loves the variety.
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to prepare a simple healthy meal where all members of the family come willingly to the table, sit still, eat, enjoy the meal and then appreciate your effort? This can be your reality more easily than you think! The issue at hand is that many parents give children the wrong kind of decision making power around food and eating which leads to mealtime battles, a small list of “acceptable” foods and ultimately a disdain for cooking and feeding. If you want to be able to put together healthy meals that all members of the family will eat then you need to get organized and possibly adjust your way of thinking. Here’s what to do:
1. Put together a weekly healthy meal plan. (or at least a week’s worth of the meal you find most challenging to prepare)
- Write down each day of the week and delegate who is responsible for cooking each day
- Note the days that are time sensitive and prepare to have “planned left overs” from another dinner, an extra quick meal or to use a slow cooker
- On each day, decide on the meat or meat alternative that will form the base of the meal. Choose at least 3 or 4 different meats/meat alt. in a given week.
Here are some good choices:
- Poultry
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Lean beef
- Pork
Add a healthy (ideally whole grain) option to pair with the meat/meat alt. with the choices below:
- Pasta
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Tortillas
- Oats
Add 2-3 dark coloured veggies and/or fruits to your meal. Experiment with different varieties and various ways of serving them, such as:
- Baked
- Broiled
- Steamed
- BBQ
- Sautéed
To complete your meal,
- serve it with milk, add a sprinkle of cheese or use yogurt in dips or sauces.
- A weekly meal plan ensures meal variety; the preparations suit your family and cooking stress is minimized when you are busy.
- Find a healthy recipe book that offers a variety of delicious family friendly meals to get inspired.
2. Be considerate but don’t cater
- DO NOT SHORT ORDER COOK! Make one meal only.
- It’s next to impossible to please everyone all of the time, so don’t try.
- Include at least one food that each person likes in a given meal.
- Mix and match from the food lists above to create a meal that will likely work for your family.
- If you only serve foods that your kids will eat they will never learn to like anything new.
- Some days they will get their favourites and on others they may not.
- The sooner everyone can accept this, the sooner you will start enjoying meal times!
- As your kids see you enjoying a variety of foods they too will learn to like them IN TIME.
3. Create an appropriate division of responsibility between parents and children
Parents are responsible for
- What food is served – You decide what foods will be offered
- When food is served – Have regular and predictable meals and snacks. Don’t permit grazing as this can lead to battles over eating at meal time.
- Where food is served – At the table without TV or other distractions
Children are responsible for:
- How much to eat – Some days kids will eat more than others, this is NORMAL.
- DO NOT make kids finish their meal and DO permit them to eat as much as they are hungry for.
- Whether to eat – It’s normal for kids to eat more at one time of day and little or not at all at another.
- Offer high quality foods when they tend to eat more, so you can relax if they opt out of eating.
- Use a 2 week span to gauge your children’s eating habits rather than on a daily basis.
4. Create an alliance with your partner
- Make the meal plan together or at least agree on the plan
- Ensure that both parents are following the “Responsibilities in feeding” listed above so that expectations are clear.
- Avoid bribery or threats to get kids to eat or try food.
- Teach age appropriate table manners and appreciation by being good role models
- Help children get curious about food by talking about food in a positive way, providing opportunities for them to participate in food preparation and allowing them to “taste test” foods that they are unsure about.
- If they don’t “have” to eat it they may be more willing to try it.
- The best thing you can do to help your children learn to like food is be a good role model
