I'm a recovering picky eater.  I was that girl who ate hamburger and fries at every restaurant, including Mexican.  As a kid I wanted my food separate, and didn't eat very many "grown up" meals.  The only sandwich I ate until my teens was PBJ.  I was in my second decade of life before I ate many of the things I eat now.  In the past two years I've learned to eat things that used to make me gag:  nuts, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and onions.  I'm still working on peppers.  Red ones are OK, but green? Not yet.

No matter how old your kids are (or your husband is!) it is indeed possible to learn to eat a variety of wholesome foods and enjoy them.  I won't say it's easy, but it's a fun challenge as long as you have an open mind-set.  Are you ready for that?  I was!

I started teaching parenting classes about Kids' Nutrition because many mothers I knew wanted to feed their kids healthy food, but weren't sure how to get them to eat it. It's one thing to know what food your kid should be eating. It's yet another to actually get them to eat it! 

I love food and I love sharing food with loved ones, so for me, growing good eaters is something that's intuitive. (What is not intuitive to me is cleaning, so while my kid's eating habits are impressive at their young age, we are clueless when it comes to tidying up toys-do you want to share your kid's cleaning success stories with me??)

My message to parents is that despite many obstacles like cost, preparation time, commercial marketing for junk food, availability and picky palates, you can get your kids to eat whole food.   Healthy food can be yummy and there are many ways to make it appealing to young taste buds. Your kids will eat healthy food, if they have an opportunity to practice eating it on a regular basis and an enthusiastic guide (that's you!).

On this blog you'll find recipes I nourish my family with and "Kid Appeal Tips" on techniques that helped my kids accept foods they have aversions to. I'm learning along the way, what additives to avoid, how to stretch expensive organic ingredients into several meals, how to budget my time in the kitchen and teach good eating habits that will last a life time.

I am not a dietitian, nutritionist or MD.  When it's available I cite my sources and try only to mention scientific studies that discuss a food's health benefits.  When you learn something here, I hope you don't just take my word for it.  Do some research, check it out for yourself, make an informed decision.  And by all means run your decision past the appropriate MD or RD when necessary.

 

Is a gabby five year old and attends a dual language Spanish immersion language program in Spring Branch ISD. At school he likes all subjects, even the ones taught in Spanish. At home he likes to direct Little Boo in endless make-believe games involving good guys and bad guys. He can spend countless hours building mufflers, propellers and boosters on advanced race-cars, space ships and boats using legos. He's obsessed with building marble tracks out of magnet tiles and his new cuburo set. His favorite color is red and his favorite foods are tomatoes and carrots. He is still not fond of mashed potatoes. He claims to like them now as long as they are sans gravy, but really he's just trying to get some of the attention little boo gets for being a new-found mashed potato lover. Olives are also on the no thanks list and he's wary of any just introduced, multiple ingredient dish. He gets giddy when I hack open a pomegranate.

 

Is a cuddly 3 year old and part time pre-school student. At school he can be found palling around with two sweet buddies from whom he's inseparable. At home he's eager to play whatever role Big Boo assigns whether that's good guy or bad guy. He can spend countless hours humming ditties and dropping very tiny lightsabres all over the house (I mean playing with star wars action figures...). His favorite color is blue (although he likes red too). His favorite foods are snacks, anything crunchy in a package. He is a slothful eater and will usually eat what is served but not without prompting.

 

 

Is an avid reader, involved father, the giver of nightly bath and bedtime story reader to Big and Little Boo. He is a great lover of meat, fruit and veggies. He has an adventurous palette, but it's hard to win his heart with a starchy side. I enjoy the challenge of finding meatless meals he'll eat without complaint, and in the past year, his complaints have waned and praise has waxed. Fortunately for me, he enjoys food presentation and critique. As a designer, he helps me avoid the worst of my visual gaffes on the blog, but wishes he had the time to redesign my site and approve all my posts and content changes before I click publish.