Organic Food and Fitness

Every parent WANTS their children to eat healthy, but sometimes once kids are in the routine of eating whatever they want, it's quite the battle to make them change. However, it is up to you, the parents, to teach your children healthy eating now. Children are like sponges...they absorb EVERYTHING! Whether it's what you say, how you act or even what you eat, your children DO take notice. It is up to you to make the change to organic and healthier eating a smooth transition. You must always be positive and when a child begins to ask "why", it is important that you take the time to explain the health benefits. Education is the key! It may take some time, but be patient, loving and understanding. Make learning about health and the nutrition connection FUN!

Whenever I receive informative, yet interesting emails pertaining to health, I save them in a folder. I was going back through them this morning, and one particularly caught my attention. Here are a few ways from a newsletter I received to slowly transition your children into becoming health conscious, hopefully for the rest of their lives.

Disguising Nutrition for Kids

. Add finely chopped cooked organic vegetables to soups. Puree organic vegetables and add to chili or spaghetti sauce.

. Hide organic veggies in casseroles, soups and main dishes.

. Add grated carrots (or other veggies) to tuna or chicken salad.

. Add freshly juiced carrot juice to store bought vegetable or tomato juice.

. Put organic vegetables in a food processor and add to hamburger patties, meatballs or meatloaf.

. Take the kids shopping with you and let THEM pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try.

. Finely grate zucchini or carrots and add to pancake batter or muffin batter.

. Serve raw organic vegetables with a favorite dip. Let the kids graze on these all day.

. Mix organic peanut butter with freshly ground nuts and serve with celery, apples, carrots, etc.

. Use whole grain bread for grilled cheese sandwiches; toasting hides the color of the bread.

. Switch from white bread to 50% whole wheat bread for one month, and then introduce whole-grain bread. You can make a sandwich using one slice of the 50% bread and one slice of the whole-grain bread. Put the lighter bread on the top and try to "fool" your kids!

. Most children will eat a meal that they helped to prepare, allow them to participate!

. Let them make cookies with you. Use whole wheat and carob chips and they won't know the difference, especially if they are the ones making the cookies. There aren't many children who will not eat what they make.

. Sneak some whole-grain cookies into a bag of favorite mixed cookies, and eventually switch them to 100% whole grain.

. Use cookie cutters to make fun sandwiches with whole-grain bread.

. Mix wholegrain noodles into regular spaghetti or macaroni and cheese dishes.

. Mix soaked soy bits or crumbled tofu in the ground beef. Slowly increase the soy/ground beef ratio in meals over time and they won't notice that they are eating soy bits instead of ground beef. This works well in chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, casseroles, soups, etc.

. Trying to wean off of dairy-based milk? Try GRADUALLY adding soy/almond/rice milk to regular milk until one day, all of a sudden, without them realizing it, they are drinking a "dairy alternative!"

. When you need food for the road, try fresh or dried fruit, olives, trail mix, granola, popcorn, crackers, applesauce cups, nuts and seeds, and homemade energy bars. For protein-rich snacks, try a variety of nut butters, hummus, and soy products.