Before we actually take a bite of food we start eating…with our eyes! They tell our brain what it will taste like via a whole series of learned and natural responses and we taste what we think we should. A study in the late 1970’s showed that, when we find food more appealing, not only do we enjoy it more we also absorb more nutrients from it. As parents we can take that information and use it to make healthy food look more appealing and interesting. The best part is that it only takes a little extra time and effort to present our kids with healthy food that looks fun to eat. I’m not suggesting you need to be an artist although there are some amazing artists that turn food into master pieces. All you need is a little creativity, some kitchen tools or just few extra minutes.

It’s actually a lot easier that it might seem. Use cute dishes, muffin tins, ice trays, bento lunchboxes and mini cookie cutters to create visually appealing lunches and snacks. Listen, the marketing that goes into junk food doesn’t happen by chance so why not do a little marketing yourself to promote the healthy foods your kids should be eating!

As a quick example have a look at this simple snack I put together the other day. You could just toss some veggies on a plate for your child or you could spend literally an extra minute arranging them in a cute dish. My daughter Hannah loved it! Which one would you be drawn to?

Since we eat with our eyes we are also very drawn to color so use this to your advantage and serve your kids at least two colors in their meals and snack. If you can get five colors of the food rainbow into a snack or meal even better!

Using things like muffin tins or ice trays turns snack time into a fun treat while offering a wide selection of healthy food for your child to nibble on.

The extra effort you put in to presenting food in a visually appealing way will be worth it and you might just win over a picky eater and find them munching on a veggie or two.

Do you use creativity when feeding your kids? Share your favorite suggestion!

Children learn from their parents. If you want your kids to eat responsibly take a look at what you are putting on your own plate. Make smart food choices a family affair and make it fun for everyone at the same time. Show by example that sensible eating is both a necessity and a pleasure.

Teach Farm to Table

Take your kids to farmers markets to learn about where food is grown. One of my favorite family outings in the summer was to the weekly farmers’ market to select fresh peaches, strawberries, green beans, summer tomatoes and just picked corn, some of my favorite foods today,

If you don’t live in near a farming community, or if your city does not offer farmers markets, buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the supermarket rather than canned. Post a calendar in the kitchen showing when fruits and vegetables are in season so your kids can learn when plant foods are at their freshest.

Cook together

Some of my favorite childhood memories include helping my mother cook. Usually this involved baking but also I mixed casseroles, sautéed vegetables and mashed potatoes. Helping my mother cook taught me about portioning ingredients and measurements and understanding what goes into preparing a meal.

Cooking together should be inclusive for both your daughters and sons. Some of the most popular chefs on food television are men, and their biggest fans are boys and men. Give everyone a kitchen assignment based on age appropriateness and skills.

Keep Healthy Snacks on Hand

Slice fresh fruits and vegetables and place in single serving snack bags. Mix dried fruits, unsweetened cereals, fresh or roasted unsalted nuts (unless there are nut allergies) and dark chocolate chips for an easy, delicious trail mix.

Spread nut butter on slices of apples, or, drizzle fresh honey if a child has a nut allergy. Sauté canned chickpeas in olive oil, salt and pepper for a toasty snack. Mix Greek yogurt with hot sauce for a low fat spicy dip, or mash with avocado, salt and pepper.

Make dining a family occasion

People have asked me my favorite childhood food memories. It was around the dinner table. My parents made dining out a family occasion and an adventure. We tried different restaurants and cuisines. I always chose dishes from the “adult menu” even if I couldn’t finish it all. I loved learning about foods of the world!

There were no separate kid menus or table. We didn’t eat in front of the television, standing up, or sitting in a car. There was no technology at the table; it didn’t exist. We sat and ate together and talked. Family meals are some of my favorite memories.

If your family meals are an enjoyable exchange, and the food is fresh, flavorful and nutritious, you’ve set more than a table. You’ve set an example that will make a long term impact on how your children will appreciate good food.

Frustrated that your kids won’t eat their greens? Ever try drinking them? Green Smoothies are all the rage for a reason and this drink treat may just be the answer to your prayers.

This Green Monster Smoothie recipe, also featured in my book, is my fool proof solution. Get your kids making these healthy and delicious drinks with you and when it comes to mealtime, green may start being their most favorite color!

On a vegetable nutrition ranking, spinach is way up at the top in terms of vitamin and mineral richness. Packed with Vitamins K and A, magnesium and folate — just to name just a few — there’s no doubt why Popeye ate so much of the stuff.

Spinach gives this delicious drink a beautiful green color as well as a mild, sweet flavor that will surprise you. With the added (healthy) sweetness from banana and honey or agave, this smoothie will be the perfect treat for your kids and their friends this summer.

• Makes: 4 Servings
• Ready In: 2 mins
• Prep Time: 2 mins
• Cook Time:

Instead of always feeling like you want your kids to eat their greens, drink them up instead with this green monster smoothie!

There have been plenty of sleep deprived mornings where I’ve got to get everyone out the door to school and work and wearily reach for my box of Kodiak Cakes whole wheat pancake mix. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kodiak Cakes. They are easy to make, made from wholesome ingredients and turn out awesome pancakes every time. But at almost $6 on box, I resolved to come up with my own simple, make-ahead mix that I could keep in the pantry.

It took me a bit of trail and error, but I’m finally over the moon — I mean really over the moon — with this recipe. It actually may be one of my favorite weelicious recipes because of how versatile it is: I used the mix to make waffles this morning and the kids actually said they were the best I’d ever made!

This recipe makes a bit more mix than what you would normally find in a box of the pre-made stuff, but that’s a plus, especially if you have a house full of pancake lovers. Just keep the mix in a sealed container and anytime you want to make these, just add an egg, milk, a touch of oil and a scoop of mix for whole wheat pancakes or waffles that are sure to please!

You know some days are going to be packed — so packed there’s hardly time to eat breakfast, much less cook breakfast. Enter make-the-night-before meals!

Back when I first had Kenya, I discovered my crock pot, a wedding gift that had sat unopened in our closet through two moves. After years collecting dust, it quickly endeared itself to me and became my best friend in the kitchen. It’s so easy and efficient to use, I try to find a way to make everything in it, including oatmeal.

With my husband leaving for work before 6am and the kids and I not eating our breakfast until around 7:30 am, I loved the idea of preparing something the night before. No matter what time each of us fed ourselves in the morning, the meal would seem totally fresh and special.

As hard as this all may sound, it was one of the easiest breakfasts I’ve ever made. All I did was toss steel cut oats and the other ingredients into the crock pot, stir it up and the next morning we were enjoying a perfect nutritious meal to start our day. The added benefit was that the kitchen smelled so amazing in the morning that even the kids stopped to remark, “what’s for breakfast, Mom?”

I’ve now made this recipe five days in a row, so there must be something about it that everyone loves!

Do you need to find a way to get your kids to “eat” their vegetables?  Maybe when you serve your child spinach he or she looks up at you with adorning eyes and says, “Oh thank you Mom.  May I have seconds?”  Not your kid?  Not mine either.

So, I’d like to introduce you to the sneaky smoothie.  That’s not an actual recipe, but what I call a smoothie that is disguising healthy greens.  I’m sure you’ve heard of green smoothies.  Same thing, different name.  When it comes to getting your children to consume their veggies, who cares if it’s done through a straw.

One trick you can try is to ask your kids if they like the smoothie you just made them.  When they say yes, and I’m sure they will, ask them if they noticed anything different than their usual smoothies.  Tell them how proud you are that they tried something healthy and liked it.  Now that’s sneaky!  Or, you cannot tell them and keep it your little secret.

Adding fruit to the sneaky smoothie is a great help as it sweetens and disguises the veggie taste.  You can turn any fruit smoothie into a green smoothie simply by adding veggies.  Spinach is a popular green to add to smoothies.  Carrots are wonderful as well.  Start teaching your young ones at an early age that “green is good.”

Click here for some of our favorite sneaky smoothies that my kids will actually “eat.”  They’re easy to make and don’t take many ingredients.  Always a good thing in my book.

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe or helpful hint for getting kids to eat their veggies?  If so then we’d love to hear from you!

Do you feel like you spend a “fortune” on groceries and yet you never have anything at home to fix for dinner?

With a little planning you can know ahead of time what your family will be having each night for dinner that week.  You’ll also find yourself spending less money on groceries each week.  Pretty good deal, huh?

There are so many advantageous to meal planning. Here’s a few of them:

1. Saves you time:When you take the time to meal plan, whether on your own or through a meal planning service, you’ll actually be saving time.  You don’t have to do the 5:00 stare into the pantry trying to figure out what you are going to fix or make extra trips to the grocery store during the week to pick up ingredients.  Sound familiar?
2. Save money: Outside of mortgage/rent payments, grocery bills are the number one expense families have.  When you have a menu plan you eliminate the “impulse” buying, you don’t buy things you already have in your pantry and you don’t waste money eating out as much.
3. Keeps Your Family Healthier: Less junk food, less eating out and planning healthy meals means your family will be healthier.  Who doesn’t want that?
4. Waste Not Want Not: How many times have you cleaned out your fridge and found that the things growing in there could qualify as your kid’s school science project?   When we go to the store without a shopping list we’re more likely to purchase things we already have in our pantry or fridge.  Menu planning lets you check off the items on your list that you already have before you hit the store.
5. Stress Buster: It’s amazing how much stress can be eliminated from our evenings just by menu planning.  No more rushing home from work and wondering what you’re fixing for dinner.  Or, no more long days at home with the kids and remembering at the end of the day that you don’t have a clue what you’re fixing. Evenings become calmer, dinner time is more pleasant and Mom is a happier camper.  What’s not to love about that?

What about you?  Do you like to plan your families meals for the week (or longer) or do you like to just “wing it”?  We’d love to hear your ideas.

Got picky kids when it comes to food, at least nutritious food? Do your kids try to crawl under the table when they see broccoli on the table?  Do they try to slip the dog their squash only to find the dog won’t eat it either? You’re not alone. It seems to be a fairly common phenomenon among households with kids. And, not just young children either. Older kids can be picky eaters as well.

I have been blessed with having both teenagers and younger kids at the same time. Both sets with different dietary needs and different likes and dislikes when it comes to food. My teenage boys are athletic, physical, growing boys. Even though they both look full grown (at 6 feet tall) they are still growing and their bodies, inside and outside, need the right foods to help them with this.

My two younger children have different needs both physically and emotionally when it comes to food. They are both adopted and we’ve had to learn the challenge of dealing with children who have had to go hungry in their past. Hunger can do many things to you emotionally.  We’ve had to learn to help our children understand they won’t ever go hungry again.

All of my kids are different eaters with different taste. My 16-year-old son has a sweet tooth that never seems to end.  I think sweet teeth would be more like it. It’s a constant struggle to get him to lay off the sweets.  My 19 year old could really care less about the sweets. My 9 and 10-year-old are very food focused and just want to eat.

In the process of raising 6 kids (2 of mine are already grown so they and their taste buds are on their wn) I’ve come up with some things that have helped my family over the years.

1. Respect their appetites – If they really aren’t hungry, don’t try to force them to eat. Don’t bribe them to clean their plates. And please don’t use the starving children speech. Likewise, if your child has a tendency toward overeating, help him or her to understand what it means to be full.  We quite often ask one of our younger boys, “is your tummy comfortable?” That’s when you need to stop.  Don’t make them feel guilty or bad for how little or much they eat.
2. Encourage but don’t force – Encourage kids to try new foods but don’t force it on them. They’ll just hate that zucchini even more.
3. Let them help with the meal planning – That’s easy for me since I own a menu planning service.  After the menus are out for that week I will let the whole family decide what we are eating for the week. It makes a huge difference when they have had a say so on what to eat.  They don’t always agree, but we manage.
4. Let them help with the cooking – I hear moms say that they would love to let their kids help in the kitchen but they don’t want to deal with the extra mess. It’s a great bonding time, a time to teach kids responsibility (you helped make the mess, you help clean) and if they cook it they are much more likely to eat it. Trust me, it works.
5. Have fun with meals – My family LOVES breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes, waffles, omelets, you name it.  Try having special dipping sauces (Ranch dressing works wonders) for veggies at meal times and snack times.  For some reason kids love to dip their food in things.
6. Give them their own cookbook – There are a lot of cookbooks out there that are geared to kids of all ages. My younger boys love to look at the pictures and plan on the things they are going to make. My youngest one now wants his own apron, chef hat and cooking show.  Hmmm….
7. Become friends with the smoothie – Do you know how much you can hide in a simple smoothie?  Lots. And, your little picky eaters will never know the difference.  You can pack a lot of nutrition in a smoothie. So what if it’s consumed through a straw?
8. Set the example – You can’t get your little mini me’s to eat nutritiously when they see you eating McDonalds and Dunking Donuts. Show them how to enjoy clean whole foods.
9. Pizza, Fries, Sodas, Oh My! – Teenagers are notorious for wanting to live off junk.  Mine are no exception. They want their bodies to look good but they want to eat junk. As a parent of teens, it can be a real challenge once they start going off on their own more and more. You aren’t always there to control what they are eating. Plan on having as many sit down meals as possible (sitting down at your own table and not McDonalds) during the week. Your family needs the bonding time as well as the proper nutrition they receive from the home cooked meals.
10. Just one bite rule – Let your kids know that if they will just take one bite, they don’t have to take another if they don’t like it. Chances are they will decide they do like it and if they don’t now, next week they might. My kids’ taste buds seem to change from week to week.

What are some creative ways you’ve gotten a picky eater to eat?  We’d love you to share your suggestions.

When you think of happy families sitting around the table eating dinner do you conjure up thoughts of “Leave it to Beaver” or some other old sitcom? The mother walking around in her apron, high heels and pearls with a perfectly set table, perfect dinner and perfect family all sitting at the table. Well, let’s get real please. I know that’s sure not me.

I’m usually doing good to get all four of my boys and my husband to the table in the evening.  Not that they don’t want to eat, just our busy schedules can get in the way. However, we do try to make it a priority to eat dinner together as a family as many nights during the week as possible.  Some nights are harder than others. Some nights we’re not all at home. Still, we make it a priority as much as we can.

It really is amazing what a difference a positive mealtime can make in children and families. Studies show that children who dine with the family:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables
• Are happier
• Are better adjusted
• Are more socially adept
• Get better grades
• Are less likely to smoke, abuse drugs or alcohol
• Are less likely to suffer from eating disorders, obesity or depression

Kids of all ages benefit from family mealtime together. Teens and tweens need the family table time. They need the positive atmosphere and conversation that should take place at the table.  They need to be reminded that they are valued and loved. Our two youngest children were adopted from the Texas foster care system and its amazing how much healing can be done around the kitchen table eating a meal together and bonding. Families who eat together share values together.

Need some conversation starters for dinnertime? Here are a few fun ones:

• If you couldn’t watch TV or go online for a month, how would you spend that time?
• If you could have any superpower, which would you choose? (This one is a regular topic at our table.)
• How can you tell someone you love them without using words?
• If you could be a famous person for a week, who would you be and why?
• If you could trade places with your parents for a day, how would you do things differently?

Does your family have any favorite topics or dinner time games they like to play?  We’d love to hear about them.