Playing with food is usually not considered a good thing but I think it can be, especially for babies and toddlers that are resistant to trying new foods. It is natural for little ones to be cautious of new things – especially new food. When we let them explore food with all their senses it gives them an opportunity to “get to know” their food and become comfortable with it. It’s natural for them to explore new foods with their eyes, ears, nose and hands before trying a bite. Keep in mind they might spit it out and that is okay too. Training taste buds takes time. The goal is for your child to develop positive feelings and connections with their food.

Of course I’m not suggesting we encourage messy food fights, there is definitely a need for learning table manners as well, I think that food play can be a healthy and normal process of accepting new foods. Perhaps allowing this process to happen might even help prevent some of the picky eating issues that come up as toddlers become preschoolers.

When my daughter was a baby I’d often let her play with food (when we didn’t have a busy day) she would sit in her high chair and have a great time exploring her food. She especially loved avocados, feeling the bumpy texture of the skin with her little fingers, bringing it to her nose to smell it, smearing it around her tray like a painting, it usually ended up all over her face and hands but she loved every minute of it! As much as possible we encouraged her to feed herself so that she would get to explore get to know her food…is was a messy fun filled experience!

For older children it can still be fun to incorporate some fun and play into their food. They can make faces with the food on their plate, use fun cutlery or dishes; perhaps their fruit is served on a popsicle stick there are plenty of ways to make healthy food fun. We want our kids to enjoy healthy food and letting them have a little fun with it once it while really helps. So often “fun food” is synonymous with junk food and it doesn’t have to be that way!

My advice to parents is to let food be an enjoyable learning experience!

• Let your babies explore their food and engage their five senses!
• Give your kids the chance to decide how they want to try a food. If your toddler wants to put together strange combinations of food, let them, they might just come up with something they love!
• Show your kids that healthy foods can be fun and that it’s okay to use their imaginations to come up with cool ways to serve their food.

Having a little fun at mealtimes is a secret to successful food acceptance and to helping your kids develop a positive relationship with healthy food that will last a lifetime. That is one of the best gifts you can give your kids.

What was the first food your little one explored?

Why should your kids be eating a rainbow every day? Each color group provides a unique set of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. When kids eat from the 5 color groups it becomes an easy and fun way to ensure that they are benefitting from this wide spectrum of nutrients.

By breaking produce down into groups of fire-engine red, bright orange, sunshine yellow, emerald green and rich blue/purples you can make eating fruits and vegetables fun for your kids and we all know that kids love to have fun!

So how do you get your kids to eat a rainbow? As parents, we need to get into the habit of serving fruits and veggies at every meal and snack! If you do the typical 3 meals and 2 snacks per day then you have five opportunities a day to get your kids eating colorful fruits and vegetables! I encourage you to make this fun and keep it light, no pressure and no battles. If your child starts off by eating just one color a day that is a great start…you can build up to a rainbow over time. Healthy bodies are made one bite at a time so celebrate every step towards the rainbow!

Breakfast: This is an important meal and one where you can easily add fruit or veggies. If your family eats dairy and your kids like to dip their fruit, Greek yogurt works well! Sometimes I’ll incorporate the fruit into the meal, such as a bowl of yogurt, granola and apple chunks. Or I’ll add a handful of Raisins to a bowl of oatmeal. Other mornings we’ll make a colorful fruit smoothie! If your family eats eggs you can easily add some baby spinach or other veggies such as chopped up peppers or green onions to accentuate this meal.

Snack: Veggie Time! Try offering veggies in different ways such as sliced, cubed, grated, changing the appearance and texture of veggies can work magic for picky eaters. We also like to serve snacks on a cute plate or in a muffin tray to make it a little more interesting!

Lunch: Sandwiches are a great way to add veggies to a meal! Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy lettuce, avocado all work well in a sandwich. If you’re not having sandwiches, make sure there is a plate of veggies for your kids. By keeping track of the colors eaten at breakfast and snack time, we then offer a color or two that hasn’t been eaten yet to make sure we reach our goal of five colors.

Snack: Fruit Time! Do yourself a favor and keep snacks simple, for example a little bowl of frozen blueberries is a tasty treat that doesn’t take more than a few seconds to prepare. Start thinking of snack time as fruit/vegetable time, in our house if you want a snack it’s automatically only a fruit or vegetable. If you don’t do snacks at your house then it’s extra important that you serve at least one produce item at each meal, ideally two, so that your children will reach the goal of five colors a day.

Dinner: We always have a vegetable with dinner! Whether it’s a salad, roasted veggies, raw veggie slices, it’s important to get into the habit of always including a veggie! We also try to include veggies in our main dish; for example we add things like zucchini, carrots, and tomatoes to spaghetti sauce. At this point in the day be sure to think about what colors still need to be eaten…then serve a vegetable that belongs to the color group that is needed.

Dessert: Fruit again! If we re-think what “dessert” is, we see that it can actually be a fantastic time to get in another serving of fruit! Fresh fruit over a scoop of frozen yogurt, apple slices with a sprinkle of cinnamon, frozen bananas made into ice cream…the possibilities are endless.

When it comes down to it what we eat and serve our families is all about habit and those habits can be healthy or unhealthy ones, you get to decide. Once you get yourself into the habit of serving a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal, it will become a natural part of your meal planning. Just remind yourself that your kids need FIVE to THRIVE!

How many colorful fruits and veggies do you and your kids eat a day?

When you think of a summer time fruit, watermelon is on the top of the list for most of us and for good reason! They are juicy, crunchy and colorful. Watermelon has a very high water content amount, approximately 92%, which is why it’s the perfect food to cool you down on a hot summer day.

Watermelons are an excellent source of several vitamins: vitamin A, which helps maintain eye health, vitamin C, which helps strengthen your immune system and vitamin B6, which helps convert protein to energy.

For a recent family birthday we made a watermelon cake, it took very little time to put together, it was healthy and it was a big hit! There are many different ways to make a watermelon cake, since time wasn’t on my side I went with a quick version. I just sliced up the watermelon into triangles and stacked them into a circular shape. Then I used a mini cookie cutter to make some flower shapes and a melon baller for decorate the top and voila it was finished!

Here are some tips for purchasing watermelon.

• Select a watermelon that seems very heavy for its size. Heaviness in a watermelon is a good thing because the water content of a watermelon will generally increase with ripening. So a heavy watermelon usually means it’s ripe!
• The underbelly of a watermelon should be a creamy yellow color; this is the spot where it has rested on the ground. If it’s still green it’s probably not ripe enough.
• I find that if you hold the watermelon in one hand and tap the top with your thumb, if you hear a hollow sound and feel the tap right away with your bottom hand then it will usually mean a fully ripened watermelon. But this isn’t an exact science 

Once you bring home your watermelon be sure to wash it before cutting it. You never know how many hands have touched that watermelon and what sprays it might have on it so give it a good rinse! You don’t want to cut through and spread any germs or chemicals to the fleshy part that you eat

Here is a great method from Super Healthy Kids on how to easily cut a water melon http://www.superhealthykids.com/healthy-kids-recipes/the-best-way-to-cut-a-watermelon.php

Any way you slice it, eating watermelon is a perfect snack during the summer, it’s healthy, juicy, crunchy and oh so good!

Do you have a favorite tip for selecting or cutting watermelon?

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!