Author: Beth Bader
Guest Blogger
Beth Bader
Beth Bader, co-author of the book The Cleaner Plate Club
In their book, The Cleaner Plate Club, Ali Benjamin and Beth help parents understand picky eating behaviors; where they originate, and how to deal with them creatively to get kids to eat better — without any sneaking, lying or fights. And without the judging or holier-than-thou advice that parents don’t want and don’t need.
The Cleaner Plate Club also includes information to help parents understand all the overwhelming headlines about industrial food, its safety hazards, and the harm it has done to our environment and most of all, our kids.
As much activist as cook, Beth is most of all a mom determined to make the world a better place for her child, one meal at a time. She is a food blogger at Expatriate's Kitchen.and contributes to EatLocalChallenge.com and The Cleaner Plate Club Blog.
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Blog Posts by Beth Bader
Getting Kids to Eat More Heart Healthy Foods
The last time I went through the lunch line at school on a parent visit, the vegetable-du-jour was French fries. The broccoli salad — which wasn’t bad — was left untouched by all but me at t…
No Nag Nutrition
Nagging seems to be the unavoidable side effect of having kids. I’m sad to admit that there are days where I don’t want to be around myself, either. It’s no shock, our kids tunes us …
Why the Most Important Sports Star in Your Child’s Life Sits on the Bench
I was the slowest distance runner on my high school track team. In fact, the only way I could get a school record was when they finally made a running event so long, no one else on the team would comp…
Why Parents Need to Know About Heart Health
With four family birthdays this month plus Valentine’s Day, we celebrate a lot in February! Even so, the most important event we celebrate in February is Heart Health Awareness. It’s not b…
Laughter is the Best Dessert
I don’t believe in using “sneaky” tactics to get my child to eat better. The closest I have ever come to this, however, was a bit of fun I would play with my daughter when she was a …
Take a Food Adventure
I’ve taken my daughter to the farmers market nearly every weekend since she was three months old. She graduated from her perch in the front carrier, smiling out at all she saw, to her favorite &…
A Feast for All Senses: Engaging All the Senses in Food Play
Good food is a complete sensory experience. If your child is having trouble with getting past the barrier to taste at the table, maybe its time to engage all of his other senses long before the dinner…
The Role of Play in a Child’s Healthy Food Attitude
These days toy kitchens range from pink 1940s retro to a state-of-the art outdoor play grill. While most of us parents are choosing play food settings with things in mind like durability and “ju…
Fun is the Secret Ingredient to Healthy Food Attitudes
Sometimes as parents we get so focused on what our children are eating (or not eating) that we miss out on a very important part of the experience: the how. Of course, table manners are important, and…
Six top reasons to eat healthy while you are pregnant: Part 2
Sticking to a healthy diet can be a struggle for a lot of us. In my own experience, there are times when my diet gets off track — especially holidays. When I was pregnant, as an older mom, I had som…
Six top reasons to eat healthy while you are pregnant: Part 1
If you are pregnant, you’re probably thinking a lot more about baby names and how to store up a few months of extra sleep rather than that eventual battle over broccoli when your baby becomes a …
Enjoy Your Dinner
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War The hardest battle to avoid is one brought on by your own expectations. It’s pretty normal f…
Strategies for Countering Texture Issues
Texture was an unexpected learning for me. When I look back on the whole of Battle Orange, the number of recipes and the lengths I went to, I have to shake my head and sigh. One recipe solved the whol…
Strategies for Countering Taste Issues
I’ll admit it. I used to think I hated spinach. My stepmom would fix frozen spinach, boiled, and served with cider vinegar. It was dark, greenish black, mushy and bore no resemblance to the orig…
Strategies for Countering Color Issues
There will be a few struggles at the table with your child that have nothing to do with food. These often include; random refusals of longtime favorites, holding out for dessert or other foods instead…
The Battle of Orange Food Begins
I have to confess that right about late September a strange obsession strikes me: Pumpkins. It has little to do with Halloween, actually. I simply love all the crazy colors and shapes and varieties of…
The Journey from Junk Food to Healthy Eating, Part 2
If your kid’s diet plan reads like the “children’s menu” at the drive-thru, don’t worry. You can get him to eat better! Just don’t set yourself up for failure by tr…
The Journey from Junk Food to Healthy Eating, Part 1
Whether we parents are working full time out of the house or at home, we’re working hard and juggling a lot including rushing from school to activity to play date on a non-stop treadmill. Endles…
Food Fight! Dealing With Control Issues at the Table
We’ve all had those days, right? The ones where our little one is having control issues, on a mission to battle us on everything from wearing bunny slippers instead of shoes, shorts in winter, t…
Getting Kids to Eat Their Colors
While all kids have picky eating behaviors at least some of the time, how that issue gets expressed is as unique as your child. Behaviors such as liking a food one day and refusing it the next are com…