Wednesday afternoon I participated in a very informative conference call with Michelle Dudash, a certified Cordon Bleu chef and author of the highly praised book, Clean Eating for Busy Families
Michelle had SO many great tips for those of us looking to encourage healthy habits for kids and get more nutritious food into the tummies of our little ones. She also shared some news about the Walmart Foundation that REALLY impressed me. This nonprofit arm of Walmart has dedicated $2 BILLION in cash and in-kind donations through 2015 to help fight hunger in America. That is simply outstanding!
One of the ways that money is being spent is through a $6.7 million series of grants to 5 national nonprofits that are providing 250,000 Americans with access to school breakfasts and nutrition education programs.
During our conversation, Michelle shared some of her top tips for encouraging healthy eating habits in your family. Here are the ones that really stood out to me as things I need to implement:
Get Kids in the Kitchen!
Darah likes to help me prepare food, but as we all know, when little ones want to “help” it really just means more work for the head chef! However, studies have shown that children are more likely to eat food that they help prepare. I need to keep in mind that spending an extra 5-10 minutes on dinner because I had a little helper will pay dividends in the form of a peaceful meal with no whining and complaints such as, “This is yucky!”
You Can Prepare Breakfast Ahead of Time!
My family loves to have a hot breakfast. I try to accommodate that wish as much as possible, but there are certainly days when I just don’t have time. And truth be told, I usually reach for a box of cereal or a bag of bagels that is made with enriched flour. Michelle shared that she actually makes a batch of boiled eggs once a week and keeps them in her fridge. They are one of the very best sources of protein, and as compared to other protein sources, are also one of the least expensive. What a great idea! Reaching for an egg is even faster than reaching for a bagel!
Tips for Getting Through a “Food Funk”
I think we’ve all witnessed our kids clinging to a particular food for a few days or weeks or maybe even months. My oldest gets on a cracker kick that just can’t be stopped. Same goes for peanut butter. Michelle reminded us all that the child will move past those finicky habits eventually, but while we are waiting them out, we just need to make sure we are giving them the most nutritious options possible. For example, if you are making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for one of your kids, be sure you have switched to whole wheat bread, a peanut butter with no sugar added, and a natural jelly. If your kid balks at that option, maybe they are ready to come out of that particular food funk! 🙂
Organic or No High Fructose Corn Syrup…Which to Choose?
I asked Michelle which one was the lesser of two evils…non-organic produce or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I asked this question because we have to watch our pennies in the store, and that means that I can’t fill my cart with every single thing I’d like to get for my family. I simply have to choose. Michelle gave some really helpful advice here. She said that nutritionally, there isn’t too much difference between organic and non-organic food, so while she recommends purchasing it whenever you can, she says to skip it if your budget just won’t allow for it.
As far as avoiding HFCS, Michelle is definitely in favor of doing so, but she said, “If a product is $1 more because it is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, it doesn’t make a difference. Sugar is sugar!” I don’t think Michelle is saying not to worry about HFCS, because it really is a nasty ingredient, but rather, to be more concerned about sugar consumption altogether, whatever its form. Don’t be so quick to assume that you’ve purchased a “healthy” product just because the sugar in it isn’t HFCS. That’s a light bulb moment for me!
What questions would you love to ask someone like Michelle? And do you have any tips for encouraging healthy habits for kids? Please share! I think we could also use some helpful hints!
This is a sponsored conversation with The Motherhood. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.Â
I am in the same predicament. If I had a ton of disposable income my family would ONLY be eating organic whole foods. But I don’t. It’s nice to know (thanks to this post) that inorganic produce has the same nutritional value as organic.
If allowed to help cook and not forced to eat foods that they do not like children do grow up to learn to like many things. My oldest son Mr I hate that food, now eats about anything including shark, artichoke, asparagus, etc but stillwillnot eat catshup..lol. Involve you children and teach them to cook, all four of my boys cook and are almost the main cook in their homes…
Hi Tiffany,
I love this post and how you boiled it down into the tips! And so glad you enjoyed the webinar.
Last night my daughter and I made Easter eggs. She ate four for dinner! Well, she got her iron for the day! The power of getting your kids involved in the kitchen.
Take care,
Michelle
Thanks so much for sharing all your great tips with us on the call, Michelle! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to pass them along to my readers!
These tips are great—I especially like the one about breakfast. That’s the one meal we find challenging, because we’re all trying to get out of the door on time and it’s hard to prepare something beyond cereal or oatmeal. I’ll have to try doing a batch of eggs in advance (especially since we’ll be making hard boiled eggs for Easter).
I actually cracked eggs last night and put one in each section of a muffin tin. I baked the eggs and now they are in a container in the fridge, ready for homemade egg mcmuffins! worked out great! 🙂
the kid i watch are picky eater and then i tryy all differnt kind of stuff ot do for them
Great tips! We have a hard time getting my grandson to eat many veggies or fruit. He really doesn’t like either except green beans. I buy him the fruit and veggie drinks to try and get him what he needs along with Boost drinks which he loves.
Those are very good tips coming from someone who likes to take the easy way out on a busy night and get the kids happy meals and I feel so guilty afterwards because I know its not the healthiest choice
Thank you for the tips. I especially like getting the kids in the kitchen to help. Sometimes I have let my kids add all the ingredients they like and when they are not looking quickly add in the ones I need to add that may turn them off to it.