I told you back here and here that I have been working on my family’s nutrition.
I ain’t going to lie. It has been frustrating.
My grocery bill has gone up and so has the complaining around the table. I spend way more time in the kitchen and at the grocery store. I got up early every Monday for a month to make whole-wheat non-processed muffins. I tried 3 new recipes and altered an existing one. And lets just say that no less than 3 dozen muffins have been ended up in the trash. I spent almost $5 a pound on cage free, no hormones, vegetarian fed, blah, blah, blah… chicken. And we were all still hungry at the end of the meal.
But I am not giving up.
I read an article that confirmed what I already believed. That cancer, autism, allergies, ADD/ADHD, and diabetes are on the rise in children and many think it is linked to what we eat now a days. There are more pesticides, chemicals, dyes, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), and junk in our food then ever before. And I didn’t even mention obesity?
So you see, no matter how frustrated I am, I can’t give up. The health of my children depends on it.
It has not been an easy transition. My kids and even my husband have fought my efforts along the way.
But they don’t know who they are messing with. I have figured out a way to trick them and move them closer towards health despite their protests.
I call it the half and half method.
I take a food that they like and are familiar with and I mix it half and half with the better, healthier version.
For example, yogurt. My kids love the Danon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt. (I actually thought I was making a good choice here, but it has all kinds of crap in it.) So I take the Vanilla yogurt and mix it with plain yogurt. I serve it from the Vanilla container so they don’t know the difference. Works like a charm.
Another transition I am working on is Peanut Butter. Skippy has hydrogenated oils and sugar in it so I would love it if we would eat just straight peanuts, but we all know that creamy stuff is kind of delicious. I put the healthly peanut butter in smoothies, but on my whole wheat waffles, they can detect it. So we have been compromising. I add a little of both kinds of peanut butter and they are okay with it. We are getting closer and closer to the healthier choice. And my kids know that we are working towards bagging Skippy all together.
And then there is syrup. The kind my kiddos like has high fructose corn syrup plus sugar in it, so I wanted to transition them to 100% pure maple syrup. I mixed the two syrups first at 50/50 for awhile and then moved more towards 60/40, 70/30 etc. ratios.
Now I am happy to report that my kids eat straight 100% maple syrup on their french toast. It took a month or two but we got there.
The half and half method is a good place to start if you and your family are looking to improve your meals and you are met with some resistance. My theory is at least they are getting only half of the junk, right? And eventually, with a little manipulation and some patience, they will get to the full healthy versions of food.
![I spoke in church today and said the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest act of Charity. I read Moroni 7:45-47 to make my point. But wherever there was the word ‘Charity’ I substituted it out for ‘the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’ See if these scripture verses now have new meaning for you:
“And the Atonement of Jesus Christ suffererth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth in the truth,
[The Atonement of Jesus Christ] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ye are nothing, for the Atonement of Jesus Christ never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-
But the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”
So Easter really reminds us of love. The first and greatest commandment.](https://www.raisinglemons.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
Great idea. We switched from regular syrup to maple syrup too and there were plenty of complaints but now it’s no big deal for the kids. Husband isn’t convinced yet.
Thanks Jessica! If we can persevere through the complaining transition stage we can usually get where we want to be. And husbands can be the most set in there ways, huh! Mine got white bread for a Christmas present because he still mourns the loss of Grandma Sycamore’s white bread.
Sometime in the future I would love it if you did a post on all the things you are trying to switch over to. Like you said, sometimes we think we are feeding our kids something decent (like the yogurt) and it turns out it’s not. Pictures really helpt too 🙂
Will do Shelley! Thanks for your input. I love to hear readers’/friends’ ideas.
that’s awesome way to go momma! All I can say is “me too”! Family is fighting me all the way but we are better off today than last year!
Thanks, Jessica. Slowly, but surely, we will get there! Good luck to us both!
I have another version of this idea that is really working for us. We have a super healthy dinner that’s usually a new recipe one night & the next night a tried and true favorite that (almost) everyone loves. And if I’m really worried my new main dish is going to flop, I make a an extra side or two that we can all fill up on. We are slowly finding our way out of the “standard American diet” (SAD).
Great idea Mary! Thanks for sharing. That is kind of what I have been doing too so they don’t hate me every night of the week:) And so that I don’t burn myself out. I also have been just trying to make our go to dinners healthier by taking out a carb and adding a veggie. I removed french bread from our spaghetti menu and replaced it with sauteed mushrooms and zucchini. And I like your SAD acronym. That is a unique way to think of what we eat. Thanks!
I love love the organic vanilla yogurt from Stoneyfield, i also use Skippy no stir peanut butter–just peanuts and salt and you don’t have to stir it, and finally, I don’t really like syrup anyway so I blend up berries and pour it over waffles. Love healthy food choices!
Stacey! I love the idea of blending up berries. Maybe my kids will go for that. And I will check out your other recommendations. We’ve come a long way from you eating Dominoes pizza with Kori and me eating your leftover crusts!
I don’t want to be uber negative – but how often are they having french toast and/or maple syrup? Still, I encourage your improvements!
Great ideas! I too am trying to feed my family healthier but am also getting some resistance. Especially from the husband who has noticed our grocery bill creeping up. I have a good friend who is eating all “real” foods now with no processed sugars and she has lost 18 pounds (with using real butter, cream, whole organic milk etc) and her kids love it now. That’s my goal.
Cheryl, real food is my goal too! We are getting there slowly but surely. I am going to be posting about it all year. And my husband and I were just talking about our grocery bill. It has gone up for sure, but there is some offset when you start making more things at home. For example, you can go buy Eggos or you can make a whole wheat waffle. So you save a little money that way. But organic, whole, fresh stuff does cost more. I am telling myself that I can either spend the money now on groceries or later on health care bills. Good luck! Let’s do this together!
I love this concept! I went this route with my kids for bread. We were eating white bread (super cheap and nice on our grad student budget), but to help us make the transition to wheat bread my kids would have sandwiches with 1 slice of white bread and 1 slice of wheat bread. Now everyone is happy eating the 100% white whole wheat bread. Someday we will graduate to homemade bread, but we are not quite there yet.
Great idea Kristi!