As a Mom I know that I often worried about what my kid was eating when she was away from me. In my house I would always make sure that she had a home cooked balanced meal waiting for her when she came home from school. On days when we would stop off for an afterschool snack or if I didn’t feel like cooking our go to spot would be Houston’s. The only time that we would go to McDonald’s or some place like that would be for her to play on the playground so we would buy an ice cream cone or something simple. Don’t get me wrong we would sometimes have chips, cookies or candy in the house but for the most part we enjoyed a healthy eating household.
I sometimes wished that I had raised her without introducing her to red meat or pork and processed sugars but it’s too late for that now. I understand that many Mothers work a full day and many don’t have the time or the energy to prepare a home cooked meal every night but I think that making small changes in your menu selections can help to promote healthier eating.
For example instead of chicken fried with oil maybe invest in one of the oil less cookers, I have one and I love it! The chicken and yes, pork chops too come out crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. Also try cooking more things in the oven or in a crock-pot. There are a lot of things that can be cooked in the crock pot while you are getting your things ready for the next day and will be ready before you go to bed. I also invested in a NuWave oven that acts as sort of an indoor grill. I can prepare almost an entire meal in 45 minutes or less. Frozen microwave vegetables are also a very quick and easy option.
As far as snacks for your kids are concerned having lots of fresh fruits and multigrain crackers on hand is a good way to start. If you start your kids out eating snacks made from natural sugars then they will like them because that will be what their taste buds become accustomed too. Also if you give them foods that are sugar free then they will most likely enjoy them if they have not been introduced to sugar.
Think about it this way, what you as a parent introduce your kids to will be what they get used to eating and anything else will taste foreign to them.
