A couple of weeks ago social media went crazy over reports that the incredibly beautiful super model Heidi Klum pays her four kids to eat healthily. Rumour has it that she gives them all $1 each if they finish their breakfast smoothies, which are choc full of fresh fruit and superfoods. This had thinking about whether or not I would do the same thing. It raises all sorts of moral dilemmas, bribing your kids to eat well is very different to teaching them about good food and nutrition, praying they will make the right choices.
To put it simply we had to prepare three nutritious meals a day and report our findings.
EASY PEASY was my first thought until I realised the challenge was not about me eating well, but the kids eating well. Now that's a
total challenge in itself. You would think with mine and HB's excellent role modelling, our healthy lifestyles, our commitments to eating clean and exercising daily that this would rub off on our six children, right?
Wrong.
The teenagers and tweens just use it as further fuel to rebel against us oldies because when it comes to food, nutrition and exercise
THEY KNOW EVERYTHING.
Of course they do.
As some of you know we have six kiddos, with ages ranging from 15 years to two years old. Their dietary requirements are as varied as their personalities. One will eat anything and everything, others are fickle and fussy, and another decided he wanted to be a vegetarian last month and last but not least a toddler who inhales everything she sees. Thank goodness we have no food allergies amongst us all, I take my hat off to parents who have that to work around. As it is, cooking a nutritious family meal that all eight of us will eat and enjoy is virtually impossible. World peace seems like an easier prospect at times.
So how did we go with our Good Stuff Challenge?
Breakfast
Porridge - ready to go in 90 seconds.
Oats are a simple and easy superfood that tastes delicious.
Just don't tell them it's good for them.
When I was working fulltime many years ago, the kids basically had 5 minutes to eat a quick bowl of cereal before I had to drop them off at daycare at 6am. It's been an uphill battle ever since I've been a SAHM to try and get them to swap the sugary cereals for a cooked breakfast instead. I've explained to them all that a cooked breakfast such as scrambled eggs on toast or porridge will keep them fuller longer and get them through to lunch time quite easily. Liam (14) is quite possibly the laziest teenage boy on the planet and will go for the quick and easy cereal solution every morning. Gabby (15) and Annaliese (12) will eat something more substantial for breakfast 8 times out of 10. Gabby often cooks herself a poached egg on toast whilst Annaliese will make porridge.
Tips: Heaven knows we don't have time to cook the kids' breakfast every single morning, so get them in the kitchen at a young age and show them how to do it themselves. Annaliese has been making porridge using the microwave since she was 8 and Gabby has been cooking from a similar age too. Buy the 'quick oats sachets', and all they need to do is add half a cup of milk and nuke it for 90 seconds.
Getting them to clean up after themselves is another story. Good luck with that!
Lunches
Lunch time is usually when everything falls in a big messy heap. The kids refuse to take sandwiches to school anymore, and instead opt for a quick fix solution like a muesli bar. When I realised that they were taking up to 3 muesli bars a day to school each, my head almost exploded. I explained to them that a muesli bar is not a healthy option and sometimes they contain just as much sugar and calories as a mars bar. Pretty sure this fact just further increased their appeal.
However last week it was school holidays so it was the perfect opportunity to get the kids in the kitchen to create some healthy lunch options.
So we definitely had some wins on the lunch time front, and together we worked out some healthy options for their lunch boxes when school goes back this week. There are also some terrific lunch box recipes over on the
Cenovis Kids Good Stuff Guide.
Snacks
OK so this is when our kids get deliriously excited, but little do they know that over the past few months I have changed the way I bake. Everything I cook now is either gluten free, grain free and or sugar free. So when Anzac Day came around last mont we upheld our usual Anzac Day tradition and got busy in the kitchen baking some biscuits.
Annaliese loves to bake
It looks like a normal Anzac bikkie but in fact it is sugar free, flourless and dairy free.
Healthy Anzac Biscuit Recipe
(makes approx 16 small biscuits) 95 calories per biscuit.
What you need
- 2 tablespoons of organic honey
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 1/2 teaspoon of bi-carb soda
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons of organic coconut oil
- 1.5 cups of rolled oats
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup of almond meal
Method
- Pre-heat oven 150C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Add your honey, water, bi-carb soda, vanilla extract and organic coconut oil into your thermomix bowl, and melt for 2 minutes, speed 2 on 70C.
- Add the rest of your dry ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.
- Form into small balls and flatten slightly on the baking tray.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
If you don't have a thermomix, add an extra tablespoon of honey, water and coconut oil to your wet ingredients, melt this in a small saucepan on the stove until everything is dissolved (super runny), pour straight over dry ingredients and combine well.
Check out my
'recipe' section on the blog for lots more healthy muffin, slices and biscuit ideas.
Other Great Snack Ideas
Fruit Kebabs
I don't know what it is about food on a stick, but kids of all ages go nuts for it.
Use this to your advantage and you will discover it's a great way to get them to try new foods.
Make your own hommus and serve with Mountain Bread crackers.
You can find Mountain Bread wraps in your bread aisle at the supermarket.
Just tear a wrap into pieces and bake for 5 mins in the oven 180C.
One piece of Mountain Bread is approx 70 calories and makes 10 crackers.
The perfect guilt free snack.
But kids will be kids and they all love to indulge a little, or a lot.
Let's go for a walk. What a great idea!
Our kiddos love ice cream milkshakes, so I make them a deal, if they walk together to our local cafe they can treat themselves to a milkshake. It's a 6km round trip so I think it's fantastic that they are out in the sunshine and fresh air for a couple of hours, getting some much needed exercise and spending some time together. Secretly I think I win hands down with the better deal here, but they think they have the upper hand on me, and that's OK.
Dinners
As I mentioned previously, dinner times are tough at our house, especially on the weekends that we have all 6 kids in the house. We've even had HB's ex wife complain to her lawyer because we feed the kids apricot chicken too much and wait for it .... and because I add chickpeas to it. You can laugh because I sure did. My stepdaughter also loves to boast to my kids about how at their house on the weekends they eat take away all weekend long. Us on the other hand never buy take away, I don't see the point on spending $50 on deep fried rubbish when I can cook my family a healthy meal for a lot less.
HB and Liam are both vegetarians, so I do have to cook two different dinners most nights. I eat an 85% vegetarian diet and always have a veggie dinner. With just a quick Google search you will see that there are some fabulous vegetarian recipes out there and believe it or not they don't all contain tofu and mung beans.
Tip: The easiest way to keep your family on the path to good food and nutrition is to be organised. This means a well planned weekly shop and cook in bulk where you can. By doing this you can have meals in the freezer ready to heat up for those busy weekday evenings or if you're feeling a little lazy on the weekend.
Last week, I tried out a new recipe of mine on the family and it went down a treat. It's vegetarian, and the non-veggies didn't even know that there was no meat in it. The best part about this recipe is you can use it to make 4 different meals, and it is super cheap to make.
You can make a big batch of this sauce for around $7 a pop
Vegetarian Lentil Base Sauce Recipe
What you need
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 red chilli or hot tabasco sauce *optional
- 1 medium onion
- 300gms sliced mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 2 tins of diced tomatoes
- 2 tins of lentils (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup of water or veggie stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Add finely diced onion and garlic to a large frying pan.
- Add your chilli at this stage if you desire or 1-2 teaspoons of tabasco sauce.
- Fry gently for a few minutes
- Add your mushrooms to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Next add your tomato paste and stir through.
- Add the tomatoes and rinsed lentils.
- Add the veggie stock or water.
- Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
Shepherd's Pie
Top with pumpkin and potato mash, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake in the oven (180C) until cheese is melted.
Tacos
Simmer the base sauce down 10 minutes longer to allow it to thicken, add to your heated taco shells, and finish off with your favourite salsa and taco dressings. We replace the salsa with avocado spread (half a ripe avocado mashed with a fork).
Pasta
Cook and drain your favourite pasta. Add the lentil sauce and stir through. Top with some chopped fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
Lasagne
I found mini lasagne sheets in the health food aisle last week and they were the perfect fit to make individual lasagne pots. Layer your sauce, cheese and lasagne sheets, and then bake for approx 20 minutes in an 180C oven. Or alternatively you could make a large family sized lasagne. Everyone loved these and asked for seconds!! Serve with a side salad or steamed veggies.
Click on the badge to discover the Good Stuff Challenge for yourself
As parents our children's nutrition is something we all worry about. Are they getting too big, too small? Are they eating too much junk food? When was the last time they had their daily fruit and veg requirements? How do I encourage them to exercise more? Are they getting enough calcium? Iron? These are all thoughts that run through my head on a daily basis. Monitoring your child's daily food intake and nutrition is hard work, you almost have to be Superwoman herself to do this job.
And we should all be concerned, very concerned.
With the invention of digital media devices such as iPads, Nintendo DS, iPads, Xbox and PlayStation's, our children are moving less and eating more. This only means one thing, kids these days are growing up to be larger than us. If I think back to my own childhood, I ate so much rubbish but was as skinny as a bean pole. The difference was that I also rode the 10km trek to school, was out riding with my friends after school, playing sport on weekends and the only time we sat down to watch TV was after dinner. We battle with our teenagers on a daily basis to put down the laptops, phone and games and get outside. Then there are those parents with the opposite battle and have little ones who refuse most foods and seem to survive on bread, water, fresh air and love.
Thankfully there is a simple and easy solution!
The kids will love them
Cenovis Kids have just launched several exciting
new products , a multivitamin range designed just for kids, which are free from artificial flavours and colours. The Vita Fizzies and Vita Tingles were a big hit with our kids who normally detest taking any form of medication. In fact they think they are so delicious that we've had to put them under lock and key and ensure they only have one a day. I've even caught HB taking a Vita Tingle every morning this week.
Keep in mind that a multivitamin can only be beneficial if your child's dietary intake is inadequate. To find out if your child is getting their daily nutritional allowance, take a look at this
table and handy cheat sheet for parents from Cenovis. You may be surprised at how much good stuff they actually need every day!
Cenovis is also giving away 500 'Good Stuff in The Garden Packs' and you can enter to win one via the
Cenovis Facebook Page.
Try the Cenovis Kids Good Stuff Challenge with your family for a week. Don't forget to take a look at the Good Stuff Guide for lots of useful tips, support and recipes.
The Giveaway
I also have 1 x Good Stuff in The Garden pack to giveaway, valued at $100. This pack contains:
- $20 Bunnings voucher
- My First Garden Kit
- 2 x Yates seed packs
How to Enter
Giveaway open to Australian residents only. This competition ends Thursday 14th of May, 9pm AEST. You can view a full copy of the
terms & conditions of this competition here.
The team at Nuffnang will choose thier favourite response and I will announce the winner on the blog.
Good Luck!
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