GreenCravers.com

Win over your picky eater
in three easy steps

by Diana

Time to read: 5 minutes. You need to get nutritious foods into your child’s body — not to be educated on their benefits.  Preferably without the crying, begging or attempts to con your child.  Fail, fail, fail.  Today I’m revealing a three step process to do-away-with your veggie-refusin’ picky eater — forever.  Don’t give up yet.  Read on and join the many parents who’ve overcome picky eating to create happier, healthier kids!

First, please don’t think that you’ve heard all there is to hear — and tried everything there is to try — only to fail.   Yes, your child will give it a try.  Follow me.  Success will not happen overnight but it will happen if you are consistent yourself — and patient with your child.

Action step #1:  Make a smooth move

Got an infant?  Steam some green (this is critical) veggies for 4-5 minutes and put them in the food processor for 1 minute.  Done.  Let cool and serve or freeze for later.  Do you have minutes to make a healthy meal PACKED with nutrients?  Yes, you do, hot mama.   Plan your day otherwise the day will plan you.

Got a full-blown, militantly anti-veggie child?  Or maybe the only thing they’ll eat is “foods with colors that are a variation on beige” as my husband’s friend once said about his son.  No problem.  Make your child a healthy drink.

As an example:  A green smoothie.  How to create a green smoothie?  More importantly one that your child will honestly crave?  Here we go…

Use pure water, or coconut water, as a liquid base in the blender.  Use the fruit that your child loves.  Take your pick.  Toss in a few dark green leafy vegetables (they must be dark green, please) and a little honey to make it more sweet if needed.  Honey is an insanely-nutritious, beneficial, natural form of sugar.  Don’t go overboard but get that honey going.

The Golden Rule for picky eater success:  Start with 80% fruits and 20% greens in the beginning and, over time, slowly decrease the fruit and honey and increase the greens to maximize health benefits.

Here is a sample recipe you can start with.  Again, use your child’s favorite fruits.  Mine are just examples.

Killer green smoothie

1 cup coconut water (coconut water is full with electrolytes and is great way for re-hydration)

1 mango

1 banana

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup organic spinach 1/2 cup ice

Blend in the blender and and serve.  This way your child receives a mega-dose of vital nutrients that are necessary for the day.  If you can work 2 smoothies in per day you won’t need to wage battle over eating veggies at the dinner table.

Go crazy and toss in some chocolate.  Yes, you can say yes to chocolate but in its raw form.

Toss 1 tsp. of raw cacao powder into the above smoothie.  Raw cacao powder is the best source of magnesium on Earth.  It’s FILLED with powerful anti-oxidants that will keep your child healthy, happy and disease-free.

Brave enough?  Toss in 2 tbs. hemp seeds (a tremendous source of protein).  They don’t really taste like anything and your child gets a natural protein boost.  (essential because most artificial, man-made protein supplements don’t actually absorb into our bodies!)

Or you can use dates for sweetening up the taste.  Natural forms of sugar are MUCH more healthy and beneficial for kids.  PLUS your child gets tons of needed fiber from dates.

Action step #2:  Create desserts using tasty, nutrient-dense Superfoods

Create desserts (like cookies) out of Superfoods.  Skip the bleached flower and refined sugars.  Here’s how.  This is one of my son’s favorite recipes you can use.  Rip me off!

Goji berry cookies

1/2 cup goji berries

1   Tbs. hemp seeds

1/2 cup almonds (raw)

2   Tbs. coconut butter

1   Tbs. coconut oil

3   Dates

First put the goji berries and the Almonds in the food processor.  After they combine well add the rest:  coconut butter, coconut oil and the Dates.  Blend for another minute.  Put the dough in a bowl and add the Hemp seed.  Fold gently.  Roll as a balls or make a flat cookie shape — take your pick.  Put them in the freezer for at list 30 min.   Enjoy. This is a treat that you do not have to use restriction rules.  No, seriously.  Cookies without restriction.  They’re Superfood cookies!

Action step #3:  Create snacks using Superfoods

Create snacks from dark green leafy vegetables as an example.  No, really.  Hear me out.  I have yet to meet a child who rejected these and I meet a LOT of kids in my business.  I want to share my kale chips recipe with you.

Kale chips

1 bunch organic duno (or “elephant”) kale (this is best but any kale will do)

3 tbs. raw honey (must be raw to get the nutrients!)

1/2 organic lemon

pinch celtic salt (again, loaded with nutrients)

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Cut the stems from the kale leaves.  In a bowl combine the squeezed lemon juice, honey, salt.   Mix together.  Add the kale leaves and make sure every part of the leaf is coated with the mixture in the bowl.  Leave it for ah hour so — let the kale absorb the mixture.  Put the leaves in a dehydrator on 115F for 8 hours — or in your oven on the lowest setting for 2 hours.   Enjoy crispy nutritional chips with great health benefits.

Empower yourself by getting real

Be honest with yourself.  If you do this one thing you’ll multiply your chances of success — you’ll win over the picky eater.

Reality:  Our palates are “trained” the moment we start eating solid foods as kids.

Reality:  WE (parents & caregivers) are in control of what our kids eat.  If we want to, we can start serving them food — real food — rather than buying jarred baby food or other processed foods from the store that are nutritionally poor.

Reality:  You have the time.  You have nothing but time.  You simply need to adjust your priorities.  Sure, you have nothing but priorities — got it.  But if you truly care about your child’s health you will invest MINUTES per day to make better health a reality.  It will feel great to make your child’s health a priority — far better than showing them a good time at Chuck E Cheese.  Trust me.  There’s something in it for you too.

When you start is critical

The earlier you start with your child the faster and the better result you will have. But if you child is of an age where eating habits are already formed do NOT give up.

Parents and caregivers create the eating habits our children have today.  We bear this responsibility.  But it’s not a burden.  We make the food choices we make every day.  Our children don’t have any idea what is good for them and what is bad.  They do not go to the store and buy the food that is in our pantry and our fridge.  We do.

This is how, unknowingly, we create their eating habits.  This… my friends… is how we train their taste buds and develop their palate. And this process is on-going.  This is why there’s hope… opportunity.

If you start from early days to introduce conventional, nutritionally depleted foods — made with highly refined sugars and additional fillers — this is what your kid will crave throughout his/her life.  But if you start with home-made or natural, organic nutritionally-dense food (Superfood snacks, green smoothies) this is what your child will learn to crave.

So take action now and start making these delicious recipes – take the first step towards raising a healthy, happy child.  Not to mention saving yourself a lot of headaches!

photo credit: technopinoy