...by taking the fuss out of feeding! 

​We’ve all been there…lovingly taking the time to prepare a healthy, delicious meal and our children flatly refuse to eat it. Frustration, disappointment, anger, worthlessness – food refusal really strikes an emotional blow.

And what do you when they refuse? Should you make toast? At least you know they’ll eat that!

We all want our kids to eat with as little fuss as possible. We want to cook just one meal and all sit down at the table and enjoy it together.

Dinner times should be fun, peaceful places; a chance for families to chat about their day, not a battlefield. So let’s make it happen!

Remember, fussy eating is a normal part of a child’s development as they try to exert some control over their world. You are not alone, but how can we get through these fussy stages as calmly and healthily as possible?

It can be done, and the answers lie within ourselves, not in our children. Change our attitudes and we can positively influence our children’s behaviours.  After all, we want to raise healthy eaters who can make their own decisions, not force-feed our kids.

As parents we naturally believe that it is our responsibility to feed our kids, but we are taking on too much! The pressure, extra stress and heartache will, in the long run, prove detrimental to our children’s eating skills.

Stick to your responsibility

PARENTS’ RESPONSIBILITY:

Provide healthy food at regular intervals (you choose what is on offer and when)

CHILD’S RESPONSIBILITY:

To eat or not to eat, and how much

Ever been privy to a tantrum-throwing toddler, an indignant preppie, a screaming seven year old? Of course you have. Kids yearn for control. In a world where they spend much of their time being told what to do, food is one of the first things they can control. Try all you like, you cannot get a child to eat if they don’t want to. Actually, we shouldn’t even try.

Stick to your responsibility. As a parent you have the responsibility to offer healthy food at regular intervals. That’s it! It is your child’s responsibility to choose whether to eat and how much of each food to eat. They may choose not to eat at all and that is OK.  You need to trust your children (of any age) with their responsibility.

Kids are better than adults at realising their hunger and fullness signals. By forcing kids to eat, or to finish everything on their plate, we are overriding their natural instincts.

By fulfilling your own responsibilities and stepping out of your child’s, not only are you giving them the control they desire, which will encourage them to eat, you also don’t have to worry if they choose not to eat! In time, they will learn to eat a variety of food.

This division of labour has made me much calmer at meal times. Being calm also encourages my kids to eat and overall the whole experience is SO MUCH more pleasant.

While children choose to eat or not, they don’t get to pick what goes on the menu (they can assist under guidance for sure) – that’s the parents’ domain.  When planning your menu, be considerate to your children’s food inexperience but don’t pander to their “likes” and “dislikes”.

Once a child is over one year old, the timing of meals is also your responsibility.  Offer meals and snacks at regular intervals, but only water between meal times. Make sure there is enough time between offering food so that kids can experience hunger and fullness. A hungry child (we didn’t say starving) is more likely to eat.

Give your child the chance to take control, make decisions and impress you. Remember, your role is to offer the healthy food at regular intervals, in a pleasant environment. Let them get on with the eating.  Role model healthy eating and table manners and they will follow your lead.

With practice, you will reach the stage where every dinner at home is as enjoyable as going out for dinner with a group of friends.

(First posted on Mouth of Mums www.mouthsofmums.com.au)

Check out our range of products for kids in the kitchen, also great for fussy eaters. Click here. 

Life is busy – work, family, exercise and social life. There seems to less and less time to shop, meal plan and cook.

I love cooking, but to be honest on busy, stressful weeks I sometimes wish there was someone else to take care of the planning and shopping.

We as dietitians are often asked for advice to help people take the stress out of the food component. For this reason exactly, I decided to trial a few different Meal Kits.
Here is how they compared:

• HelloFresh
• Marley Spoon
• My Food Bag

 
Generally:
Meal Kits are great as a nice break to a busy life- a great way to reduce stress and simplify things. They are super easy; the meal planning and shopping is done for you; the groceries are brought right to your door.
​
The recipes included great photos of your meal and were very easy to follow.  
Even as a dietitian, I felt that they taught me some great new recipes. I enjoy reading and finding new recipes, but don’t often have the time to try new things. Using the Ingredient Boxes forced me to try new recipes and I have enjoyed making them since finishing the trial.
If you are not a confident cook, these boxes might also help to get you back into the kitchen.


The cons
All of the Meal Kits have the issue of waste (packaging), not a big deal if it is an occasional thing. I kept all the packaging so that if I use the boxes again, I can return the packaging for re-use (which is preferred I believe).

Personally I preferred having just 4 meals a week come in the book (some gave you the option of five). The four meals seemed to last the week with leftovers. We also like going out as a family, so really didn’t need to plan all dinners. And we are also happy with a simple omelet meal once a week. I felt four meals gave me most flexibility.

They are a bit expensive and really didn’t have quite enough vegetables[I1] . My tips are use these Meal Kits as a base of your week, but buy some more COLOURFUL vegetables that you can add to the meals (frozen vegetables work well as a quick option). I made a quick salad with every meal. When it called for roast potatoes, I through in other veggies as well. This was also good for my kids as every night was a new food so I used the salad or roast veggies as the familiar/safe food for them.
It doesn’t come with fruit to snack on but some give you the option to buy a fruit box. You still need to get things like bread and milk as the boxes are just a dinner thing.
Out of the three I tried, Hello Fresh was definitely the easiest in terms of cooking skill. Marley Spoon was a little fancier. With both Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon you could choose which recipes you wanted send from a few options but My Food Bag is set (but they do have some different bag choices).

You also need about 20-30 minutes to cook them. So great if you are at work and come home and want to quickly prepare a meal. A little trickier if you have little ones and it's witching our and you want to prepare dinner earlier. For that maybe check out our magic pudding meal idea blog. 

There are also companies starting to produce these boxes including Aussie Famers Direct and there are lots of internet codes out there so you can give them a try at a reduced cost.

In summary Meal Kits are a fantastic, easy and quick option for busy weeks. We love that they encourage people to cook and eat fresh foods (and reduce stress). Big tick of approval from us.

Guest Blog by:
Clare Mathieson
 
Kids are often told not to play with their food. I say let them play with their food.
 
As a mother of three children under 8, I want my kids to eat fresh, real and tasty food and I want them to enjoy what they are eating. We do lots of baking and cooking at home but my newest hobby is playing with food. Making food art for my children started in an attempt to encourage a friend’s little boy to eat salad (it was successful). I loved doing it, the children kept asking for more and I haven’t been able to stop!
 
My kids love guessing what I am making and then demolishing it almost immediately afterwards. I’m talking ingredients such as broccoli, quinoa, red cabbage, lentils – they eat it all. They often make their own food art now too – for themselves but also for me. It is cute to see what they come up with but the best bit has been the improvement in their kitchen skills – lots of chopping and making their own snacks and lunches. I have only one rule: no food is to be wasted. Everything used in our food art creations is to be eaten.
 
They don’t have to be fancy or complex – a smiley face made out of salad would do the trick. Depending on their age and skill level, kids can definitely get involved and help out with picking ingredients, chopping (younger kids can use Foost knife or butter knife) and creating their own plate to eat. My four year old is now a super star at chopping fruit and vegetables from making his own food art. The food art is sometimes based on what ingredients we have on hand, but other times we get an idea from a book or picture we’ve seen and try to create it. I have been looking for a suitable knife for kids to use for ages – I came across the Foost knives recently and am so pleased as now I know their little fingers are safe! They have found them easy to use and are very excited to have their own knives.

Here is Mabel, aged seven, and Arthur, aged four, chopping vegetables. 

The food art at top of blog included a tortilla that we made together (so much easier than I expected and oh so yummy) and lots of veggies.
​
You could use so many different ingredients here. I have previously made the wall out of wholegrain toast pieces for breakfast. Our Humpty was made from a hard-boiled egg, capsicum and carrot . The wall was built from yellow and red capsicum pieces. The hill was a piece of tortilla with avocado and some steamed broccoli for the tree. The butterfly was a cherry tomato with carrot.

By Irene Lichomets

What a festive time of year- chocolate and sweets seem to be everywhere. While we have a sweet tooth like anyone else (including our children), chocolate tastes so much sweeter when its eaten in moderation.
 
Our favourite healthier options:

• Egg shaped bliss balls (recipes below)
• Mini sticky date and pear muffins
• Egg shaped playdough (can pop into a plastic egg)
• Mini carrots (bunnies favourite foods)
• 'Carrot' filled Popcorn
  (make a carrot packet by rolling orange paper into a cone and sticking some green on top)
• Whats growing? book (lasts much longer than food and you can teach your kids how carrots grow) 
• Kids safe knife (cuts carrots but not little fingers)
• Little toy bunny or fussy chicken (from $2 shop)

 
Similarly during the Jewish holiday of Purim- Mishloach Manot or gifts of food are often sugar laden.
Some healthier sweet ideas:

• Apples
• Hamentashen shaped boxes filled with Sultanas
• Chia jam filled hamentashen 
• Date bliss balls 

Why don’t you get your kids to help out making the gifts in their FOOST little chef gear. 

And click here for some mindful eating tips during this festive season. 

Happy holidays everyone!

Cinnamon Apple No-Bake Bites
Makes 20 bites
These are our favourite bliss balls- they taste like apple pie
Healthy, gluten free, vegan
Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: NA

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup old rolled oats
• 1 cup dried apples
• 1/2 cup medjool dates (pitted)
• 2 tbsp water (more may be needed)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp allspice

Method:

1. Add all ingredients into food processor blend (mixture should become like a dough).
2. Use a tablespoon to scoop out mixture.
3. Roll into ball sized bites.

Storage:
These need to be stored in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container.

​Cranberry No-Bake Bites
Makes 20 bites

We love these tart bliss balls.
Healthy, gluten free, vegan
Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: NA

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup medjool dates (pitted)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp water

Method:

1. In a food processor finely grind the cashews and almonds
2. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until all combined.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of water.
4. Use a tablespoon to scoop out mixture.
5. Roll into ball sized bites.

Storage:
These need to be stored in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container.

My thoughts on Curtis Stone's comments
 
Accepted scientific fact tells us that "healthy kids won't starve themselves" this is much simpler in theory.  
 
While it may be true (for most cases); parents generally don't want to put theory to the test and actually let their kids go without dinner. Particularly not by Day 2!
 
I appreciate what Curtis Stone is saying, but there is a kinder middle ground that will help kids to become colourful and adventurous eaters (and not having you cooking separate meals) - and allow families to enjoy food together. 
 
Adults control so much of a child's everyday life (...but there is one thing we can't force a child to do and that is eat. We can bribe them, beg them or trick them, but these are not long term solutions.
Remember that we are not just trying to get our kids to eat today, we are raising adults and teaching kids how to eat. 
 
To help make kids familiar with new foods you can get them to shop and cook meals,  pretend play and story books about fruits and veggies. Check out FOOST range of knives, books and play equipment HERE.
 
My top tips for raising food loving kids: 
 
1. Share the responsibility 

The parent, has the responsibility to serve healthy food  regularly; Kids choose what and how much they eat (from whats given to them)
 
If you make and offer food at regular intervals that’s your job done! No need to cook multiple meals, but a little compassion is important.  Serve foods they like with new foods, to encourage them to try something new (eg. broccoli  AND carrots – if broccoli isn’t a favourite but carrots are)
My kids like separate vegetables more than mixed salad to choose which vegetables to take.
 
If your kids choose to eat nothing from your set menu, that’s okay. Let them know when the next meal or snack time is and that there will be no food until then. If they go to bed a little hungry, let them know breakfast is not that far away.
 
2. Create family meal times
This can be hard for working families, but it’s very important to eat together (around the table ,without the TV) as often as possible.
This is a great for role modeling  ; providing a relaxed and enjoyable social time. One parent eating with kids is fine during the week (its often me OR my partner eating with the kids).

 
3. Have set meal and snack times 
Kids should be coming to the dinner table hungry, but not famished to be open to new food experiences (missing afternoon tea snack when dinner is early).
To learn intuitive eating, kids need to listen to their bodies and feel hunger and fullness. Kids are great at listening to their bodies, while adults  often have to re-learn this. (Note: to feel hunger/fullness grazing isn’t recommended for those older than 1)
 
4. Change your attitude 
Remember- No need to pressure them about HOW much or WHAT they eat from what’s offered (just providing them with healthy food regularly).Start believing that your kids will eat. Eating can be learnt, with time, positivity and patience.

There are lots of food myths out there. Here are a few from 2015 and some tips for 2016.

Myth 1: You should detox. 
Truth: Your liver and kidneys remove the toxins from your body. If you've over-indulged a little this festive season just go back to eating a more balanced and colourful diet (see 2016 tips below).

Myth 2: Superfoods. 
Truth: There are many foods that make this claim and there is no doubt they are often healthy choices and high in nutrients. However, most of the claims are exaggerated and unsubstantiated "marketing puff".

There is no one single Super-Food. Feel free to enjoy some of these foods as part of your diet, if you enjoy them and can afford them, but don't be fooled by the Super-Hype. 

Myth 3: Sugar is poison.

It seems sugar is the new bad guy. The truth is, no one single food or ingredient is causing obesity or poor health. Sugar is found in many foods that are high in energy and low in nutrients (treat foods not everyday food). However, some sugars form naturally in foods that are part of a balanced diet including fruit and milk and there are benefits of fibre and calcium that we get from consuming these foods. So while we should certainly reduce our sugar intake, there is no need to take extreme measures or reduce it to zero and miss out on eating some of the foods you love. 

Myth 4: Wheat is bad for us.

Some people are intolerant or allergic and then wheat certainly needs to be limited or avoided. But, if you can tolerate wheat products (bread, pasta etc) there is no need to cut it out of your diet. When choosing wheat products choose wholegrain breads and wholemeal flours. Look for products where you can see the grains. And remember to balance your plate with lots of colourful veggies. 

2016 - Four Top Tips 

1. Eat lots of colour 
Eat lots of fruit and veggies in different colours! About double the amount of veggies as fruit. Snack on fresh fruit and veggies, add some veggies to your lunch and make half your dinner plate full of veggies. 

2. Choose wholegrain (and less processed) 
Look at the ingredients list. Can you understand what each ingredient is? Are there less than five ingredients? 

3. Enjoy small amounts of your favourite treat
Eat them slowly and mindfully.  Turn the TV off and even try closing your eyes when you eat them.

4. Drink water 
Try flavouring it with some frozen berries or some lemon wedges and mint

In 2016, I would like to see the world move away from blaming or hyping single ingredients and become more whole food focused. Balanced eating while mindfully enjoying some treats; focused on eating a variety of less processed, more colourful foods. 

Confessions of a non-believer
 
I really don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions.   But I do believe in continual self-improvement and reviewing the choices we make in life. And New Year is as good a time as any to do that.  Start as you wish to continue is my motto and setting realistic and achievable goals for long term success.
So what will I be working on in 2016:

1. More mindful

In life and with food. In regards to food, here are the tips I’m going to try follow. Eat at the table (not at the computer at night while working). Eat more slowly. Drink more water.
In regards to life, I will try and be less rushed, allow more time to get out the door. And probably going to sleep earlier would help too.

1. More gracious

I was recently at a Christmas party and the host made a lovely speech. She spoke lots about being grateful for the things we have; food, good company, safety. It is easy to see the things we haven’t got or complain when things don’t go our way or targets we don’t reach. But in comparison to most of the world, we are so, so lucky.

1. More active

I have noticed my physical activity levels decline since I am not training for an event. I would like to reach 100 boot camp sessions and participate in two to three running events or I’m considering trying a mini sprint triathlon.

How about you? Might I suggest more colourful eating? :)

Recent experiences in my life: 
 
- While writing this blog a friend emailed me with a "fantastic recipe." It included a picture from a recipe book and a photo of her version. I put it on my "to do, to make" list.  
 
- Last week I cooked two recipes given to me by one of my closest friends. I am constantly discussing feeding kids and great new recipes with her. 
 
- Yesterday a girl from my personal training group and running group invited me on a 15km 'fun run'. 
 
- Last week my brother accompanied me on a half marathon, just cause he thought it would be nice to go for a run with his sister. His encouragement not only helped me, but many others who were running near us. 
 
- On Thursday we went to my mum’s house for dinner. She served us chicken, veggies and at least six different veggies. 
 
So why am I telling you this?
 
Whether you like it or not, you are strongly influenced by the people in your life. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
 
Have a think about the five people closest to you. Think about your day. Who do you spend most time with? Do these people help inspire you to lead a healthy lifestyle? Are they helping you to achieve your goals?
 
It is ok to prioritise your time. Spend more time with people who inspire you and help you achieve your goals. 
 
Remember to also think about social media. Is it time for a spring clean? Is what is filling your Facebook or Instagram feed inspiring you? Or making you feel bad? 
 
Like it or not, we are the sum of those people closest to us. We become who we are surrounded by. 
 
 

​ 
I recently read Michael Pollan's 'Food Rules'. Michael is a journalist and penned the quote; "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much."                                                            (picture: my recent holiday reading)
 
There are 83 "rules" in the book. The last one being "Break the rules once in a while". I wanted to share with you the rules I found the most useful. The book is broken into 3 parts to go with his quote. Here are my favourites: 
 
Q. What should I eat? 
A. Eat Food
 
- Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients 
- Shop the edges of the supermarket and stay out of the middle
 
Q. What kinds of food should I eat?
A. Mostly plants
 
- Eat your colours 
- Only snack on fruit, vegetables and nuts 
- Make water your beverage of choice 
- Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself 
 
Q. How should I eat?
A. Not too much
 
- Stop eating before you're full 
- Eat slowly 
- Do all your eating at a table  (No, a desk is not a table. Not while driving, working or watching TV)
- Treat treats as treats 
 
 
Which rules do you like? My favourite is of course 'Eat your colours'. Do you have any food rules that guide you?