A child eating a Georgia Peach and loving it.
Welcome guest poster, Barbara Rodriguez, the organic celebrity nanny and author of “The Organic Nanny’s Guide to Raising Healthy Kids: Reclaim a Natural Diet and Lifestyle for Your Child”
Hannah was a picky eater, and all her mother could get her interested in were hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and chicken nuggets. At least she was eating, her mother told me when I came to help them. Hannah barely responded to me until I changed her diet.
Food is life. Food is health. Or, food can be the source of frustrating behavior problems, debilitating energy loss, even sickness. What you eat, and especially, what your children are eating on a regular basis, is absolutely crucial in determining their health, well being, and behavior.
They are such beautiful beings—and they rely on us for so much. The good news is that you get to decide: What will you feed them?
Organic Nanny's Guide to Raising Healthy Kids
Now, I know what you are thinking, mamas. You are thinking, “this all sounds nice, but I know my kids. They like what they like. They aren’t going to want to eat all new food, especially healthy food like vegetables.”
Anna, here. Barbara, you must have read my mind. How am I going to change the cavemen’s diets?
Healthy Kid Lovin’ Food
Here are some suggestions:
Chicken Nuggets and French Fries
If your kids love fried food like French fries and chicken nuggets, try baked versions, which are much lower in fat. Slice up a real, whole potato, spray with sesame oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes or until crispy.
Dip Organic free-range chicken tenders into beaten egg and roll in seasoned bread crumbs. Bake along with the fries for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle (time depends on the size of your chicken pieces.)
Add some berries or apple slices, and you’ve got a delicious home-cooked meal that resembles fast food!
Good for Kids Sweets
If sweets are the weak spot, keep a bowl of easy-grab fruit on the counter and fresh cut-up fruit in the refrigerator. Make homemade trail mix with almonds, peanuts, raisins, dried cherries, and dark organic chocolate chips and put it in baggies for easy snacking, or buy boxes of raisins and packets of peanuts. Also try high-fiber, low-sugar granola bars; wholegrain cookies; and fruit leather. If it’s available and easy to grab and sweet, your child will probably go for it.
Once you’ve got a handle on the one thing you want to change, you can start looking around at the rest of your child’s diet and making little upgrades and tweaks.
Barbara Rodriguez
Pre-order Barbara’s book here and find out more great organic parenting tips on her website, The Organic Nanny. She is absolutely adorable. I wish she was around when my kids were young! (Watch her on this video.)
Join the Conversation:
- What are some of your favorite recipe hacks for your kids? Have a favorite chicken nugget recipe? Or a gluten free chicken nugget recipe? Big people like these recipes too.
- Have any great healthy, organic snacks to share? Popcorn balls? Fruit snacks? How to make fruit leather?
- Have you radically changed your kids’ diets to healthy ones? Tell us about the transformation.
Disclaimer: For every book you buy, I make a teeny amount of money to help Green Talk deliver its awesome content. What better way to support Green Talk then to change your children’s lives?
Natalie says
Excellent article! I have a picky eater too and she loves baked chicken nuggets. I roll them in a panko breadcrumbs for a little extra crunch and gobbles them right up!
Anna@Green Talk says
Natalie,
How long to you bake the nuggets and do you just roll the nugget in egg and then panko? Anna