So this weekend is all about the juice for our household. There have been various occasions that have meant we have eaten foods we would not normally have (at school for pirate day this week they had a pirate party filled with choc cakes, crisps etc) and Jake in particular was feeling quite run down and has the beginnings of what looked like a cold.
I have read theories that explain how the cold/flu season we see every Christmas/New Year is “coincidentally” linked with the time of year we all eat and drink far too much of things we shouldn’t. Most houses have extra booze, extra sweets, extra fatty foods….we eat all that and then get poorly. Maybe it is just one of those things, but I firmly believe that we are a product of the food we eat and we are designed to eat natural foods. When we eat processed, high fat, high sugar foods our bodies have to work harder to process them, so the more of those we eat the harder our body has to work. This leaves our immune systems compromised as energy is being used up elsewhere, leaving us open to catching more colds/flu/viruses.
Now this may seem a bit far fetched, but speaking from personal experience, if I have had days/weeks of bad food overloads (has been a fair while now but still…) then I have definitely been more likely to be poorly and when I eat really well, lots of raw foods etc I seem to be healthy 99% of the time…maybe if you think back to can see the correlation too…
Anyway, Jake was feeling a bit under the weather. So today he had porridge for breakfast (to boost him for an early swim lesson) followed by a brunch of pineapple, beetroot, kale and cucumber juice. For lunch it was toasted rye bread with spinach salad, lots of seeds and red peppers. And finally a spicy rice noodle stir fry with mange tout, baby corn, courgettes, red onions, coriander, garlic, and plenty of chilli for dinner. The veg were barely cooked and it all went down a treat.
Now the juices are something we have a lot of, I have included a photo of one of our favourites: kale, celery, apple and ginger. I know I have mentioned them before but it really is such a quick and easy way to get a massive hit of raw veggies and fruits down your neck and is a real pick me up. I love them for breakfasts, and we try to have one or two over a weekend to keep us going.
People often speak to me about their children and how to get them eating healthier foods and this is something I would like to go into on this blog in more detail at some point. But for now I will say that yes, sometimes Jake baulks at what I put in front of him, sometimes he tries to get away with not eating his dinner and sometimes he asks for something else. He never gets an alternative. If he does not want to eat what I have served up that is fine but there are no other choices and no snacks/pudding etc later. It has been this way since he was small and he has gone to bed hungry a couple of times in his life, but we are honest with him and explain why it is important to eat well etc and he understands that in order to be healthy he must eat a good balanced diet. I can honestly say that I can’t remember the last time he didn’t eat his dinner, he might not think everything I make is the tastiest thing in the world but he gives everything a really good go and I am so proud of that. I love that I can take him anywhere that involves food and know that he won’t turn his nose up or push him plate away.
I know kids can be stubborn and habitual and scared to try new things, but I heard someone this week say something that really resonated with me. They said, it is our responsibility to teach them about everything in the world around them, and that includes foods. If your child wanted to run across a motorway you would teach them that that was wrong. So why, if a children refuses to eat their vegetables do we accept it is “just a phase” and let them carry on with only eating the Yorkshire pudding and chicken on their plate?
Now I am aware that I am on the fringes of things diet wise and I am certainly not suggesting you only serve up raw salads to your kids from now on and let them starve if they won’t eat it. But if your little one is young then encourage new foods, be firm about what they have to eat and don’t say “oh it is fine not to eat your dinner, here is a cheese sandwich and bar of chocolate”. If they are older and a bit stuck in their ways then start small. Get them putting things into juices and smoothies, let them press the blender button and make their own. Let them pick pizza toppings from an array of brightly coloured veg. Take them to your local greengrocer and let them choose dinner for that day. All of these things will gradually sink in. We teach our kids about “stranger danger”, road safety, manners and how to be polite. Let’s teach them about their bodies, their future health and how to make good food choices too.
I have had a few people ask me about Jake’s lunches and what we do for pack ups for school so I am going to endeavour to take some photos in the next week or two so I can give you a flavour of the things he has.
Hope all is well out there in cyber world, and hope it is warmer than real life UK where the weather sucks right now!!
