So, this works for me Wednesday was developed for sheer necessity! I have been reading Nourishing Traditions! (It is linked in the side bar) It is full of great information on health and healthy eating and I have been making modifications to our diet, like eliminating white sugar and white flour! Well, as you can imagine that could be hard on the kids, but I decided that instead of constant disappointment over the flavor of their favorite foods I would change their expectations! So, it began this morning when I made whole wheat pancakes!
Now if I would have said, "Hey kiddos, pancakes are ready!" They would have run to the breakfast table with squeals of delight, expecting the typical box mix of Aunt Jemima, laden with sugar, and a nice bottle of syrup on the table to cover it in! Well, what I was serving wasn't anywhere near that cool. I had thin whole wheat pancakes with sliced peaches and honey to top it with. So I decided to change their expectations by RENAMING the food! I was serving "Mama's mouthwatering Crepes" for breakfast!
My little ones have never experienced crepes and so they thought this was cool and the squeals of, "Oh yummy! and Thanks Mom!" were deafening (it is the little things - right!) So for lunch I tried my idea again. We were having burritos, but with green peppers and carrots sauteed with chicken and black beans (not refried beans and no cheese) So I said we are having REB-ah burritos! (Really Excellent Burritos with an "ah" thrown in for good measure! You can do that with Mexican food!) Again, it worked and they were happy with lunch!
Now as an aside my kids are very well acquainted with veggies and are expected to eat all of the veggies on their plate (we don't expect them to finish the carbs if they aren't interested) so that is an established rule in our house, so maybe that is why this works for me, but I just thought that creating new expectations versus disappointing old ones was a better way to introduce more whole foods!
Now on another note, I really like Nourishing Traditions, it is full of practical ideas to increase health and it dispels some myths; however, I am not sure of all the conspiracy theory involved, I tend to believe the best! However the book is still full of great information!
Go to Rocks in My Dryer to check out more WFMW!
5 comments:
This is a great - and fun! - idea!
Thanks for sharing!
I think this might work on my Husband too ;-) Thanks!
Great idea! Since my son started on "real" food, we've always given him the healthy version--whole wheat bread, real cheese, etc. When he is handed something like a grilled cheese sandwhich on white bread with Kraft singles for the filling, he says, "this isn't grilled cheese!" A little embarrassing when we're at someone's home (we're working on a politer technique) but I'm happy he knows good food when he sees it!
Hey! Thanks for stopping by my blog!
What a beautiful family you have! Looks like a fun hiking trip or something!
Just clicked in from WFMW.
I have done the renaming thing and it makes a difference! We have food allergies at our house (mostly my allergies) and so we have all experienced the disappointment of a seriously lacking imitation of an old favorite.
Thanks for the reminder!
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