Susan's Top Ten Lists for Kids' Health

Ten Things To Do!

1. Talk to your children about what food is, why is it provided to mankind.
2. Educate yourself on the many food groups and choices available.
3. Check out your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and begin to replace bad choices.
4. Take your favorite family recipes, such as, casseroles, soups, cookies, snacks, and recreate them with whole ingredients.
5. Eat a rainbow every day. All colors are important and we must choose a variety of colors daily.
6. Use your blender wisely to disguise vegetables, if necessary. Tomato sauce is an excellent disguise for pureed vegetables.
7. Use a variety of good fats daily, such as, olive oil, flax, nuts, nut butters, etc. Grind nuts and seeds in coffee bean grinder and add to veggies, pancakes, muffins, salads, stir-frys, etc.
8. Use herbs and spices, such as, onion powder, garlic, cinnamon, vanilla, dill, basil, oregano, to add flavor and nutrients (most kids enjoy these).
9. Choose a natural multi-vitamin and explain your choice to your kids.
10. Provide choices while insisting on nutrition (i.e., We need to eat some orange foods. Would you prefer carrots or oranges? To not eat orange food is not an option.)

Ten More Things To Do!

1. Eliminate all white sugar and white flour products. Try Deboles artichoke pasta, looks and taste like white flour, but is a vegetable.
2. Eliminate all hydrogenated, and partially-hydrogenated fats. Use butter or olive oil. I blend the two for most foods.
3. Avoid soda and fake fruit juice (only use 100% juice and dilute it with water, and only once daily.)
4. Encourage children to drink more water. Explain the importance of the kidneys as a detox filtering system.
5. Encourage children to explore ways to add more nutrition to their diet.
6. Snack foods do not have to be junk foods. (I.e., salsa with natural corn chips. We like "Sesame Blues", veggies cut in very small pieces with healthy dips, yogurt with onion, garlic, dill, basil, or bean dips like humus or pinto, or black, cheese and fruit kabobs, etc. Apple or banana slices with peanut or other nut butter.)
7. Ethnic foods, such as Italian and Mexican, are kid favorites and easy to convert into healthier choices. Remember, tomato sauce and a blender are easy ways to supply healthy but unpopular veggies like onions. Most kids like garlic and it is an awesome health food.
8. Involve kids in choosing and preparing foods, reminding them of the abundance and purpose of nature's gifts.
9. Avoid preserved food such as, hot dogs, bacon, luncheon meats. These foods contain preservatives that cause cancer and other diseases. Look in our meat freezer for these foods offered without nitrates.
10. Ask God to guide you toward the right decisions for your family and give thanks for the abundance of nature and your awareness of the power of "WHOLE" natural food.