getting children to try new foods...

I've never been a fast food or kid food kind of a parent. Mac and cheese and hot dogs are not staples in my home but a rarity. They make an appearance only a couple of times a year... generally in the summer, when the grill's all lit up. I've never cooked a separate meal for my kids. My kids must try at least one bite of what's been put in front of them. This includes my 14 year old. When my kids were little I didn't give them buttered noodles or something similar as a substitute to a more grown up meal. Now, before I continue I will be the first to say that my children are not perfect. We have our own food issues, with flavors, textures, etc. My kids, of course, would rather feast on pizza, fries, chips, ice cream and cookies. But I do not allow it. They are allowed a treat every day. I try to get as much color into their diet as I can.... and not by the way of Skittles and m&ms!!!

From the day they were given permission to eat I fed them (following all the allergy guidelines) everything, from all food groups. I bought organic babyfood and I made a lot myself. As they grew older I added my own spices and seasonings. My children, from early on, were exposed to garlic, cumin, paprika, peppers, etc... You name it they tried it. They much prefered the flavored foods over the blander choices. They were exposed to cuisines from all over the world... France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, China, Japan, India, etc... I have friends who are French, Norwegian, Mexican... You think they don't feed their children foods and flavors from their native countries? Of course they do! So, why in American do we think it's necessary to offer hot dogs (have you read the list of ingredients on those?) buttered noodles and pizza bites? What's the logic and reasoning?

We have a family dinner almost every night. We work it around homework and sports but we work it in. It's important to me and it's important to the children. I can't imagine having a family dinner and making two meals, even more! Sometimes, due to intolerances and allergies, we do have to make other provisions, but that's not what I am talking about here. In my meal we have a protein which is usually fish or chicken and once a week we have meat. I always offer veggie and a starch and there is at least something that each child likes. So that if they all don't like the protein or the veggie they can have a bite and then leave the rest, but there's enough food so that they won't go to bed on an empty stomach.They are not allowed to fill up on the starch. If they are hungry after dinner (I don't do dessert) they can have fruit or yogurt.

Our children today are not eating as well as we did when we were growing up. That's a fact. They're not getting the same amount of exercise that we did. That's a fact. They're heavier than we were. That's a fact. They do not need more sugar or more additives. That's a fact. They eat too many as it is. That's a fact. They ingest too much sugar. That's a fact.

And for this reason the photo above really upsets me. The orange and the chocolate do not upset me. This is perhaps my favorite combination. In the world. Ever! In fact we had a chocolate fondue for dessert on Valentine's Day and in addition to the bananas, strawberries and pieces of pound cake, I had the blood orange segments... all to myself... ready to dip into that warm, rich, decadent chocolate! In fact, as we ate I even made a little joke about sneaking in some fruit. But it was a joke.

I found the above picture on Pinterest, and being the chocolate orange lover that I am, my eyes were automatically drawn to it. And then I read the caption. "Chocolate Covered Clementines & Homemade Magic Shell: Love this idea for getting the kids to try some new fruits!" Really? We must use chocolate to get kids to try fruit? We must use chocolate to get kids to try something that is already sweet? Why can't children eat fruit for fruit's sake? Why can't they learn to like wholesome, healthy foods without additives or addtional sugars? Does anyone else take issue with this?

As our children get older and more independent they are face to face with harder choices. They attend parties loaded with junk food and head out for pizza and ice cream. We know they won't make the best decisions all the time so we must do our part as parents while they are still under our roofs... and we must teach them to make the right decisions while they are young. Now, going totally to extremes is not necessarily the best choice either. I've seen children who came from organic and natural homes go completely overboard over and over again when exposed to the less healthy options. The thing is to teach that everything is OK in moderation, while arming them with the knowledge of what is good and what isn't.

What's your take on this? I'd love to hear it, and I would love to know your thoughts on introducing fruit dipped in chocolate to a diet as a way of getting a child to try something new.

XOXO,

Jessica