FOOD- Part 3

November and December were hard transitional food months for us. Especially December… the baking, the cookies, the brownies, the fudge, the goodies… all of that was OBSELETE. There was no baking, none. And there were very few goodies because Bogie was on the most stringent part of his diet.

We ate a lot of fish. Plain fish with a little bit of salt and pepper and olive oil .

This was my plate since the rice has corn in it and there is lemon on the fish. But for anyone who is changing their diet this is a perfectly healthy dinner.

We drank smoothies 2-3 times per day. You know you're family is going through a lot of spinach when the Costco sized spinach is gone in 3-4 days. I went to every market in town that I had been told would have something Bogie could eat. (There are only so many apples your kid can eat.) I went with a girlfriend of mine, who wants to be a nutritionist, she showed me things at the organic market in town, and I would toss it in the cart, or put it on my list for next time. I spent $7.50 on bread- that he did not like. I spent $6 on 6 tortillas, that he ate, thank goodness. I spent $6 on english muffins that he ate, then I went back and spent another $6 on english muffins only to find out I bought the wrong ones (had corn) and those were thrown out because nobody else would eat them. That was a regular thing to do if Bogie wouldn’t eat it, pretty much nobody else would, so I would just chuck it. Yup, money down the drain. Trial and error.

Blogging was the last thing on my mind. I was on a mission to get my kid healthy. Not to mention the holidays were around the corner, so along with that chaos, I was trying to change our families diet DURING the holidays. Madness, I don’t recommend it for anyone.

So I have a few tips I’d like to share with you if you’re thinking of overhauling your family’s diet.

1.) Buy lots of the fruits and veggies, but only the ones you KNOW your family will eat. If its apples, buy apples. We have tried every red apple known to man. Fuji, gala, braeburn are all “yes” around here. They are a go to snack or side dish for lunch. I can get my kids to eat eat spinach till they are green in the face, but I can not get them to eat broccoli to save their lives.

2. Start your meals with what you know you can eat-protein. I would choose either chicken or a fish for the night, or choose whether it would be a vegetarian night. From their I planned my dinners.

3. Next choose your sides. Utilize what you CAN have. So much of what needs to be cut out is the gluten and if your family is anything like mine-pasta and cheese are pretty much the norm. So you need to think outside of the box. You need to remember what IS on your eat list and build meals from their. One of my biggest wastes of time and money was trying to recreate meals that we would normally eat with ‘other’ ingredients. Some work, some don’t. But introducing new foods to your family at every meal is going to end up in some frustration for both parties, so use what you know.

4. When you do get creative, have a back-up plan. Rice chex worked for us and when something flopped and my kids were still hungry I could give them rice chex and an apple to fill them until the next meal.

5. Ask for help from people who ACTUALLY eat this way. Everyone has an opinion, everyone. So if you’re looking for advice, or recipes, ask moms who have families and kids with limited diets, they have walked in your shoes and they are pretty ready to share. My best new recipes have come from moms who have actually gotten kids to eat these whole natural foods.

6. Make a decision and a commitment to changing your eating. Commit to reading labels and commit to planning out your meals. This kind of eating takes time and planning, its not as simple as going through the drive-thru.

6a. I’m a mom to three active little boys and the drive thru is a God-send for a lot of us, especially if your kids are in as many activities as mine. So know where you can go, and what you can eat. There are all sorts of apps to help you find places. Chick-fil-a and El Pollo Loco are our go-to’s in a pinch. And yes, I am now that person who gives 20 specials orders to the drive thru and doesn’t leave unless its followed to a T. At restaurants I just speak to the manager directly, at church I talk with the head teacher, at school his teachers have a list of what he can’t eat and when they're not sure they just don’t give it to him.

Okay, I’m sure I could go on and on and I know everyone wants pictures, I’m trying. Its getting harder and harder to take photos of food the more these boys of mine are growing.

Any questions I can answer??