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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The "Half and Half" Rule

At any given time, most children would opt for that high fat, high sugar, or heavily refined carbohydrate food rather than its healthier alternative. Therefore, one of the toughest challenges that we face daily, just like most parents with young children, is how to get our youngsters to eat more of the nourishing food items.

If you’d like to gradually wean them off the less nutritious stuff, this home grown “Half and Half” concept might very well do the trick! It is simple. It is effective. If it can work for us, I believe that it can work for your family as well. The following is intended to be a general guideline. You can be as creative as you wish. Here's the drill...

FOR BREAKFAST:

  • A single serving of Eggo waffles or Pancakes-for example- equals two pieces. Replace one of them with whole wheat, multi-grain or whole grain brand.
  • *If they want Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, or Captain Crunch, no problem! Be sure to combine in equal proportion, with other whole grain options like Bran Flakes, Quaker Squares, Raisin Bran... etc.

FOR LUNCH:

  • The top or bottom half of their peanut butter and jelly (PBJ), grilled cheese, ham and cheese or other preferred sandwich, should be made with whole wheat bread.
  • They want French fries? Fine. So long as they are willing to have an equivalent serving of some fruit or veggie i.e. sliced apples, grapes, banana, baby carrots or other healthy finger food.
  • As for chips or crackers, most children would not touch the unsalted type with a 10-foot-pole. In the absence of a reduced sodium assortment, simply combine regular(less than 120 mg of sodium per serving), with unsalted variety before dishing out.

FOR DINNER:

  • If Rice or Pasta such as (Spaghetti )is on the dinner menu, overall quantity prepared should consist of half (brown rice) or( whole wheat pasta )and half of the usual ‘enriched’ variety.
  • Be sure to sneak in a few leaves or a decent portion of baby spinach into their garden salad for added nutrition.

In the event of an occasional fuss or resistance, gently remind them of the only other possible option. The new “100% WHOLE GRAIN, ALL THE TIME” Rule, and watch the magic of compliance unfold-;)

Note: Do not forget to add those whole wheat or whole grain products to your grocery shopping list unless of course your child has an allergy to wheat!

If you like this post, you'll probably find this blog entry useful.

4 comments:

Amy said...

I always try to use the whole grain pasta, bread, rice and cereal. Were getting ready to try a more organic, low fat diet after the new year. Matt said that you are a wonderful cook, so I'm always up for tips.

Unknown said...

Great post. I always use whole everything - my kids never really knew the difference and I try not to have true 'junk' around the house too much like candy, cookies, etc. Juice is always 1/2 and 1/2 even for my 4 year old. I love this site - great job!

intrepidideas said...

Wow... This makes so much since. You have a very practical and helpful blog. Keep up the good work.

Bennie said...

@amy,
Well, do tell matt thanks for the compliment. I shall do my best to keep churning out those tips -;)
Btw, let us know how the organic regimen pans out for you guys.

@melissa,

Good for you! I wish I had implemented the whole everything philosophy, right from the get go...oh well, live and learn.

@intrepid,

Thanks for visiting. I'll do my best to be a good soldier-:)

Merry Christmas to you all!

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