As parents, we know how difficult it can be to keep those plates loaded with healthy choices – especially when we must endure stand-offs with fussy eaters and exhausting weekly schedules. Convenience and the path of least resistance often trump our best intentions.
Instead of stressing out about it, we have adopted the REAL FOOD approach.
Real food is anything that exists naturally, has not been processed within an inch of its life, comes with minimal or no packaging, and does not contain non-food ingredients.
Think, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, natural oils, wholegrains, fish, eggs, and ethically farmed meat and poultry.
By making a few simple swaps or recipe adjustments, in favour of real food choices, we can improve the nutritional value of our family meals dramatically. And the best part is, these changes have a high success rate of flying under the radar of even the fussiest eaters!
Keen to give it a go? Check out these handy tips below.
Real-food tips for your home kitchen
Kids in the kitchen – Get them involved. Talk to them about food, what you’re eating, and why you’re eating it. The move to introduce better food choices into your home should be about wellness, balance and fostering awareness.
Balance Your Ledger – 60/40, 70/30 80/20 – start with a ratio that is realistic for your family. Life is full of stressors. Don’t add eating to the list.
Make as much as you can from scratch – Ditch the packets and the lists of ingredients that read like a science experiment. Baking and cooking with your kids is a great way to get them excited about real food. Not to mention, sets them up with valuable life skills.
Offer savoury snacks instead of sweet – Vegetable sticks and hummus, nuts and seeds. Sugar lurks inside most store-bought products. As a result, we’ve come to expect that everything should taste sweet. Reset the palate, don’t foster this expectation.
Serve up a great breakfast – Set you and your family up for the day. Swap sugar-laden, store-bought cereals for healthy fats and protein-rich options like eggs, smoothies and nut butter on toast, porridge served with cream and sweetened with berries or banana.
Be prepared – Set aside time each week to plan your week’s meals.
Ditch the refined sugar – Sweeten foods with honey, maple syrup, and dried or fresh fruit.
Full-fat everything – If you eat dairy products, avoid choosing anything lite or low fat. These products are high in sugar.
Oils and fats – Stick to olive oil, coconut oil, ghee and butter. Steer clear of oils such as canola oil, vegetable oil, soya oil, rice bran oil and margarine spreads, these are all highly processed.
Get your Sherlock on – It’s so important that we know what’s in our food. Get in the habit of reading ingredients and ignoring the marketing. The longer the ingredient list, the less likely it is to be good for you. Forget what the pretty packaging promises you. The ingredients never lie!!
It doesn’t have to be earth-moving, and it’s certainly not rocket science. It’s just two words that together make so much sense.
Real food is guaranteed to be great for your family’s health. Now that’s some marketing you can trust!!