Some food is just for FUN!

I frequently have conversations with my eldest daughter Peanut about what food is healthy and what is not. She already knows what is healthy and what she likes. I do frequently remind her that not all our food has to be healthy. Some food we eat just b/c it tastes good and we like it. But we don't do it everyday and we don't make pigs of ourselves doing it. That said, here are some photos of us making pineapple upside down cupcakes from Family Fun magazine. It really is a great magazine for recipes that kids can help with, among other great features. P&P truly enjoyed cutting the cherries and pineapple and of course the measuring and stirring. We also made chocolate covered strawberries this week. Unfortunately the strawberries did not come from our garden. Someone had one of those edible fruit baskets sent to work. Peanut became obsessed with chocolate covered strawberries when she heard about them. It does after all entail two of her favorite foods.

We will be replanting our strawberries soon, ours dried up when Viking Daddy misunderstood my directions on which pots to water while I was away. August gardening in AZ is akin to the rest of the country's January. We are getting some cucumbers and the basil is still producing but that is pretty much it. But we have three different tomatoes sprouting as well as some bell peppers. Our other seeds are awaiting cooler temperatures to be planted

Tonight we had sauteed baby spinach with golden raisins and almonds, basmati brown rice and salmon patties. I LOVE salmon patties because I always have the ingredients to make them on hand, they are quick and very nutritious. I have quite a bit of canned salmon stored up in case we have a supply chain melt down due to the H1N1 flu this winter. Even though my children always eat this way (i.e. not carnival food) I still marvel at it. I think because it is not the norm. Kids eat chicken nuggets and french fries because that is what they are served. Mine eat curry and cauliflower because that is what they are served.

Fruit over French Fries

On a recent trip to Chick-fil-a a mistake was made on our order and my children were given those tasty waffle fries instead of the mixed fruit we always order. No big deal I thought, I'll let them have it. The line was unusually long. Peanut looked at the fries and said "where's my fruit?" I told her a mistake was made. "I don't want those. I want my fruit." I took them back to the counter where they disposed of them and handed me two containers of fruit. They did look at me in disbelief when I told them my daughters would rather have fruit than fries. This is the norm for them. There are lots of thing we don't give our kids "choices" on -- wearing a bike helmet, washing hands. Is good nutrition any different? It undoubtedly affects health for the rest of ones life! I hope by making choices for them as a parent I have set them up for a lifetime of good nutrition. Though I do occasionally wonder if I go overboard and it could backfire one day. The truth is, like so many things, I can't control everything they do. But I have control over this, for now.