Food=Fuel

I wanted to make sure we raised them to have a good healthy relationship with food, to understand that its fuel for every part of their bodies. Eating well will have a direct impact on your body and I wanted them to really enjoy food, looking forward to eating a variety of foods and to try it all (albeit it can be traditional “force feeding” with a fork full of veggies or a reward chart system praising his eating “choices” at the moment with Tejus but I refuse to give into him “not liking” something). Our kids don’t eat shop bought sweets, chocolates or ice cream (things so often related to children for a bizarre reason as they aren’t nutritious). I say to Tejus that these kinds of food won’t make you bigger, stronger, faster etc. I hope that when they do try them (as I’m sure they will when they’re older), their palettes won’t like the sweet sickly taste of it at all.

Making these meals from this book probably won’t turn your child into that kid that chooses a roast courgette over chips, but its trying to make every mouthful and every meal the best it can be, so they can access a wide range of nutrients and you can relax more as a parent in knowing they’ve eaten a more nutritious version of something familiar. So their chips are sweet potato because they are so full of vitamins and fibre or their bolognese is jam packed with vegetables rather than just a sauce of tomatoes, onion and garlic with seasonings, all to help ensure their diet is full of all the good bits.

I wanted us to enjoy favourite foods but with a healthy twist, so I make pizzas that have a veggie packed sauce on a wholemeal base or pancakes that are bursting with vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are unique to spelt over other forms of wheat. I’m aware that my children, and actually my husband and myself miss out on a large part of social activities as we choose not to eat refined and processed foods (well Harry is more flexible!!) – we miss out on birthday cakes, restaurant meals, home cooked dinners with family or friends and even Tejus eating snacks at his Pre-School/Nursery. I started to see if I could make wholefood and unrefined versions of traditional meals and recipes to ensure we ate healthily but also to see if you can have say a barbecue, a birthday cake or a Sunday lunch that’s still tasty, exciting or special.