It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything in the Healthy Eating Habits category. It probably looks like my family eats a whole lot of sweets and carbs from most of my posts. And I’m not gonna lie. We do. But at the same time, there are a few small things we do to be healthy (and keep our kids healthy), and I feel like those small things really make a big difference. And for some reason it’s harder for me to blog about the small, daily things we do/eat than it is to blog about our once a year CHOCOLATE CAKE.
Here are a few routine things we do:
- Smoothies. Usually it’s a combination of a banana, frozen pineapple, mango, frozen baby spinach (or sometimes fresh baby kale), vanilla yogurt, water, and maybe half a cucumber, some berries, or a peeled kiwi (depending on what we have). It brings me peace of mind knowing that my kids are getting some leafy greens and a variety of fruits too. I don’t keep the ingredients a secret. They know there’s spinach in their smoothies. Sometimes they even put it in themselves.
- Healthy Mexican Food. I see Mexican food two ways. Think Nacho Cheese Chalupa from Taco Bell. Oh boy, it tastes so good, but I usually get heartburn after eating one of those. Now think of Chipotle, where they use things like fresh vegetables, beans, and real meat. Cafe Rio is probably my favorite though! We make homemade beans at home probably every two or three weeks (and about 1 lb. dry beans lasts my family of four about a week to finish). They are healthy, inexpensive, filling and they make things taste great (like burritos)! I still need to post how I usually make them.
- We’ve made the switch to whole wheat spaghetti noodles (my favorite whole wheat spaghetti brand so far is Trader Joe’s). And I’m so happy we did! They are more filling, so I don’t eat as much, and they are way more nutritious than the regular spaghetti noodles.
- We very rarely drink soda, or even juice. Usually just water or milk, but we do enjoy a little juice every once in a while. 🙂
- My kids are more likely to eat vegetables in simple forms. They will almost always eat steamed broccoli and carrots. They’ll eat parsley and celery if I add it into soups, like LENTIL SOUP or CREAMY POTATO SOUP. They are also more likely to eat vegetables if I serve them as appetizers while they wait for dinner to be ready (see THIS post).
In summary, when I’m hoping to change my eating habits for the better, I try to make small, but concise, changes at a time. For example, when I decided that drinking soda just wasn’t worth the damage, I just stopped drinking it at all (although I still ask for Ginger Ale when I fly on airplanes since it helps me not feel so motion sick). You can do it too! Pick something, one thing, and become an even healthier you!