This post is coming out late as we have had an event filled day! One of my little beans came down with a tummy bug so I have been running around caring for him along with all of the other Saturday duties. Luckily he has turned a corner and is on the mend. Poor little guy. When something like this hits…. we fight back, not with ginger ale and saltines, but with kombucha, raw milk yogurt, salty plantain chips, freshwater, and coconut water with real salt added. I also have been giving him mullein and echinacea tinctures every four hours in his coconut water. Of course, he fought every bit of it so I had to use a story about the bugs living inside of his tummy. The yogurt and booch (aka. Kombucha) bring in good bugs and the plantain chips give them something to munch on and get stronger. Then, they help fight off the bad bugs. The coconut water helps wash the bad bugs away and keeps your body from drying out. So far, it’s working.
The above event happened on Friday morning. Annabelle took one look at her breakfast and smoothie and pushed it away. She looked pitiful, no tantrum, but she said very clearly, “no, I don’t want it.” I pushed her plate back within her reach and said ok, but I’m going to leave it here anyway. Then she slowly, without looking up, picked up her liverwurst (a favorite) and started eating. About one minute later, she was in full form, munching away. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the girls are starting to get more particular about their food. They will munch away at raw celery, Swiss chard, peppers, and cauliflower if they are helping me prep food. But, if I put it on their plate for dinner…it stays there. So, now I always combine their less favorite foods with favorite flavors, so they have something they will eat on their plate.
Here I mixed two favorite avocado and fermented carrots with their less favorite foods, raw tomatoes, and sliced raw Swiss chard, basil, and chives. Once it’s all mixed together, they eat it up as long as they get “combo” bites. A little bit of everything on the spoon.
It also helps when they see their big brothers eating. So, mealtime is always family time!
Sometimes you have to be sneaky and hide the important ingredients. The girls love raw pumpkin seeds. But, the boys will only eat them when combined with other ingredients like my bars or when I grind them into flour in my bread. Last night I buried them in a special dessert. I divided one banana between the four kids, then sprinkled with raw pumpkin seeds, a small scoop of homemade vanilla, coconut milk ice cream (found in the freezer from a party months ago), raw milk yogurt, shaved dark chocolate, cinnamon, raisins, and toasted coconut chips. They ate the whole thing. This is wonderful because raw pumpkin seeds have many health benefits for kids, including:
good for brain development
helps to get sound sleep
antimicrobial properties
improved urodynamics
strengthens the liver
supplies antioxidants
good source of zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium
Now can you imagine a better reason to try to “sneak it in“?
Yesterday, I had some peppers and celery to use up. So, I chopped the veggies and steamed them with fennel seed, rice wine vinegar, and sage. The flavor turned out great!
I added it to today’s lunch plate. Maddy does not like hard cheese very much, but she does like cottage cheese. They both love rice crackers which are completely devoid of anything healthful. But, these rice crackers I purchase through Thrive Market also are not harmful and are a good vehicle for delivering something healthful. Annabelle’s plate has a rice cracker with raw Colby cheese from A2 cows, olive oil, steamed veggies, sliced green pear, and a fermented carrot. Maddy has a rice cracker with sliced pear and cinnamon, steamed veggies, raw cottage cheese with salt and olive oil, and a fermented carrot.
Success! I showed them how to add the veggies to the cracker and they loved it. I guess it was like playing with their food. But, that works for me!!
All the while you are flooding your kids with the nutrients they need to thrive and grow! Isn’t that awesome!! And, you can do it…everyday!