Your Child's "Pantry" Basics

(my son has been obsessed with coconuts lately, so I have been filling them with green smoothies and it works, he loves it and drinks a ton of it - ha - make it fun and they will drink/eat it)

So I figure it's about time to write more about how and what to feed your children so that they are getting optimal nutrition and so that they will actually SWALLOW the healthy stuff. In a perfect world kids would devour green salads, but as we well know that's never the case. I'm not sure if it's a texture thing or what but those greens always seem to get pulled out of the mouth no matter how well you think you're hiding them.

This whole topic might take a few posts so for now I will start with the pantry basics.

Here's what you will want to keep on hand:

- Coconut Oil (fresh, cold-pressed)
- Green Powder
- Almond Butter (raw)
- Raw Honey and/or  Agave Nectar and/or Stevia
- Young Coconuts
- Frozen fruit
- Almond milk (homemade or store bought)
- Fresh (or homemade) Squeezed Orange Juice
- Fresh pressed Apple Juice 
- Grains of some sort (i.e. sprouted grains, frozen gluten-free waffles, quinoa, brown rice, oats)
- Gluten-free Cookies* (Kookie Karma or similar products)
- Gluten-Free Crackers (i.e. make own kale chips, or buy rice crackers)
- Bars (i.e. larabar Or again, Kookie Karma, and/or make your own macaroons at home)
- Goats Milk
- mana bread
- Beans (sprouted)

First and foremost I would like to say PLEASE NOTE that there is NO white or refined sugar on this list. Nor is there any fake sugars either. Please throw out ALL soda. I mean THROW OUT. Don't even recycle or give it away, THROW IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!! Soda will ruin your child's temperament and state of optimal health. And please make sure that you check ingredients when buying pre-packaged foods that they too do not contain sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup or succunant. (don't worry though, you will not be depriving your child of any sweet yummy foods - they will get their fair share of chocolate and desert).

When your children stay away from these types of sugars you can stop worrying about the sugar highs and lows or too much juice, too much fruit, etc. Fruit and fresh squeezed (juiced) juice is actually very great for the type of energy that kids need. Running around the house and throwing toys all over the place is quite tiring. I know I would need sugar pick-me-ups all the time (or espressos). 

Whining children are typically hungry or tired children. It shouldn't be much more than that. 

TIRED: If a child is fed properly he or she should not be tired because they will sleep better during the night and also nap longer and better. 

HUNGRY: When you feed children high nutrient/energy foods they will stay fuller and more satisfied longer and their blood sugar levels will not spike. This is very important for controlling whining and fits of crying. Kids often need less food (nobody likes forcing kids to eat so this is a GOOD thing) when eating healthfully because their body gets the nutrients that it needs in smaller amounts of food. 

Now the hard part (or so you might think): GETTING KIDS TO ACTUALLY EAT THE HEALTH FOODS!!! And how would one make good tasting healthy recipes that kids will eat? That's what I'm here for. All that info is coming in the further posts.  Stay tuned.

note: here is my son eating Notchos and Goji Berries 🙂