Monday, August 30, 2010

Heathful food choices and the power of example

As a parent, I always strive to provide the healthiest diet possible for my daughter. When she was a baby we had a lovely Greek woman taking care of her who insisted that we give her only fresh food. No Gerber's out of the jar for Ally...Maria would not stand for that, and  I agreed with her. So when it was time for solid food we just mashed up whatever we were eating. Does this guarantee that your child will eat everything you put in front of them as they get older? No, but I do think that the more healthful food choices they are exposed to, the better their diet will be over the long haul. You feel better when you eat good food and they have experienced that feeling firsthand. So when Ally has had an overload of sweets, or other less healthful choices, she often requests "healthy food" to get her back on track.
Yesterday afternoon I prepared a snack of Greek yogurt, (Maria would be thrilled) blueberries, a little bit of maple syrup, almonds, and two McVitie's Digestive biscuits:
And lo and behold look what Ally made for herself today:
It's wonderful to see the power of example in action. This makes a great snack for all you big kids out there, too. Enjoy!