What I feed my kids - converting CW kids to PB page

[Betho]

I'm gonna do this to keep track of what PB type foods I'm feeding my kids. But first, let's do the introductions!

Thing 1 is a 4 year old little girl. When it comes to food, the more junky the better. She'll often go without eating if I serve something she doesn't like (though in our house you have to try at least one bite of everything). She really loves the bready carbs - pizza, baked sweets, sugary stuff, you name it. Also a big dairy fan which I think I can use to my advantage. She was in heaven last weekend when we were visiting family and my sister had sugar cereals, since I only give them to her once a year at Christmas. She's going to be the biggest challenge because she's very addicted to the grains and carbs and she's actually a great example of how they cause you to crave more. This kid will just continue asking for more and more and more and I can never decide if it's her actually needing more food because she's growing or if it's the carb addiction speaking. Physically she's on the large side, not overweight but she's pretty close, up in the 90th percentile weight-wise for her age. This child could very easily become obese and an obese adult if she was allowed to continue eating how she wants to unchecked. She also prefers to play quiet and inactively rather than super active, though she does love to go outside!

Thing 2 is a 2 year old girl. She's a little better food-wise. She's always loved meat and often leaves her bread unfinished. She's going to be the easy one because she's not nearly as picky and for the most part will eat anything, except vegetables. She's very active and probably would qualify as borderline hyperactive but I am not intending to take her to the doctor about it since I don't feel anything is actually wrong with her. This is the kid that doesn't care to sit for long periods of time, but she's always moving and always doing something. Weight wise she's actually kind of small, in height and weight she's about the 30th percentile.

And there's also Thing 3 but he's in utero so I don't think he'll be a problem

[Betho]

So my plan is to take this gradually mainly because I'm so new to PB, my husband has no intention of converting, and so my kitchen isn't exactly completely PB. My first step is a two part one - I'm eliminating wheat only, and I'm going to figure out trial and error what they like and don't like before I do the full conversion. Just for the record we haven't had processed/frozen/boxed food in years, and sweets are a rarity in our home, so that battle is one I already have fought and won. I just want to get a good repertoire of "go-to" foods under my belt before I cut out all the rest of the grains (which mainly just means corn).

Day 1 - Breakfast
Thing 1 - Plain full-fat greek yogurt (Zoi brand, better than FAGE) with a mashed banana, 2 pieces of bacon and a thick slice of cheese.
Thing 2 - A banana, 2 pieces of bacon, thick slice of cheese and a scrambled egg.

They both seemed pretty happy and didn't ask for cereal. I have about a half a box of cereal (corn chex) and I'm not going to buy more once it's gone unless my husband asks me to. I was surprised at Thing 1 since she always loves sweet foods but after she was done with her yogurt/banana she asked for the empty carton and finished off the dregs of the plain yogurt. That's something I'd consider a big victory because she enjoyed PLAIN YOGURT. I'm lucky that I can get Zoi yogurt at my local store for $2.88/2lbs. The stuff is fantastic.

[Heidi]

That's wonderful you're including your kids in PB! I have a 7 and 3 yr old, and tried it for a while, but ended up giving in. Though, they still enjoy eating stuff like broccoli dipped in bacon grease and riced cauliflower. It'd be so much easier if I could get my husband to go PB. At least that way we'd have only PB foods in the house. You're inspiring me to try again with the kiddos. Can't give up on them anyway, lol. Relatives and friends think PB is going overboard for the kids, especially since they're not fat (like me), but I am proof (unfortunately) of what can happen later on in life when you grow up eating a SAD diet.

Good luck! And congrats on Thing 3. He'll be the healthiest baby on the block with you feeding him PB foods in the womb.

[Betho]

That's wonderful you're including your kids in PB! I have a 7 and 3 yr old, and tried it for a while, but ended up giving in. Though, they still enjoy eating stuff like broccoli dipped in bacon grease and riced cauliflower. It'd be so much easier if I could get my husband to go PB. At least that way we'd have only PB foods in the house. You're inspiring me to try again with the kiddos. Can't give up on them anyway, lol. Relatives and friends think PB is going overboard for the kids, especially since they're not fat (like me), but I am proof (unfortunately) of what can happen later on in life when you grow up eating a SAD diet.


Good luck! And congrats on Thing 3. He'll be the healthiest baby on the block with you feeding him PB foods in the womb.

Yeah I imagine it's tough. My hubby is supportive but he's a little suspicious of me putting the kids on PB. Kinda like... Oh great, it is working well for you but he still has a very hard time wrapping his head around the idea that certain foods are NOT good for anyone even in moderation. It also doesn't help that he's not overweight and in pretty decent shape for his age. I try to not talk to him about it anymore because he's starting to get defensive and I don't want that - he just looks at me and says "But it's FOOD!" I do have a feeling that since I'm making more Pb style foods he'll be on it at least 60 or 70% and once he starts noticing changes in himself and me he might be a little more receptive. I know I was adamantly opposed to demonizing any food groups until I was pretty much forced to go PB by blood sugar issues... and now I'm SOLD. I'm also trying to make this a painless thing for him by making sure I make stuff he either likes or we can easily customize for him, especially since he loves just throwing anything into a tortilla and eating it like a burrito.

Lunch today was interesting. We had fresh local rainier cherries, celery stuffed with cream cheese and coconut and I made them some corn tortilla quesadillas while I had leftover pot roast from last night.

None of us liked the celery with cream cheese, so those are going to feed the chickens. The surprise hit was when I ate all my leftovers and was still hungry, so I stuck a handful of cheese on the still-hot skillet and made a patty of fried cheese. Basically, a small quesadilla without the tortilla! It was so delicious... I always loved fried cheese when I was a kid but it was SO BAD for you, right? Funny how the addition of a tortilla would have made that much cheese ok. In any case, I gave some to the kids and they loved it and begged me to make more so I made them some more... and they agreed tomorrow instead of a quesadilla they wanted fried cheese instead. Same amount of cheese, just no tortilla. That's a win!

Big Hits:
Greek Yogurt w/ mashed banana
Fried cheese patty

Big Losers:
Celery with cream cheese

[inquisitiveone]

I recently discovered the fried cheese thing, too—extra yummy if fried in some leftover fat from steak or bacon.

My kids are older than yours, and I'm trying to slowly bring them around to a more primal way of eating too. We don't eat boxed, processed crap either, but they really like bread and sweets. I read to them a portion of Catherine Shanahan's book Deep Nutrition on sugar. My daughter cried, and threw away the candy she had, but that didn't last very long.

It's very hard, and it's testing the little patience I have, but I know their eating habits now are largely my doing (big baker and candy maker before going primal), and I can only exert what influence they allow me to have. I don't want to encourage eating problems later on by being overly harsh with them now.

Anyway, good luck with your quest (and with finishing making and delivering #3). I'll be checking in for inspiration!

[Betho]

I agree, I don't want it to become a battle. Truth is, if I just feed them primal, then that's their 80% right there even if they eat junk elsewhere or have the occasional meal that's not compliant.

Dinner tonight went well, though not fully primal. I had a big salad with chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato, ranch, etc etc. I made the same ingredients into corn tortilla quesadillas for the kids sans avocado (they are just too young to appreciate the ambrosia that is a perfectly ripe avocado) and hubby made himself a wrap. This is one of our favorite meals but I'm not really sure how I'll adapt it fully for the kids. But at least we're making progress - no wheat today!

[bridiessong]

I am gradually doing this to my family too. I have a 10 yo, 6 1/2 yo and an almost 5yo. I think it will definitely benefit them. I have only been doing it a week myself and I notice a GREAT difference! I have seen a difference in my kid's behaviors since weaning them off grains. I think yesterday and today are part of the carb withdraw because everyone has been cranky and tired (and it's not hot out). Other than that, the transformation of their diets is going really well!

Now when school starts up I am getting them all cool bento boxes to pack their primalized lunches in.

[inquisitiveone]

Slow progress is better than no progress. Usually I don't tell them when I'm changing something up to be more primal, but if they start looking at it suspiciously, I'll tell them, "This is basically X, but changed a little." That way they have a frame of reference for it and are more willing to at least try it.

[Betho]

Hey Bridie what's a benton box?

Today was a success! yesterday not so much, but I'm not gonna worry about it because it was one of those errands weekend days. I mostly just let them eat whatever, and then I even made popcorn last night when they were watching a movie. Watching a movie is a rarity around here (we don't do TV during the week) so they like to have popcorn... and I haven't even thought of what I might substitute for that.

Anyway, I'll just say what we did today. Today we just did fruit/yogurt and cheese for breakfast, they weren't terribly hungry. Cantaloupe and a quesadilla on corn tortilla for lunch. Dinner was awesome - I made chicken broccoli alfredo with spaghetti squash. Okay I'll admit I lied and when they asked what the "noodles" were I told them "Spaghetti." The sauce was awesome and mostly covered up the squash-y taste. I just poured some cream in a pot with garlic powder, heated it up till it simmered a bit, then added half a block of cream cheese and about 6oz of shredded parmesan cheese along with a little salt. It was SO rich and flavorful. They both ate quite a bit and Thing 1 even ate her broccoli!

Oddly enough I will say this - my oldest doesn't seem to like vegetables but she'll eat them if I give them to her frozen. Isn't that weird? So, if your kids don't like veggies, try frozen! lol

Today's big hit - Chicken broccoli alfredo. I think it went over well including the squash because the sauce was pretty rich and strong and covered up the taste.