Every time I put anything in my mouth, my 13 month old wants a bite or a sip. I always try to give him one because I don’t want him to differentiate between what I eat and what I feed him, and I plan on having a “no kid food” policy in our home. However many times I catch myself withholding something from him because I don’t want him eating or drinking it. Examples- white flour products, sugary scones, iced decaf coffee, red wine, chips- you get the picture. I have to ask myself why I will put something in my body that I won’t give my child. I’m challenging myself this week to only consume things that I will let him try (and I’ll save the wine for after he goes to bed!). I don’t want to squelch his curiosity and excitement for new foods, and I will radically clean up my diet at the same time. After all, I can carefully pick and choose his diet for his first 2 years of life, but what will ultimately influence him the most is what he sees me eating and the choices he sees me make. During meal time it makes preparing his plate so much easier. Last night we had wild Alaskan salmon with brown rice and spinach salad. I put a few tablespoons of everything in the Electric Food Mill, coarsely blended it for a few seconds, and voila! a perfect, palate pleasing, whole food meal for baby. So if you’re having trouble developing healthy eating habits for yourself, do it for your children. Love is the biggest motivator of all.
PS- wanted to add that this really makes you think about every aspect of your cooking from what kind of oil you saute the greens in, to how much salt you use, to how much sugar your salad dressing has in it! It’s great!