We're almost done with the first week of school. Fortunately, the tantrums have subsided (for the most part) and we're starting to get into the daily groove. Packing healthy, balanced lunches and snacks seems easy enough, right? In your head, you win. You're Superparent. Until... everything you sent comes right back, untouched at the end of the day and the kids are hell-spawn from apparent starvation by their own picky hands.
As horrifying as the fact may be, we are training our children to feed and nourish themselves in the future. So, they might as well have some (controlled) practice and confidence-boosting decision making power when it comes the foods they consume.
It's time for the ever-popular Make-Your-Own Trail Mix Day.
I'd be lying if I said the kids were the true beneficiaries of this project. I win twice because my kids are actually eating their snacks, and I get to rid my pantry of all of those half-used bags of walnuts, shredded coconut, candied pecans, or whatever else is left over from my last kamikaze baking night.
This time, I set out bowls and containers of almonds, peanuts, cashews, banana chips, dried apples, golden raisins, cheese crackers, pretzels, peanut butter-filled pretzels, shredded coconut, and a handful of M&Ms. The nuts and dried fruits are in larger containers and the less-healthy stuff is in much smaller bowls. The only rule is that they must choose at least two kinds of nuts and two kinds of dried fruit and those items need to be prominent in their mix. Everything else is up to them. I use the bowls on the table as props in the Food Groups talk. While the kids assemble a week's worth of snacks, we discuss why we need what and how much we need to be healthy and happy. They shake up their containers or bags to distribute their goodies evenly, and that's that.
Although this isn't the most creative recipe, it's certainly useful, in more ways than just physical nourishment.
Enjoy 'em.
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