A busy parent’s guide to springing real food on the table

WORDS VANESSA GREEN

MY GOAL WILL ALWAYS BE TO INSPIRE AND RAISE VIBRANTLY HEALTHY KIDS ONE NUTRITIOUS MOUTHFUL AT A TIME. AND WHAT BETTER TIME THAN SPRING, WHEN THE RIPEST AND MOST ABUNDANT NUTRIENTS ARE ON OFFER.

Why real food?

Historically, we needed to store food for when it wasn’t growing or available, so processing and preservatives became popular. Opportunities for food manufacturers resulted in inexpensive, easy to prepare and highly processed foods on our tables. And for a long time, we happily bought them. But shouldn’t the emphasis be on preserving food, not changing it? With dual-income families also came less time to cook. We slowly slipped into a time-pressured world where fast-food pizzas passed as vegetables.

Today, increasingly, we’ve swung back to becoming more conscious of what we put in our mouths and bodies and how it impacts our health. Like many parents and carers, I’m worried about my picky eater’s nutrition, and the struggle to prepare a family meal that everyone will eat.

Nutrition starts when you shop

Each mouthful counts. If rice, pasta, bread and buns are musts for your kids, get the best you can: gluten-free, organic, sourdough and then load up the nutrients. Buy pasture-fed. Whether it’s beef, eggs, milk or cheese, it means you’re one step closer to natural ingredients.

A word on gluten-free: You don’t need to go entirely gluten free unless you’re celiac, but minimising gluten can help digestion. It is generally better to choose naturally gluten-free food rather than processed gluten-free products. The latter can be low in nutrients and high in added sugar or refined grains. Naturally gluten-free foods include whole gluten-free grains (such as quinoa, corn, rice), as well as lean meats, low-fat dairy, vegetables, fruit and healthy fats.

Tips and tricks

We all need tips and tricks, and real fast, feel-good food that won’t turn up noses. So let’s cut to the chase and look at how we can cheat a little, because not all ‘cheat foods’ are created equal.

l Make your own pizzas. They’re still pretty convenient and you can sneakily upgrade them a little. Think gluten-free bases made with eggs from cage-free, pasture-raised chickens, olive oil (extra virgin), fresh tomato sauce that you can easily

make from cherry tomatoes and garlic, and toppings such as pastured ham, pineapple, and grass-fed (not processed) cheese. Not to mention the quality of sea salt or other goodies you can think to add. l ‘Cheat’ hamburgers with grass-fed mince and freshly grated slaw on a bun. Or better still, use the beef pattie as its own bun to upgrade the nutrient density even more. l Try your hand at upgrading other family favourite ‘cheats’ like tacos, mac-and-cheese or breaded chicken. l Stuck for meals ideas? Travel at mealtimes through different flavoured cuisines (taco Tuesday anyone?). Get the kids to challenge you with ‘what country shall we eat from tomorrow?’ Or ‘camp out’ for a picnic with your meal in a tent in your lounge room. l They don’t like greens? Eat the rainbow! Winter’s root veggies now give way to fresh greens in salads but you can still cook veggies and toss them through salads. l Eat the alphabet! Pretty much every letter of the alphabet is represented from apples, berries, cherries, lemons, mandarins, oranges, pears and plums. And we haven’t started on the veggies yet: artichokes, Asian greens, beans, cauliflower, leek, mushrooms, parsley, radish, spinach, tomatoes and zucchini.

Challenge the whole family to see how many different letters of the alphabet they can all eat in a week. Or choose letters that spell out your child’s name. We’re fortunate on the Coast that we can buy local for the freshest paddock-to-plate experience (not to mention supporting our local farmers, beekeepers and cheese-makers).

And eating in-season fresh fruits and veggies makes the best sense of all.

Vanessa Green is a nutritional therapy practitioner and Fitness Australia registered trainer. See @fit.by.nature on Instagram.