At first I wondered how to move my family toward eating nourishing traditional foods. Case in point…
One of my son’s favorite foods is boxed cold cereal. He would live on it if he could. I’m of the opinion that boxed cold cereal is one of the worst things you could possibly eat (see Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry). So how could I wean him off cereal without being an evil tyrant?
Well, I haven’t completely weaned him off cereal. We have it at least once per week on Sunday mornings. Things tend to be a little hectic on Sunday morning before church and we want our kids to look forward to Sunday, so they get stuff they like on Sunday. I do make sure he gets fresh milk with that cereal.
So how did I wean him off cereal the rest of the week? Well, quite honestly it was work – literally. I spend time every evening preparing good food for breakfast – food that is healthy and that the whole family likes. I started with foods in Nourishing Traditions and branched out into Sue Gregg’s Breakfasts book. I even managed to create some of my own recipes (e.g. chocolate muffins).
and branched out into Most people are resistant to unfamiliar foods. I’ve come to the realization that familiarity is 95% of a person’s taste preferences. If you can make healthy tweaks to foods they already like, they are more likely to accept them. By gradually building their familiarity with the taste of healthy ingredients in familiar foods, you can eventually move toward less familiar foods with the same healthy ingredients.
Yes, it’s sneaky, but it’s good for them.
