Raw for children?

[Tmoon]

Hello- I am in the beginning months of being 100% raw. I feel great, although I had some trouble sticking to it in the beginning, I have a feeling Im completely on board now. I had a question for you guys- do you feed your children all raw as well? I can't get my little guys to eat veggies. But they do eat LOTS of fruit. It's only 9:30am and they've each had a banana, an apple, a huge bowl of grapes (they shared) and strawberries. They are 1.5 and 3 years old. I can't get them to eat nuts or seeds, but they will eat nut butter on a sandwich- I want to at least get away from wheat but they won't eat any gluten free breads. I'm just not sure how to encourage them to eat more diverse foods so i end up giving them things like yogur, kefir, cheese. They are growing like weeds and I really want to help them eat better so they make healthy choices when they are older. I've tried just giving them what I'm eating but they will flat out refuse to eat all day unless I give them something they *know* they like. Any advice?

[laughalways]

Most kids want to please their parent(s) and emulate them. All you can do at this point is to lead by example. Since you just started your raw food diet you should give it some time.

[Tmoon]

Ok :) they are still so little, I hope little enough to learn to like veggies. I've always eaten a large amount of vegetables, but usually cooked. I can't even get them to eat those anymore.... :-/. Silly kids.

[laughalways]

Ok...maybe someone else has some ideas. Are there any vegetables that they like/eat?

[Mitch]

Maybe try with carrots? They are sweet and crunchy. :)

[MysticTree]

Make up a plate for each of them and yourself. Have lots of different raw foods all different on each of the plates. They'll soon be wanting what the other has on their plate (yours too). Soon everyone is eating off everyone else's plate. It's a bit messy to start with but it gets them eating their raw foods. Biggest problem is making an issue out of meal times. Second biggest problem is trying to make them eat when they aren't hungry.

[Gianni]

My kid will eat broccoli and corn on the cob. That's about it as far as vegetables go. I remember when she was 8 months old I fed her some broccoli florets that were growing in the garden of an old neglected house that was for sale. Maybe that's why it's about the only vegetable she'll eat. She loves most all fruit though.

As to corn, unfortunately most of it is GMO these days.

[Tmoon]

I usually fill up an ice tray with all sorts of goodies, fruit and veggies, nuts and seeds, and just let them munch what they want. i dont really do mealtimes, because i dont necessarily believe that eating 3 meals per day is best for our bodies. so maybe they just arent getting hungry enough to try the veggies? they eat probably every hour, or two at most. and gianni- i actually got some locally grown corn, that wasnt GMO, and i gotta say... that corn was DELISH!!! but of course, my boys wouldn't try it, LOL! i like the idea of setting up a buffet, of sorts, in the center of the table and just letting everyone dig in!!!

Anyone have any good raw dip recipes that i should try making for them? maybe if they dipped veggie sticks or something in some dip, they would be more likely to at least try them.

[Gianni]

We never bought any jars of baby food, but looking back, it probably would have been a good idea to have introduced more puréed vegetables when she was an infant, not that I would have bought any of that packaged baby food.

I remember making a thick broccoli soup for myself and then sharing it with my daughter when she was 1 or 2. Corn on the cob was also something she liked to eat on the beach as a toddler. So, I think she must have acquired the taste for broccoli and corn at an early age and so she eats it now.

Maybe you could try to entice your kids into eating veggies by telling them if they eat some of it, then you'll give them some ice cream (frozen fruit type) or something.

[Tmoon]

That's a good idea, I have a juicer that can easily make banana sorbet :). They used to eat all kinds of cooked veggies, but all of a sudden, since they hit toddlerhood, I can't get them to eat anything green! It's crazy. I'll be persistent and try and bribe them with banana "ice cream" ;)