Complete Guide to Imperfect Clean Living with Kids

 Clean living with kids is about more wholesome foods, less processed foods in a nutshell. Clean living is reducing, or removing toxins from the food you consume, products that you use in your daily living. When you have kids this get slightly trickier  as you need to find a perfect balance on using the products that are appropriate and suitable with kids as well.

How far to go with kids ?

Healthy eating should not only be about promoting foods that sustain physical health, but also behaviour’s that sustain a healthier relationship with food. We should teach to kids what is healthy, what is good and what is nutritious. There is no need to label food bad or unclean. This will make preconceptions to kids and will affect how they review these foods and their approach to them. Clean living with kids can start just by looking at the labels and make better choices on less fat, sugar and salt.

Raw Food Versus Cooked Food

Unprocessed foods are better, healthier and they provide more balanced diet. Take kids with you when you do shopping. I know this can be difficult, but they will benefit on learning about food items that you buy and why you buy them. Show them what potatoes look raw, what they are when they are turned to crisps, chips and mash from the packet.

Kids are curious, give them some answers. Get them to cook with you in the kitchen. Show them what the ingredients look when you get started versus when they are cooked.

Whole Meal Experience

Give your kids brown or red cargo rice instead white rice. Start by adding this to their meal gradually. Don’t remove something completely but change gradually and kids are more accepting. One of the basic things in clean living with kids is to add more wholemeal options to your staples.

Change your margarine to reduced salted version. Use olive oli in cooking or another monounsaturated fats like grapeseed oil. Use wholemeal bread instead of white. Explain to your kids why you are doing this.

The Dreaded Lunch Boxes

Get kids to say one thing they want to have in their lunch boxes. Give them alternative options, pack in what they will eat rather than what you think they eat. Get them to back the boxes with you and even better prepare the food with them. When they are with you preparing the food they are more likely to eat it as well.

If you have lunch provided by the school it is important to know what your child eats. Ask questions and make notes on what  your kids like, the healthy stuff. Have some of these in your home menu as well. Earlier you get them used to the healthy, wholesome food the better. Less processed food, sugar, salty snacks and fat.

Reusing Your food

That left-over roast dinner or sausages from the barbeque. Can you use it for a soup the next day?  What about reusing  the meat for for salads? That pasta from last night? Warmed it for lunch the next day. Or put it top of the bread for sandwiches. Don’t just through away what you did not use. Use compost if this is an option and again get kids to take the food scraps to the compost and answer all questions you can.

Digital Detox Your Life

Give the digital detox a go. Give your kids less screen time and more exercise. Make example of your own actions on how you can make a positive impact on life. Given kids something to look up to. Put your iphone away and give a book a go. Clean living is not just about food for me it is about wholesome approach towards life in general as happy healthy living the Scandinavian Way.

Check out the episode 62 Healthy Living where I talked about some of the principles on healthy clean living.

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