Healthy Foods You Won’t Believe My Kids Ate This Summer

Whew. It has been a while. After losing my dad in May, somehow surviving the whirlwind that is the last few weeks of school and the following weeks that I thought would slow down but didn’t, I expected to be back at blogging in no time. But with an unusual work schedule that left my husband free midweek, and a free National Parks pass (thanks to my 4th grader – if you have one or will soon, be sure to get an America the Beautiful Pass) we ended up on getaways 6 out of the 10 weeks of summer. It was a workout but we had a lot of fun and memorable experiences.

We got to see a lot of family and friends we hadn’t seen in a while and inevitably our eating style will come up. One of the themes I’ve noticed come up any time I have a conversation with people about healthy eating is that it’s HARD. I think there are varying perspectives on what’s hard about it, whether it’s having to make meals from scratch, give up favorite foods, or deal with picky family members. Chances are good you have a few come to mind in no time!

I would say the reality is that we perceive to be harder than it needs to be, or that we make it harder on ourselves than it needs to be. and/or make it harder than it needs to be. A more important reality is that unhealthy eating is HARDER!

Think about this: unhealthy eating is all about short-term gains. Whether it’s your watch or your taste buds, generally eating junk has a short-term benefit. And we all have moments from time to time when that’s the reality. I don’t preach 100%–I think it’s good for our mental and emotional health to give ourselves permission to from time to time have a treat, convenience food or meal with family/friends that doesn’t check all the boxes of nutrient-dense eating (or any of them). But when we choose to set our health aside and make poor food choices day in and day out we are setting ourselves up for:

More colds and illnesses
Unnecessary weight gain
Increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer
Low energy
Decreased mental health
More challenging behavior in children
Increased risk of Alzheimer’s
Poor sleep

When you take a minute to consider these, many of which I have personally experienced the benefits of healthier eating, you realize that compared to this list, any extra effort to eat better will pay off.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that change IS hard, and when you are rethinking all of your easy go-to meals and snacks it can feel like there is not a thing in the world to eat and it’s better just to either grab whatever’s easiest or skip eating until you have more time or brain power.

My goal is to share all of the simple and delicious recipes we’ve discovered–I’ve experienced many kitchen fails so you don’t have to! I have seasons when I am eager to try new recipes and experiment in the kitchen, and seasons when I want to wave a magic wand to make food magically appear, healthy or not.

One of the great paradoxes I contemplated is that when we most need healthy food, we are the most poorly equipped to make it happen. Whether it’s struggling with serious health issues, pregnancy, or overcoming a social network that isn’t supporting you, often the energy we need to turn poor habits into healthy ones is missing.

There is more to come, but for now, be inspired with some of the things my kids were caught eating this summer. You may be quick to say, “my kids would NEVER eat that” to which I’ll say mine wouldn’t have either a few years ago. But by gradually transitioning away from processed & animal food until it’s hardly ever in the house, their taste buds have adapted and they eat what’s available, *usually* with minimal complaining!

Cold Leftover PLAIN Oatmeal

I’ve got to start with one of my favorites–on an end of summer trip to the pool I told my six-year old to find a snack . . . either grab something and eat it quick before we left or bring it. Now you can probably guess that I don’t have a pantry full of packaged snacks, but there were some peanuts, bananas, grapes and tortilla chips (although the chips are out of reach so we don’t go through a bag a day). But what did he end up bringing and eating at the pool?

Cold, leftover oatmeal. No toppings, no sweetener, not even any salt. We were there past dinner time and they gladly ate it by the chunk. Did you know that one serving of steel cut oats has 5 grams of protein and 10% of your daily iron needs? Add some nuts, nut butter and seeds and you have a power packed meal any time of the day.

2. Greens by the Handful

Another favorite: on some of our travels it was clear our daily green smoothie habit wasn’t going to happen. I’m okay with taking a break from some of our health routines, but what I HATE is when we get sick either during or shortly after a trip. So I look for ways to keep the healthy food coming. We did a lot of organic Spring Mix or similar boxes of ready-to-eat greens and had them in simple salads & sandwiches, but often we needed to finish them off so we didn’t need to worry about them spoiling in the heat of the day. So for breakfast everyone got to have a handful of greens first thing. I’ve imposed enough “eat your veggies first” requirements that my kids have grown used to it and now are usually compliant if not always super excited. I’ve heard the advice that says you shouldn’t do things like this because it teaches that vegetables are undesirable, but we always talk about how they have so many good things in them your body needs and I can see it starting to sink in from time to time.

3. Veggie Sandwiches

Often a go-to meal while camping or otherwise on the road consisted of a whole grain bread (I fell in love with Dave’s Killer Bread this summer . . .) spread with hummus and the boxed Spring Mix greens. This is the bare minimum–we’d add avocado, tomato, cucumber if possible. This worked great on a camping trip as well as when we made a last minute decision to extend our trip by a night–it was super easy to run to the store for bread, hummus, & greens (I think some fruit and tortilla chips found their way in too)

These are also super tasty grilled–simply spread bread with hummus and leave open faced while you toast the bread on the skillet, then add veggies and enjoy.

4. No Chopping Required Simple Salad

One night I was exhausted from summer activities but really wanted dinner to magically appear. I came up with this–quinoa cooked in the pressure cooker (ultra easy!) a can or two of rinsed black beans, spring mix, and berries topped with a 5 minute super healthy and delicious creamy balsamic dressing (no oil or refined sweetener either). It’s ended up being one of my very favorite dressings. Stay tuned . . .

5. Watermelon and other pool food

We spend a lot of time at the pool doing swim team and relaxing. I always try to have watermelon, as it is not only refreshing but also good at preventing sunburns (Seriously, google it). I have noticed that since we’ve transitioned to eating plant-based we almost never get significant sunburns. We may come home a bit on the pink side now and then which I’ll put a little lavender and peppermint oil on (either diluted in a spray bottle or mixed with coconut oil) and by the next day it’s almost always gone from pink to very light tan–we are a fair-skinned family, I am so-so when it comes to being diligent about sunscreen, and most of us do not tan well! We also love overnight oats made with rolled oats, chia and blueberries as an easy grab and go breakfast we can eat when we have an early morning swim meet or other activity.

6. Veggie Burgers

We spent the 4th of July and other festive cookouts eating veggie burgers, both some homemade and Costco bought. With a delicious round-up of toppings, everyone loves them.

Plenty of treats were eaten as we gathered with family and friends and as I just can’t think of a healthy way to replace the delicious magic of s’mores. But doing our best to eat as well as we could whenever we could really felt great. That’s the beauty of really transitioning to healthy eating. Eventually, you reach a point where you want to eat that way, where healthy food tastes better and eating junk loses its appeal.