Friday, November 20, 2020
daily actions toward becoming better prepared for societal collapse
As
a new round of COVID lockdowns begins, we’re again faced with cooking from
scratch and doing our best with limited ingredients and options. These changes can be particularly difficult
on children. If you aren’t yet faced
with these challenges, you’re probably like me, wondering if 2021 is going to
say to 2020, “Here, hold my beer.”
So
here are a few tips for making these dietary challenges a little easier for
children.
Reduce dependence on convenience foods. For
children, the best bet is to start them off right, without the convenience of
cold cereal and snack foods. It’s as
much about training them as it is you. Get
them used to homemade hot cereal, but keep a package or two of cold cereal
hidden for special occasions or some welcome relief.
Children have very sensitive taste buds. Foods that may taste perfectly acceptable
to adults may gag children. This is most
commonly seen with powdered milk. Learn
to improve the taste of powdered milk with sugar and vanilla or almond extract
or some mixes like Nestle’s Quik. Or
make yogurt with powdered milk and sweeten it with jam.
Limited diet. A
lot of children can eat the same couple of foods day in and day out. Start now to add some variety to the menu. Not only will they be getting a better
balance of nutrients, you’ll be expanding their horizons and willingness to try
new foods before a crisis occurs.
Comfort foods.
Make sure to have a good supply of their comfort foods for particularly
stressful days.
Keep trying. It
is easier to introduce new foods in comfortable circumstances than it is in a
time of stress. If they balk at new
foods, keep presenting them. After
seeing these new foods on the dinner table a few times, they become familiar
and then acceptable.
Don’t present new foods when children are
really hungry. They’re more accepting when they aren’t
starving. Make new food options a part
of the meal, not the entire meal.
Make little changes. Instead
of the usual maple syrup for pancakes, perhaps try caramel syrup or a fruit
syrup made with corn syrup and jelly or jam.
Perhaps start out with both, so that children have an option. They can have a pancake with the maple syrup
first and then one with a new flavor.
Add a little cuteness. Making
whole wheat pancakes for the first time and a little concerned about how Johnny
and Susie are going to react? Make
Mickey Mouse heads or some other shape.
Make smiley faces with chocolate chips, nuts, or blueberries.
Wean them off commercial packaging. If
cooking from scratch is entirely new, wean them away from pretty packaging and
perfectly formed food with sweets. Homemade
pop tarts aren’t really like their store-bought counterparts. My husband raised our children on the
store-bought version, but they definitely prefer the homemade. It’s a really easy switch to make.
Add whole grains and beans in gradually, if
necessary. Children’s bodies also need to gradually
adjust to a change in diet. Perhaps
begin introducing whole wheat by using it in cookies or cakes. Beans can be incorporated with tacos or
hummus.
Say yes to sugar. For
some children transitioning from fresh fruit to canned will be a little
rough. Canned fruits can often be purchased
in heavy syrup, light syrup, and no-added-sugar options. Be sure to get fruits canned in heavy syrup,
if possible. The extra sugar preserves
canned fruits for a much longer period than the other options. Of course, the extra sugar will also appeal
more to children. When serving, drain
off the syrup if it is not needed and combine it with jam to make a fruit syrup
for pancakes.
Accept some pickiness. Some
children are just going to refuse certain foods. QOTPE loathes the texture of onions. I might chop them a little coarser for her,
but that’s as far as it goes. She can
just keep picking them out. I’m not
expecting this to change. I was forced
to eat scrambled eggs as a child and promptly threw them up. It’s been 50 years, and I still won’t eat
them.
Don’t force children. Whatever
you do, don’t force or berate children into eating foods they don’t want. Any crisis will only become worse if you
throw in a power struggle with children over food. Recognize that if you are stressed, they will
be more stressed and will act out.
Start now. Just like everything
else with preparedness, preparing the taste buds for a change in diet happens
in advance. Before the crisis. And while we often hear that hunger is the
best seasoning, this often is not the case with children. Today is a great day to identify the changes
you can make now to reduce the shock when your family is living off the food
storage.
Something I did with my kids was a Lot of “reframing”. My son in particular didn’t like (but didn’t gag or anything) beans. So when we had something with beans he had to at least take a taste, and he wasn’t allowed to say he hated it. I would say “I know it’s not your favorite. But remember-food is fuel. There are a lot of things we really enjoy eating, but there are some that aren’t our favorites…but if we were really hungry and needed fuel we could eat them”. Then I’d drop it. Fast forward 5 or 6 years and now he will eat a bowl of chili and tell me it’s good. I still wouldn’t just serve him a bowl of beans for supper on a normal day, and I don’t force him to eat mushrooms which do make him gag.
Good thoughts! Thank you!
Friday, November 20, 2020
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