Some days the kids just want a "fun" cereal for breakfast. Translation: "Please can I have extra sugar and less fiber from a brightly colored package before you send me off to sit still at school for half a day". Uh, maybe not.
But we want them to have a little fun sometimes and feel like they have choices, and most importantly to not grow up feeling so deprived that they binge on cold cereal the second they go off to college. So being the stealthy, healthy mom that I am, I've engineered a compromise. Here's how it goes. On special days they can pick a flavored instant oatmeal packet. In the beginning they would watch me pour it into their bowl, then I'd walk over, add the water, and as they happily ran off to get ready for the day I'd grab a handful of regular oats and add them to the bowl. (The regular oats aren't even called instant, but cook up in just the same amount of time in the microwave and actually give the kids something to chew on versus drinking down the instant stuff). They've figured out what I'm up to and these days they don't even mind. They're used to the taste of less sugar now.
So they get to pick the fun flavor they want from a brightly colored assortment, and I get to give them an added dose of fiber so they will stay full until lunch and keep their tummy from hurting from too much processed food. Plus the goodness in the oats will dilute down the sugar from the instant packet since the body has something more hearty to digest, creating a more positive glycemic effect on blood sugar. By doing this I'm also teaching them to adapt recipes to be more healthy at the same time.
Oats even have some protein, did you know that? Lots of vegan protein powders use it as a main protein source. Just think, you get all these benefits and you slash your grocery bill too by adding the less expensive regular oats to the more expensive flavor packs. Everybody wins!
Let me know how you like it! If you're on Instagram post a pic of your bowl and tag me with @coachjenngibbs . Thanks!
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