About eight years ago my wife and I decided it was time to make a change to better and healthier eating habits. After a lot of study and research, we decided that a whole food plant-based way of eating would be the best.
This would mean some pretty drastic changes. We would lose the luxury of convenience that came with overly-processed boxed foods. Real food can take a little longer to prepare sometimes, but for us, the benefits outweigh the negatives.
I understand what your thinking, changing from a convenient but unhealthy diet to one of healthful, great tasting real food can be a challenge especially when you are part of a family.
The problem: while you might want to change to a new style of eating, there will be some picky eaters (kids, but also spouses) that may not like the thoughts of changing.
Who would choose to eat kale and garbanzo beans when, because of our way too busy lifestyles, cheeseburgers and pizza are easy to grab on the go? Who wants to eat oats and fruit when Poptarts or grabbing a sausage biscuit through the drive-thru in our hectic rush to work or school?
Well, me. And maybe you. But how do we deal with a family full of picky eaters?
I get asked this question a lot when others find out about the way we eat:
I’ve got kids who are picky and a husband who thinks we should have meat at every meal. He hates leftovers. I know that you have a big family and I imagine there’s someone in your family that is picky. How do you plan meals around this? Also, isn’t it really expensive to eat the way you do? I really would love to simplify our grocery list and for all of us to eat healthier too.
So … I don’t claim to have all the answers. We have been somewhat successful here (with our family of 7 in the beginning – now down to 5), but it took a while, and in truth, we still have plenty of picky eaters in our family.
Here is what we have found that works for us:
We try to find things that the whole family likes that are healthy and tasty. That might mean lentil tacos, veggie spaghetti or lasagna (with whole wheat noodles if we can get away with it), a wild rice risotto my wife makes is a big hit with a few. We try to ask for meals they want for the week and incorporate anything they might all like.
Sometimes, we cook something less healthy that they would like, and on rare occasions, join them or cook our own meals (which we might make to last for a few days). I love what many call Buddha Bowls, which consist of a dark leafy green (spinach, collard, kale, etc.), a grain (brown rice, farrow, quinoa), a protein source (beans, tempeh, tofu, etc.), and steamed, or stir-fry vegetable (in a little water or broth) and then mix them all together with your choice of spices and seasonings. I like a pinch of sea salt and sriracha for some heat.
We often make a lot of food for the family dinner and then have leftovers for lunch, and possibly another dinner or two (like a big pot of soup or chili). If someone in the family doesn’t like the same dinner twice in a row, maybe they would be open to having it again in a few days.
We talk to the kids and try to get them to explore foods they don’t always like. This doesn’t always work, though. But it’s worth an ongoing effort since tastebuds change over time.
Learn to cook the vegetables in different ways that make them tastier for those that may be reluctant, in order to get them to open up to it. For example, if they don’t like kale, they might enjoy kale chips (baked with olive oil to a crisp, with seasonings). Note: we don’t use much oil in our meals, so this would be an occasional thing for us, but we have made a few batches of kale chips and they don’t last long.
If someone doesn’t like the dinner, they can just have a little of it and then make themselves a PB&J sandwich or grilled cheese or something. Our kids are old enough now that they can fix meals and cook simple things for themselves.
As for the expense. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive, and compared to the cost of future medical bills brought on from consuming the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.), it isn’t at all costly. A couple of packs dried beans, brown rice, some canned beans and tomatoes, a head of Romaine lettuce, a bunch of kale and a few spices and seasonings are actually pretty inexpensive and can provide several meals for the week. Also, we rarely eat out so the money we would spend on fast-food and dining out at restaurants can be added to our grocery budget. I also highly recommend a monthly written budget, but that is a topic for another post.
Finally, we get everyone involved in meal planning. Everyone looks for meal ideas online. Vote on what to eat. Take one meal a week to cook themselves. If they cook it, they’re likely to eat it!
This is what we do. You don’t have to do all of these, but there might be a couple of ideas here that work for you. Start out slowly incorporating a healthier meal into your week. Don’t try to do it all overnight and look forward to the healthy family you are helping to create.