Healthy Joyful Meals

Shifting from a convenient but unhealthy diet to one of healthful, delicious joy can be a challenge when you’re living alone — but there’s a whole new level of challenge if you are part of a family.

The problem: while you might want to change to a new style of eating, picky eaters (kids, but also spouses) can disagree with the change.

Who wants to eat Chappati when pasta and pizza are go-to staples? Who wants to eat oats and fruit when Paratha and Kachori are the usual breakfast foods?

Well, me. And maybe you. But how do we deal with a family full of picky eaters?

We have been somewhat successful here (with our family of 6), but it took awhile, and in truth, we still have plenty of picky eaters in our family.

That said, I’ll share what has worked for us:

1. We try to find things that the whole family likes that are healthy and tasty. 
2. Other times, we cook something less healthy that they would like
3. We often make a lot of food for the family dinner and then have leftovers for lunch
4. We talk to the kids and try to get them to explore foods they don’t always like. 
5. Sometimes we cook a dish that has something one of the kids doesn’t like (mushrooms, for example)
6. If someone doesn’t like the dinner, they can just have a little of it and then make  simple things for themselves.
7. Finally, we get everyone involved in the meal planning. 

You don’t have to do all of these, but there might be a couple ideas here that work for you.

In the end, embrace the  philosophy of small, gradual change. You don’t have to do all of this overnight. But there’s also the philosophy of loving the change you’re creating — how can you show them that this is a joyful change to delicious nutritiousness?

Posted in: #Stay Healthy,health,Joyful,Meals,Nutritious