3 Tips to Make Mealtime Easier

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Noshi Food Paint. The opinions and text are all mine. We are at that…

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Noshi Food Paint. The opinions and text are all mine.

We are at that fun stage of life where Emily likes to disagree just to disagree & when it comes to food EVERY meal seems to be a conversation that goes, “Yes, you have to eat your vegetables, yes you need to at least take 3 bites of everything, no you can’t feed it to the dog”. Anyone else in the same boat right now? If so, hopefully a few tricks I’ve picked up during this whole motherhood thing can help you make mealtimes easier with your kids too!

 

Tip 1 – Make Mealtime a Fun Adventure

I’ve learned to make mealtime fun for my kids, surprising them with fun shaped foods, adding in dyes to make wacky food & lately we’ve started using NOSHI food paint that we found at Wal-Mart! The NOSHI food paint is an organic fruit puree with no added sugar, salt or preservatives that kids can use to decorate their meals then eat!! It’s a great alternative to syrup which my kids use WAY too much of when I let them pour it.

We’ve been incorporating NOSHI food paint into our daily lives to create works of art that we then eat! My daughter loves using all three colors to create some abstract art! Each of the edible colors is a different flavor too! The red is strawberry, the yellow is peach & the blue is blueberry! The perfect trio of primary colors for creating edible masterpieces!

For my fun shaped foods, I use cookie cutters we already have on hand & no food goes to waste because I will usually just eat the scraps myself! HA! I love that for each box purchased of NOSHI food paint, a portion of profits are donated to No Kid Hungry, a non-profit organization working to end child hunger in America today by ensuring that all children get the healthy food they need every day to thrive.

Tip 2 – Allow the Littles to Make Choices

Letting little ones make choices at mealtime gives them a sense of control, with their whole lives being planned out for them that is a huge deal. I’m not saying to leave it fully open as in “What would you like for lunch?” but options to choose from. At dinner time if I know we are having something that’s usually a little harder to get the kid’s to eat I will ask them to pick a fruit to accompany their sides & for my daughter I know she LOVES fruit so she’ll eat her dreaded chicken if I allow extra fruit on her plate.

And when it comes to lunch or breakfast, I give two options to pick from, so they always have options & it’s a meal they chose.

Tip 3 – Let the Little Hands Help in the Kitchen

My kids are constantly in the kitchen helping, it really helps them appreciate the work that goes into a meal & figure out exactly what they are eating. This is another way NOSHI food paint comes in, when littles get to help in the food prep it encourages them to eat more without a fight.

A few other easy ways for the kids to help in the kitchen are by grabbing items from the pantry/fridge that you need, having them set the table for mealtime, “cutting” greens by pulling them apart & having the wash fruits/veggies.

Those are just some of my favorite tips to help the food struggle, do you have any tips for that dreaded food struggle?

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