Healthy eating is a hot topic.  All of us can improve in this area, but what should our goals be?

My food goals are to eat 2 cups of veggies, 2 cups of fresh fruit and avoid sugar.

So how many veggies should we try to eat a day?  The government recommendation is 2.5 cups for women and kids 14 and up, 2 cups for kids 8-13 years and women over 50 years old, 1 1/2 cups for kids up to 7 years old, 3 cups for men (2 1/2 cups for men over 50).  Does that sound daunting?  Don’t let it discourage you!

The recommended fruit we should eat a day is about 2 cups.  But spread out over the day, it’s doable.

Here is a photo of several combinations we can put together for one day’s intake of fruits and vegetables.  See details and measurements here.

When measuring raw greens (salad) 2 cups equals one cup toward the requirement.  Dried fruit we should eat half, so 1/2 cup of dried fruit equals one cup of fresh.  I couldn’t find a definite answer as to whether we should measure other veggies after cooking or before.  I’m guessing that veggies with a lot of water content like some squashes should be measured after cooking.

I try to eat as many colored veggies as possible; dark leafy greens like kale and spinach, sweet potatoes, beets, and squash.  But pale veggies are good for you, too.  Cabbage is high in vitamin C, for instance.

But how do we get our kids to eat their veggies and fruits?  Especially if we’ve been depending on processed and/or restaurant food?  I did some brainstorming by asking adults what veggies they liked as children.  And I stumbled upon an awesome website that is a sensible source of good and easy to cook, nutrition dense food.  It’s called Live Simply.  I recommend the blogger, Kristin Marr, who is a mom of littles herself and contributes great food info and inspiring photos.

The following is my list of original ideas and her ideas at the end.

Offer your kids sweet tasting veggies to help them learn to like veggies.  For example;  sweet potato (just butter, not added sugar), corn, frozen or fresh peas, squashes, carrots.

Offer your kids finger foods like apple slices, yellow and red sweet peppers, cantaloupe, celery, cucs, watermelon, strawberries.

Let kids help prepare food according to their abilities.  Toddlers and preschoolers can arrange cut veggies and fruit on a plate.  They can help wash and dry fresh produce.  They can put salad ingredients in the bowl.  They can tear leafy veggies into bite size pieces.  They can add chunks of fruit to a blender jar before it’s put on the blender for a smoothie.  They can add a garnish such as parsley or mint leaves to make a dish pretty.  Any food they contribute to is a buy-in for them.  School-age kids can make their own concoctions of salads, or fresh veggies steamed in the microwave.  They can safely chop veggies and fruit with age appropriate tools.  Here is a set for ages 3 and up of kid-friendly knives.

Let kids help you garden, even if it’s only a box garden or a couple of pots.  I’m harvesting delicious fresh tomatoes right now from a patio tomato plant bred to be compact and grown in a pot.  Allow the kids to help decide which veggies to plant and go with you to buy the plants or seeds.  Give them responsibility for weed control, watering and harvesting.

These are Live Simply ideas:

Let children help you grocery shop in the produce department or even better, at a fruit stand.  My idea:  for little ones you decide what veggie or fruit, but they get to pick out the pieces of fruit or veggies.  She suggests letting older kids spend a set amount of money on the veggies and fruits they choose.

Convert favorite dishes to a homemade, healthy version.  One idea here.

Offer one new food alongside a favorite food.

Don’t give up on new foods that initially aren’t well received.  Try again by preparing them in a different way.  Such as making smoothies with fruit they like and sneak in some nutrient dense ingredients like spinach and plain yogurt.