January 2012

Instilling healthy eating habits in kids is a challenge for every family we know. Our customers ask us regularly for ideas to cajole picky eaters to reach for apple slices instead of chocolate pudding or broccoli spears over macaroni and cheese. It’s not easy to train kids to make the right food choices. But, just like any other habit parents lovingly teach their children, healthy eating habits CAN be taught.

As we enter 2012, our resolution at Wholesome Tummies and WTCafé is to help your family strengthen its commitment to healthy eating. Our years in this business have given us a toolkit of techniques and tricks to help you battle any pint-sized resistance that comes your way. That’s why this year, each Wholesome Tummies and WT Café monthly newsletter will feature a different healthy eating habit. We hope you join us in making 2012 a year of healthy eating for you and your family!

Turkey and Cheese Cracker Bento

The all-natural build your own lunch option! Whole wheat crackers, cheese, turkey breast and a signature, freshly baked WT Creation

Chicken and Waffles

Two homestyle favorites combined for the perfect, comfort food! Crispy chicken tenders and mini homestyle waffles with honey for drizzling!

Fruit & Cheese Bento

The perfect well-rounded lunch- inspired by France! Fresh grapes, a variety of cheeses, whole wheat crackers and a signature, freshly baked WT Creation!

Healthy Habit # 1 Be the CEO of your Kitchen!

When it comes to food, it’s easy to forget that we as parents wear the pants in the family. Kids have specific and often picky tastes, preferring certain foods so strongly that they relentlessly request them. Their food demands can wear even the most conscientious parent down. However, the minute we let go of the reigns, we put them in the driver’s seat. We lose control. Our kids start making their own, misinformed food decisions; plain no-sauce noodles, sandwiches with the crusts cut off and mystery, convenience packaged meals take over our original, well-intended menu. Soon after the balance of power shifts from us to them, we are met with the cold, hard truth that we are now raising – (gasp!) – picky eaters.

Healthy Habit # 2: Stock your Shelves with Your TOP 100

As parents, we bear full responsibility for treks to the grocery store. It’s a thankless but essential chore that many of us dread. From making the list to finding the time to read labels while we’re there…we’re tired just thinking about it! It's in these frantic moments when our commitment to healthy eating is most in jeopardy. With hungry kids and no food to eat, eating out and eating fast may be the only option. That choice often involves consuming sub-standard, processed, fried, high-sodium, or fatty foods that we quickly regret. If we maintain the right amounts of the right foods in our kitchen inventory, we’ll always have home court advantage.