I don’t know about you but I sometimes really struggle with getting my kids to make healthy choices. They all seem to want to eat the same thing over and over again. And their choices tend to be not so good for them.

When I am stuck for ideas on how to get my kids to try new and healthy foods, I turn to my friend Catherine from Evolving Mommy. I just love how she feeds her girls.
(Catherine is not a multiples mommy but she does care for multiple children so for most days she is in the same boat as us with multiples.)
Catherine has the best ideas for getting kids involved in the kitchen and helping them make good eating choices.
Here, read how she tackles breakfast.
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Oatmeal
I love it. In fact I eat it for breakfast most mornings. I love that you can mix anything into it. Any assortment of nuts, fruits, dried fruits, spices came come together to make a healthy, filling, and delicious meal.
Maddy loves oatmeal but she usually sticks to peanut butter and dried cranberries. Sometimes I can talk her into applesauce and cinnamon. Both are good choices but I really wanted her to broaden her horizons and see oatmeal for what it really is, an awesome vessel for delightful mix-ins.
I decided the best way to do this was to set out a bunch of options and let her make her own oatmeal. In most cases when I let her take the reigns and build her meal she ends of trying new things and eating up her food with enthusiasm to spare. We called it Make You Own Oatmeal.
Maddy and her best friend climbed up into their usually cooking spots, on chairs pushed up to the kitchen counter and marveled at the options before them. Banana chunks, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, strawberries, applesauce, cinnamon, coconut, peanut butter, raisins, and cranberry. We talked about the options and discussed a few possibilities and then they were off and building the oatmeal of the dreams. Little fingers moved from bowl to bowl transferring ingredients.

Our Make your own oatmeal lunch was a hit. So much so that I get frequent requests for make your own oatmeal for lunch as well as breakfast and dinner now and I am generally happy to oblige. How could I say no to such an easy lunch made up of healthy ingredients?
Here is our recipe for success if you are planning to put together your own Make Your Own Oatmeal Bar. In a separate for each child, and yourself, mix:
1/2 cup oats
1/8 cup flax seed meal (optional)
1 cup water

 

Stir together and microwave for about 45 seconds or until the oats have soaked up most of the liquid.
Set out a wide variety of mix-ins, the sky is the limit, some ideas are:
Walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, flax seeds
sliced strawberries
apple, pear or banana chunks
berries, fresh or frozen
spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom
peanut or almond butter
apple sauce
dried fruit and coconut
The number one rule is to step back and let the kiddos have fun making their own meal. A little guidance is good, but they will feel so accomplished and proud that their oatmeal is bound to get finished fast and they might even ask for seconds.