Weeks 2 and 3 of our 31 Day Food Challenge

Since I was in San Diego last weekend I didn't get our progress report up on our 31 day eating challenge. 

Enjoy a Meal Together -- That was an easy one! The 4 of us eat dinner together most nights. The kids and I eat lunch together most days, too.

Add Something New to Your Meal Plan -- I am always trying new recipes...maybe to much...haha!

Eat More Apples -- Oddly enough this is one of Shane's favorite new foods. He is in love with apples and cheese. Adalyn loves warm apples with cinnamon on them .

Examine Your Kids Drinking Habits -- I must say we've always been controlling over the juice flow in our household. Shane didn't taste juice until he was at least 2 years old. We always have 100% juice in the house. Shane gets 1-2 cups of juice a day, but we still dilute it with half water. When he has had his juice fill for the day he then gets"cold water", which most of the time he drink very happily. Adalyn still only gets milk or water for her liquids.

Use Books to Encourage Good Eating Habits -- I don't think we have many books that fit this category in our home library. It's a great idea and I'll be looking to add some to our collection.

Build a Better Pantry -- I keep healthy snacks in reach of Mr. Shane and the cookies and candy go in a special cabinet that only Daddy and Mommy know about.

High Protein, Low Sugar Breakfasts -- Just a couple months ago I thought to myself one morning that cereal just wasn't a good breakfast for Shane. He didn't eat it every day, but when he did he got hungry a lot sooner and his behavior crashed a lot earlier in the day, too. When he gets a healthy breakfast he just behaves so much better during the whole day.

Cook or Bake With Your Kids -- Shane bakes with me probably at least once a week. And he often joins me in the kitchen while I make dinner. He LOVES to cut things up and make his own "food" while I make dinner. I'll give him veggie scrapes, etc and he cuts them up and puts them in a bowl. Adalyn is in my arms or in the backpack when I am in the kitchen. She loves watching me make things.

Serve a Muffin Tin Meal -- Most of the meals I give Shane are similar to muffin tin meals, but minus the muffin tin. I have been meaning to pick myself up some tins for this though.

Try Something You've Been Avoiding -- I have an acorn danish squash sitting on my counter (it's been there for at least a month now) and I just can't seem to get it cooked. This week I am going to serve it at lunch or dinner...finally.

Teaching Balanced Eating -- I think in the next week or so I'll use the "report card" and try it out with Shane for a couple days. See if he understands at all and then go from there.

Commit To Whole Grains -- We do pretty good with whole grains on and off. Pasta is a pretty easy one for us to do. Rice and bread are okay sometimes. I falter more on this since I buy the groceries and I just sometimes don't buy whole grains. I think we could pretty easily do a week of it though (at least pasta, rice and bread). I bake with whole wheat sometimes, too or I half it.

Let Your Kids Play with Their Food -- We've been telling Shane lately that if it's something he doesn't want to eat he can touch it or play with it. He looks at us like we are from another planet and then laughs. He really is becoming a better eater, so if playing with his food helps, I am all for it. Adalyn has playing with her food down!

Snack Wisely -- I realized a few months back that Shane was snacking to much. When I cut down on that he ate during meal times....imagine that. Now snacking is more "schedule" between meals and much more purposeful.

We have one more week to go!!