I believe there is a bit of a misconception about eating healthy. I suppose some of us may think that we have to do something all the way, 100% or not do it all. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be perfect. Kids lunches don’t have to be perfect. A “healthy” lunch for our kids doesn’t have to consist of celery, cucumbers, nuts, seeds, turkey wrapped avocado and some fruit politely packaged like a smiling cat. And while, yes, all of those things would make for a great lunch, one might even say a perfect lunch, it doesn’t have to be THAT great. How does seeing meals like this make you feel? In awe, inspired, motivated?
To be honest, I see things like that and think…”Forget it!”. I know those images are supposed to be motivating, but they can also be overwhelming and, quite frankly, discouraging.
My point? Eating healthy doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be…better. Better than the food offered at the school snack bar, for example. I would much rather have my kids eat my sweet potato brownies or apple pie trail mix balls for a snack, rather than a prepackaged fruit roll up, some Goldfish or sugar-filled yogurt. I’m really not trying to plug my book (been there and way overdone that), but that was my goal of many of the snacks in my book.
We eat pretty clean, for the most part. But I’ll tell you, it didn’t happen overnight. Not by a long shot. Years ago we were eating Cherrios and graham crackers and things like that because we thought they were somewhat healthy (they they are low fat and “whole grain” so that must constitute healthy right? Not.). I didn’t realize they were full of hydrogenated oils, refined sugars, and way over processed wheat, but as I learned, as we learned, we evolved and I think that’s the goal…to continue to learn (and you’re reading this so you’re already halfway there, right?) and evolve as people that want to feel better and get stronger both mentally and physically, and food can help us do that (or hinder us!). So be patient, learn, try new things, grow, evolve and don’t forget to teach your kids the connection to food and how we feel on a daily basis so they can make smart, educated decisions as they grow.
The chocolate chip cookies we made today are a great example. They are a good snack…yes I said snack. Are they perfect? No. Is it an every day snack for us? Certainly not. But, they do have protein and good healthy fat from the cashews, vitamin A, D and K, as well as a gut healing, anti-inflammatory fatty acid called butyrate from the grass-fed butter and they are made with a low glycemic sugar (so it doesn’t cause blood sugar crashes or create inflammation). So while it may not be THE perfect snack, I can guarentee it sure does taste like it.
.jpg "We don’t have to be perfect (and fab chocolate chip cookies!)…")
Gosh he looks big, doesn’t he? Speaking of perfect. Like my “wood” I use for book/blog pictures? So far from perfect wood….
.jpg "We don’t have to be perfect (and fab chocolate chip cookies!)…")
This is a snack that we can all feel good about….jpg "We don’t have to be perfect (and fab chocolate chip cookies!)…")
- 1 cup cashew butter
- 1 organic egg
- 4 tbsp grass fed butter, melted
- 1/2 cup coconut nectar or maple or honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients together (except for the chocolate chips) with an immersion blender or by hand. Then fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Next lay out parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Then use a tablespoon to dollop the cookie dough mixture onto the sheet. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until start to brown.
Marla-Deen - So well said!
landriav - Thank you so much MD! So nice to hear. 🙂
emilia - What kind of cashew butter do you recommend and where do you find it?
landriav - Trader Joe’s has a good one that is reasonable. That is what we used for this recipe. Otherwise, you could check out vitacost.com for a good one. Or Whole Foods.
Jing - What kind of flour do you use? Thanks.
landriav - Hi Jing, I just used cashew butter as the flour.