Feeding fussy kids

In my 25-year career as a professional chef and now as a passionate health coach, I’m currently having one of the most illuminating discussions I’ve ever experienced surrounding the next generation’s relationship with food and their understanding that what we eat can also be our medicine. It’s why I’ve been inspired to work with kids all over Australia to help ignite their interest in creating healthy, yummy dishes that are easy to make but also fuel their bodies and minds in a really positive way that allows them to learn, grow and realise their ultimate potential.

Along with the work I’m doing with my Healthy Every Day series in schools throughout Australia, it’s the fact that I’m the father of two growing young girls that has empowered me to want to contribute to and create an environment in which parents all over the country can enjoy supportive conversations about what our kids are eating. You see, taking back the power around what we choose to put in our children’s mouths (and the knowledge and skills we equip them with for use in adult life) is one key way that parents can have a positive, dynamic impact in the lives of their children.

Habits for life

The eating habits you teach your kids from when they first start exploring solids until they get interested in making their own food as teens stay with them for life. However, this isn’t about lecturing or schooling our kids on what’s right and wrong. This is about creating an exciting environment that fosters a sense of responsibility so kids are equipped to make healthy food choices for themselves.

Nic, the girls and I take the approach that every meal is a celebration and food is a way to connect our family. One of the nicest ways to do this is by preparing meals together and then sitting down at the table to share tasty dishes and enjoy a chat about our day. It’s a technique that’s worked wonders for my own two daughters, Indii and Chilli, who have been involved in creating delicious meals and playing with flavours since they were little. As a parent, it’s been a really interesting journey because I’ve discovered that the more my kids understand the power of food as medicine, the less inclined they’ve become to eat (or crave) unhealthy food.

Plus, our family dialogue and intrinsic relationship with what we eat has allowed them to have a really dynamic relationship with the food they put in their mouths. Both my girls don’t digest dairy well and Chilli also is intolerant to both gluten and wheat, which is why I’ve created a special grain-free muesli recipe that she just loves.

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However, I fully understand how tough the juggle can be and how pushed, both financially and physically, things can sometimes appear. That’s why I want to encourage parents to get back to basics and start by cutting out the processed foods and takeaway meals and instead get into the kitchen with the kids. Not only will it help with budgeting and planning, but, more importantly, it’s a way we can all make a commitment to nurturing them with dishes that provide optimal nutrition and create physical, emotional and mental wellness.

For me, the most nutritionally sound way to achieve this is by following Paleolithic principles. Basically, we enjoy a delicious diet of 100 per cent grass-fed and finished meat and organ meats, pasture-raised poultry as well as their eggs, wild game, free-range pork, wild-caught smaller-species seafood with an emphasis on molluscs and bivalves, nuts, seeds, some seasonal fruits and lots of organic leafy greens and brightly coloured vegetables, with fermented vegetables included in each and every meal.

We avoid grains, legumes, dairy products, non-organic produce and genetically modified and processed foods. Ultimately, it’s about listening to your own body and working with a trusted health professional, but I know that Paleo has worked very well for both me and my family.

Getting started

You’ve picked the kids up from school and you need to create a nutritious meal, quick-smart. What is it that we should be feeding our kids, you ask? If all you do is select a few choice recipes, start creating meals from scratch, buy more vegies and the best possible meat you can afford, choose organic where possible and avoid refined sugars and starchy carbohydrates, most of the battle is won.

As parents, we all need to make a commitment to cook our own food, with our kids’ help, as much as we possibly can. Lunches require a bit of planning and preparation, but you can make double portions so you can stretch dishes over a number of days. Why not also think about setting aside one weekend afternoon (at our place it’s usually a Sunday) to make some grain-free muesli and a few yummy snacks that can be scoffed after school throughout the week, such as homemade Paleo hummus? A little tub of this nutritious, delicious Turkish spread is also a great inclusion in lunchboxes with carrot and celery sticks for a snack or to accompany a chicken salad. And, if you create a couple of big portions of dinner food that also won’t spoil in a lunchbox, it’s another way of getting a bit more bang out of your kitchen time. I find those small cooler bags that can carry a frozen icepack very helpful so food can last the distance.

Today, much processed food is cooked in vegetable oils such as sunflower, canola, ricebran and cotton that become rancid at high heat and are very high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. Consumed in excess, these omega-6s can be harmful to your health and, because of the high levels in our modern-day diet, we need to look to minimise our intake of these, while at the same time increasing our intake of omega-3 essential fatty acids (the ones found in oily fish and supplements such as krill oil).

So what are good oils? I choose to cook with coconut oil, duck fat or tallow because these are all high in good saturated fats, which have been found by the latest scientific research to be vital in allowing us to feel satiated by what we eat. Research is also showing how essential saturated fat is for the health of both our brains and nervous systems. I save my good-quality olive oil for creating salad dressings, as it’s unstable at high heat. I also love macadamia and avocado oils because it’s very important to ensure you have lots of variety.

I encourage you to continue to be bold and brave with the foods you introduce to your kids. By encouraging adventurous palates, you’ll ensure they have a lifelong love affair with what they put in their mouths and their physical and emotional health can benefit tremendously.

Chicken San Choy Bau

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

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Margarita Pizza

Serves: 4

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Paleo Pizza Base

Yield: 2 30cm bases
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins

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Pizza Sauce

Yield: 200g

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Kale Chips

Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins

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Variation
You could also try using cavolo nero.