Tasty Challenges

We have been working hard at being a healthier household.  At the same time, we want our kids to see making healthy choices as a fun, natural part of life, not something forced on them by goal-oriented parents.

Football season is in full swing at our house, and in the past, that's always meant lots of snacks and fun foods.  I wanted this year to be just as fun, but with a change in the food, and I decided that the best way to pull that off would be to involve the kids in the snack selection.

I chose a big game - the ISU v. Iowa game - and challenged the kids to think of different kinds of foods that were red and yellow.  I was surprised with how much we came up with!

We decided that everything should be in Cyclone colors, and the kids did a great job!  Our healthy snacks included:

Red apples with yellow bananas

Babybel individual cheeses, white cheddar (yellow) and regular red wheels

Freeze-dried pineapple and strawberries

Red sugar-free Jello jigglers

Crunchy and tasty - with no sugar added!

I'm a big fan of cheese in moderation - 75 calories/piece, and you get protein! 

And, of course, we had some junk food too.  Our kids eat healthy meals and snacks on a regular basis, and we try to make sure that we let them have junk food on occasion, and in moderation.   It's my opinion that when they are allowed to experience the difference between junk foods and healthy foods, they start learning how to make the choices on their own, and we're hoping the healthy habits stick!

We had chips and salsa, red and yellow filled Twizzlers (SO yummy!), and my favorite, a giant iced cookie that we all split.

It was so soft and delicious!

I was really impressed with how well the kids did.  We made choosing the healthy red and yellow snacks into a game, and we all had fun.

And, after all the carefully selected snacks were laid out on the table, we turned on the TV (rare for the kids!) and watched our beloved Cyclones beat the Hawks.

So, healthy eating - score!
Cyclone win - score!

That's what I like to think of as a win-win kind of situation.