Eat a Rainbow Salad (or How to Get Kids to Feel Good About Eating Healthy)
Okay, here’s a recent dilemma of mine. Although I’m far from perfect (really, really so far) when it comes to what I feed my kids, it’s come up in several situations that they end up being the kids with the healthy and therefore less exciting snack, lunch, drink, what-have-you, while other kids are eating very exciting, highly desirable junk food. I cringe even writing this because I know I’m sounding like a classic obnoxious, over-zealous, judgemental – go ahead and insert your own adjectives here – parent. On the other hand, I just don’t want my kids eating fistfuls of Skittles on the regular. My kids get plenty of treats but they do have pals who get a lot more than they do. My idea of a treat is something you have sometimes not always. And while it’s an opportunity to talk about how every family is different, why we make the choices we do, yada yada yada, sometimes it sucks being the kid who has strawberries to snack on when the other kids are sucking on ring pops. What do you do? No really, what do you do?! I’d love to hear what you all do when you’re in a similar situation. Give in? Stand tough? Please, send help.
photo by Maya Visnyei
One of the ways I think you can combat the food envy that can go down between kids is to try to make healthier food at least look more appealing. Straight up marketing. Like this super pretty fruit salad. I mean, have you ever? We created this little bit of gorgeous-ness for our Birthday Magazine (check it out for lots of other great recipes and party ideas) but it would be a hit at a play date or a barbecue. You know your kids are going to like the fruit – it’s not that my kids don’t like eating the berries they snack on at the park now. It’s just that in a tupperware container it’s not so thrilling. This, thought, this is a Fruit Rainbow! Okay, I’ve got a five year old daughter and pretty is very, very important right now.
Rainbow Fruit Salad
2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced in half
1 o 2 oranges, cut in half and sliced
1 cup pineapple, chopped
2 or 3 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 or 2 cups blueberries
1 or 2 cups red grapes
1 cup whipped cream
Method
Just remember roygbv from art class: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet. Okay, we sort of cheated as it’s hard to find a violet fruit and we thought the grapes looked good. But you get the idea. Just arrange everything on a large platter and place your “cloud” of whipped cream on one end.
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Hey, thanks for stopping by!
We're Ceri and Laura, a couple of magazine-editors-turned-food-bloggers. Also, we're mothers obsessed with delicious, healthy, family food. We're constantly thinking of ways to make your time (and our own!) in the kitchen easier and more productive, but still nostalgic for the days when dinner was cereal eaten over the kitchen sink.
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9 Comments
Terra
July 23, 10:04gorgeous!
Megan W
July 24, 11:04My almost 4 year old has wanted this since he spotted it in your Birthday Magazine. It will definitely be making an appearance at his party!
Ceri Marsh
July 26, 11:26Ah, I’m so glad he was impressed by it! Will you send us a picture of his birthday? Good luck!!
U.
July 26, 09:41I would love to hear answers to the same question :). Since starting jk my 5 year old discovered that no else eats cuts up vegetables with their lunch and started to demand lunchables (over my dead body).
Ceri Marsh
July 26, 11:25That’s funny – how do they know about lunchables?! I guess other kids are bringing them to school. Maybe use a bento box so that the healthy veggies, etc, you’re packing look like lunchables?
Stacy @School-Bites.com
October 16, 14:25I don’t know if this is the answer, but I try to let my kids be cool in ways that don’t involve food: by splurging for a cool skateboard, going to see a cool movie, etc. I wrote a post about this very subject a few months ago, FYI: http://school-bites.com/junk-food-cool-parent/
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