COOKING WITH THE KIDS

Update: This is an old post from 2012. The granddaughter pictured here is now 18. For years she baked for approximately 250 homeless persons in Ft Worth once a month. She is now a high school senior and holds down a job, so she no longer does that baking. She does, however, still go to Ft Worth to serve meals to the homeless one Sunday a month.

One of the best things you can do for your children and grandchildren is to teach them from an early age to eat healthy.  If they start eating healthy when they are young, they will continue to do so.  And I am not talking about refusing them a McDonald's happy meal on occasion or not allowing cookies in the house.  Teaching healthy eating habits and deprivation are two different things!  One of the great ways to teach healthy eating is to let the little ones help you prepare healthy foods.  Kids love to eat what they make!  They can help you make healthy muffins, healthy cookies, etc.  They will become so attached to the healthy versions they make that the packaged processed products in the stores won't interest them.  Below is a picture of my granddaughter in the kitchen making some healthy muffins using fresh pears, whole-grain flour, flaxseed, a little canola oil, and other healthy ingredients.  They have become her favorite muffins/cakes.  So please, don't ban the little ones from the kitchen.  Include them and make healthy choices with them.  The reward will be worth it.

You can find this pear pecan mini cake recipe on my diabeticenjoyingfood blog.