Raw Food For Kids PLUS Healthy Recipes – Part 2

In my previous article Raw Food for Kids – Part 1, I talked about how to gradually start introducing raw foods to your kids’ daily diet and more specifically about the benefits of juicing and green smoothies.

Today, we will move on and I hope you are all happily and comfortably drinking yummy fresh juices and green smoothies 🙂

As you have noticed for sure, your older kids may still be hungry after drinking either a full glass of juice or green smoothie whereas you little baby might be full. So what you can give the older ones  to keep them going?

Keeping in mind that every child is different and what works in our family doesn’t necessarily need to work in yours, I’ll give you other tips and ideas what to make to keep your kids happy and healthy!

First of all, ask yourself – Am I a good Raw Food model and an example for my kids? If the answer is YES, then you can move on to the next stage. If you still hesitate a bit and not keen on eating what you offer to your kids to eat then you should probably stop reading here and start again from your end. We cannot expect our kids to eat healthy raw foods if we do not. It is as simple. I’m talking about mixed messages here i.e. You say to your child: ‘You should eat breakfast in the morning otherwise you might get hungry very soon’ BUT you are in such a hurry yourself that you wouldn’t sit down and eat your breakfast.  I think this is very important to mention and realize before we even move on.

Now, we are all ready and excited to switch from those processed cereals or porridges with cow’s milk or from the toasted bread with butter and ham to something more exciting, healthy and living 🙂

Again, please be gentle on your little people, patient and understanding. Introduce one raw food group (not sure what raw food group means? Just subscribe to my newsletter to receive a FREE brochure to explain!) at one time so they can adjust i.e instead of cow’s milk try almond or coconut milk, but keep the cereals. Give them rye bread instead of brown or white bread, but keep the organic real butter and just sprinkle spring onions or chives on the top so they have something raw and green.

Here are some tips what you can make after drinking your yummy juice or smoothie:

1. Some kids don’t like complicated recipes or certain food texture (as our kids) so simply give them a choice of eating bananas or apples or whatever fruit they like in the morning. Don’t give them too many alternatives as otherwise they will be hesitant and unsure i.e. Are you still hungry? Would you like to grab some pears or apples? Would you like me to cut them for you?
   Eliska normally drinks her green smoothie and then she would have either an apple or a few carrots. Tomas would be satisfied with his green smoothie and might have a piece of apple from his bigger sister 🙂
2. If your kids are used to eat porridge or cereals with milk, here are some alternatives you can try. They may not like it at the first time, but please don’t give up :)Here are some quick and easy raw food breakfast recipes for you:

Banana Chia pudding recipe

Chia pudding

INGREDIENTS:
1 ½  cup almond milk
2 ripe bananas
½  cup chia seeds
2 tablespoons raw honey or sweetener of your choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
½ pineapple or other fruit your kids love such as strawberries

DIRECTIONS:
Soak chia seeds in almond milk for about 5 minutes. Stir well to break up any lumps. Mash bananas and add to the mixture. Add the sweetener and vanilla extract and mix well. Pinch of cinnamon and grated apple is great during cold winters JFor summer, I tend to add more chopped fruits such as pineapple, blueberries, mangoes and apples. Great alternative especially for those kids who don’t like mashed food.
Great source of calcium and protein!

Raw rolled oats with apple recipe (please note this is not a gluten free recipe!)

Raw oats breakfast recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup raw oats
1 cup fresh almond milk
2 apples
Pinch of cinnamon
1 tablespoon raw honey or coconut nectar. You can sweeten it with mashed bananas too

DIRECTIONS:
Soak raw oats in water overnight. Add almond milk, raw sweetener of your choice or bananas. Grate apples and mix well. You can add a pinch of cinnamon.

Eva’s Fruit Salad recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 bananas
2 apples
4 prunes
5 raw cashews nuts
handful of shredded coconut
pinch of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of raw almond butter (or whatever raw nut butter you like)
Spoon of raw cacao powder

DIRECTIONS
Cut bananas, apples and prunes and put in your favourite bowl. Chop cashews and almonds and mix with the fruit. Add one spoon of almond butter, pinch of cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle coconut on the top.

Ok, lets go back to our tips!

3. In case you are not ready for the 100% raw food breakfast yet, there are always healthy alternatives such as: cooked millet with fresh almond milk mixed with grated pears or apples. You can add bananas and raw cacao powder or carob powder.
   For those kids who like their bread in the morning you can start with introducing rye bread and then making the transition to raw bread and crackers. You can find some great recipes which doesn’t require a dehydrator here and here and make avocado spread which is a great source of healthy fats and a substitute for butter.
4. Encourage your children and babies to drink filtered water instead of pasteurized juices, tea or fizzy drinks. If they don’t like it, add some fruit in the water to make a nice flavour.
5. You can always sprinkle some superfoods/natural supplements or simply mixing them into your kids’ breakfast. We use hemp seeds very often as well as marine phytoplankton.

I hope you feel a bit more comfy about preparing raw food breakfast not only for your little ones, but for yourself and your partner 🙂

Let’s get ready for the next stage in Part 3 – nutrients to watch!

Eva