Making my children raw

[Katy]

I am going to start my kids raw tomorrow. It is going to be hard since they are boys and hate veggies.  I'm scared but this needs to be done.  My youngest is adopted from Korea and has speech and cognitive itssues.  He has eaten a specialized diet since his arrival 4.5 years ago (at age 1).  I believe that his issues would be worse if I didn't have him on a low allergen diet.  I am hoping  that going raw will really help him more but I don't know how to go about this.  I am raw but I am also very happy to eat smoothies and salad all day. Now I will need to learn to be creative and how to deal with the public and all the crap that is thrown into our faces daily.  NOt to mention dealing with the school once that starts up.  I really could use help and suggesttions on how to best deal with this and how to get my boys to embrace their new way of living.

 

[Eva]

katy, i commend you on your desire to transition your children to raw foods...although i am not a devout rawist, i include raw foods into our family's eating whenever possible.. i get many questions and comments from friends and family alike about how we eat---funny thing is that i never make comments about how they eat (anyway...)...i've learned to just stick to my values and relay that to my children...so much of what i am teaching them about food and nutrition is sticking and i am very proud of that, and your children will thank you one day

[Susan : )]

I suggest making RAW fun!  Let them help you!  Make them some raw sweets and munchies...that will win them over.  Do things gradually.  Do not take away everything they like that is SAD.   

 

Green Smoothies and Fruit Smoothies with hidden greens would be a great place to start!  : )

My special needs son, Elliott lives and thrives on Green Smoothies!

[Eva]

i agree with susan--with my children it has been a gradual process...i don't prevent them from having the treats and snacks at school, although i don't agree with the constant influx of birthday treats....i think socially alienating them at this point would not be wise for them at this point (not suggesting you do this, but for me it seems to work well)...however, and a big however, they are required to eat what i make at home--because there are no other options....and my rule with them is, if they eat healthy at home, i will never prevent them from having goodies at school (or those horrid icees with carcinogens at the amusement park this past saturday--what happens at grandma's, stays at grandma's--or those processed corn dogs---ugh)....but 90% of the time, i have control over what they eat and i will make sure that 90% counts every bite nutritionally

[Katy]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.  My kids are aloud to eat some foods outside the home.  My one son is dairy and gluten free and the other is corn, dairy, soy, egg, banana and chocolate free due to intolerances.   Because of this they are already used to eating differently from others but also realize that they are able to have one snack or food when going to parties or such.  I have found that allowing them to eat to much outside the home and eating a specialized diet within the home will upset there bodies so it is best to limit the intake.  Otherwise they get reflux, wet the bed,  have sinus issues, and will get diarrhea.  I'm more or less looking for good transitional foods such as breakfast replacements.  My boys will continue to eat meat and fish since I feel that kids really need healthy fats from these sources.  I suppose I am looking more for foods that are free of sugars and grains and foods that are easy to prepare since I don't have the luxury of staying home and preparing foods all day.

[RawSteps]

My youngest (9yo) is resistant to smoothies.  We play "Mad Scientist" sometimes (the rule is you have to drink it).... so we use mainly fruit at the moment.  Another thing that helps is one day we were at the grocery store and they had some cute shot glasses (a pack of 4, all different colors) as an impulse item in the juice aisle.  She thought those were so cute!   So we came up with this idea: it holds a small amount of smoothie or other raw food items.... she has to try that amount (no complaining, LOL).  Cutesy -- but it helps!  Sometimes you can go to Goodwill and find cute cups or dishes that make things special/fun, too.  And if the boys can pick their own, it might make it fun for them.

 

Try "build your own" meals.... you choose the main item -- maybe even transitional items, with various raw toppings they can add:

* baked potato with selections of raw toppings

* rice (ditto)

* raw ice cream frozen blended fruit (with fun fruit toppings, coconut, etc)

* make your own fruit leather

* raw zucchini noodles (have them help make them!), with your favorite topping, even their favorite SAD spaghetti topping for now -- get them used to the noodles first! :)

 

Also let them "play" with their food: veggie faces on a tortilla, pita or lettuce wrap..... maybe faces pressed into dehydrated raw pizza crusts, crackers or breads.  Or try cutting the raw veggies into fun shapes -- there are lots of things on the web about tomato and radish flowers, carrot slice butterflies, etc

 

Hope some of these help!

 

[Eva]

@rawsteps, i do the same thing with the rest of the family--make them cooked spaghetti sauce, but then put it on raw zucchini noodles--both the husband and the kiddos like that one!...in fact, my husband no longer wants 'carbs' so the zucchini works well in cutting down his carbs....fruit leather is another good idea...kale chips have worked well....

[Jamie]

I am in the same position right now!  My son who is 2 years old has systemic candida which causes him to have allergies and major eczema.  The poor little man is just miserable most of the time.  I want to change my household to 100% raw to help him heal, but I have 2 daughters, 6 and 8, who are very influenced by the world and friends.  I don't mind if they have treats at bday parties, but I would like our home to stay raw for my son.  I am currently 100% raw and I am a single mom so it's all up to me to make this change.  Besides smoothies and desserts what are some great breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas that are quick and easy?  My girls are also not into veggies :(

[Shelly Keith]

I too am transitioning my children to raw
I have five children ages 14, 12, 10, 7, & 2, of which we have issues with allergies, asthma, ADHD, and anger issues. I am 80/20 now, and hope to get my kids atleast to the same. I have just started adding adding something raw to every meal, and trying to do snacks all raw. They love the raw popcorn and fruit Smoothies! But I am always looking for new ideas and recipes :-)