As many of you know, I’m a food nerd. As in I actually derive joy from growing food, cooking food, baking and making it fun for my kids when the time permits. Cooking particularly, is an extension of my creativity. I am that woman singing in the kitchen and loving it. For me, there’s actually something sensual to the art of creating delicious meals, recipe development and the science of baking.

One might say it’s a hobby of mine. It’s not something I think of as a chore or a test. Getting busy in the kitchen is my jam. Particularly while sipping on something fine and listening to something exquisite.

Another extension to the love that I have for cooking is the firm belief that I have rooted in the fact that food is medicine. Healthy eating is a way of life. Not as an obsession revolving around keeping my ass size in check – but rather to nurture my mind, body and soul. To provide the same for my family, my kids. I notice a distinct difference, now that I’m a few years into this parenting game between my kids and their response to fresh food, compared to other kids who come from homes where there isn’t as much of a focus on real food. That’s not a judgement, it’s just a fact.

I don’t want my kids to grow up obsessed with their body image. I wish for them to fall in love with real food, to respect it, where it comes from and how it’s grown. How it affects their bodies and their minds. Because there isn’t much about it that’s forced for us, I do believe that they are learning these things naturally, everyday. No force feeding, no freaking out when they don’t try everything. By the simple fact that healthy food is just a regular part of our days, as opposed to pre-fab food is enough. They know about ketchup, but they don’t know about boxed chicken nuggets or superfries. I’m not a zealot about it either. We still order pizza and get take-out now and then. These aren’t described as treats, real food is the treat. These are known to be the days that, ‘mama had a deadline, or mama is sick, or daddy’s been away for 14 days straight.’

I’m not trying to humble-brag; I’m trying sharing with you some of the very viable reasons as to why, why on earth I actually take the time every now and then to do something fun and special with food just for them. Geared specifically towards their interests as young children. It’s not like I have all this spare time to waste, it’s just that these things are important to me. I am after all, their chief memory maker, all healthy food-nut notions aside.

With Wyndham starting school (!!!) next week I’ve been thinking a lot about lunch and after-school snack ideas. So over the past couple of weekends I’ve test ridden some trials (knowing full-well they’d be well received having prepared fun food plates for them before), and shared a bunch of them over on Babble! Visit me over there to check them out, there are 6 more cute and creative ideas just like the one above to get you started. 

Until the next. XO