Monday Message - Family Food

Does your family  have any food "rules" or "traditions" when it comes to meal times?  Growing up in my family, it was custom to have a colorful plate at meals.  My mom ensured that our plates were not covered with like-colored foods such as potatoes, chicken and cauliflower.  All white foods or all red foods on our plate at once was an artistic nightmare!  There was nothing nutritionally wrong with having those potatoes, chicken and cauliflower on the plate because they actually represented a balanced meal but over the years of family meals at home my mom fed us a colorful diet which helped us receive all of the nutrients we needed for growing up healthy!

Our family food "rules" were generally "unwritten"  which allowed my mom to make sure than we kept sweets and treats under control while trying new foods during our meals at home.

Some of our other "rules" included:

1. No more than three cookies at a time for lunches or snacks. (small packaged cookies)
2. Homemade chocolate milk or store bought chocolate milk only if mixed with plain milk.
3. One glass of milk at dinner - minimum!
4. Chocolate cereals MUST be mixed with plain cereal. (Sorry...no Apple Jacks or Honeycomb)
5. Must try one bite of the vegetable served with dinner.....also referred to as the "no thank you bite."
6. Peas were the exception....one pea for each year.....our age!
7. Breakfast EVERY morning.
8. Brown Bag Lunch 4 Days per week instead of Bosco Sticks, Little Caesars and Chocolate Pudding Pies.
9. Koolaid made with 1/2 the sugar the recipe stated.
10. I'm sure my family could fill in a few more blanks______________!

Now that I am a registered dietitian, I am often referred to as the "food police" because many people feel as though a registered dietitian is going to take away all of their favorite foods!  This is simply not true, however, I do believe that it is important to have some food rules.
For example, Mom is the Executive Chef and not the short-order cook. To that end, make one meal that the whole family will enjoy. 
Check out this Food Rules video for some ideas to keep your family healthy without sounding like the "food police"

***CAUTION*** One rule that I would never recommend is the "clean your plate" rule.  There is no such thing as the Clean Plate Club and unfortunately, there may be starving children in Africa, but that does not mean we need to eat gargantuan helpings of food or clean our bowls, plates and pans with our tongues!