Following a conversation with friends last week, I was reminded once again how fortunate I am that my children don't have any food allergies or intolerances.
They've always been great eaters who will try just about anything, they're completely totally adventurous & long may it continue!
I have friends with children who have all kinds of allergies - wheat, gluten, dairy, nuts....and other friends where one or more member of the family is vegetarian or has other dietary requirements.
When I grew up, I wasn't aware of anyone having particular food issues or allergies although very possibly they might have done. These days though it's something we are all much more knowledgeable & aware of, my children think nothing of it & it's common practice if you're hosting a play-date or a children's party to check if anyone has any allergies.
I've always been a one-meal-fits-all kind of cook &, where possible, my children have generally eaten whatever the adults have been eating, I have not encouraged them to eat any differently.
Life did become a little more challenging when my daughter began secondary school & then became a teenager....suddenly she claimed to dislike foods that she'd always loved.
She was faced with less than healthy options in her school canteen & she also started traveling home from school alone or with friends, generally stopping for a snack on the way.I just had to cross my fingers & hope that she wouldn't eat too much "rubbish".
And for a while, probably like many young people of her age, if I said black, she said white.She even claimed overnight allergies to her favorite foods!
For a very short time, she seemingly refused to eat anything healthy, simply snacking & eating industrial quantities of crisps. Not eating breakfast. And yes, consuming rubbish!
For the first time ever, I started to worry about her diet....not enough fruit & veg, calcium, proteins or, in fact, anything vaguely high in nutritional value.
I never had to disguise my children's vegetables as anything else when they were toddlers as they ate everything put in front of them....no persuasion or cajoling was involved or required.
Unfortunately, it seems that almost all teenagers have a phase where they respond to absolutely NOTHING ; persuasion, cajoling, threats, bribes, cash & yelling, you try them all to no avail!
Eventually, I stopped driving both myself & her crazy & stopped giving her endless food lectures....I started buying some new foods which I guessed she might feel tempted by, out of boredom if nothing else.
Healthy snacks, nuts, fruits & berrries for smoothies which she started creating for herself & some interesting granolas. I bought juices made of things that I'd never even tried myself & I also bought a variety of different milks - soy, goat & any other option I could find - in order to deal with my growing child.
We now appear to have reached a much happier compromise on healthy eating & she understands that it's all about balance. She has the instincts of someone who will be a good cook & I can see that she now understands the concept of eating good = feeling good.
This post is sponsored by a2 milk which is one of the milks that I tried.a2 milk is a pure cow's milk that contains A2 protein but not A1 protein meaning that it may in fact be suitable for those who have previously been lactose intolerant.
This is a sponsored post but all words & content are my own.
