rehab.

Food rehab.

It's bootcamp at our house.

We are recovering from about 4 years of being too relaxed with food and meals in conjunction with the "nutritional wasteland that is the holiday season." (quoted from Runnner's World editor)

No more snacks, except for fruit. You come to the table hungry and eat what is served. You try EVERYTHING. At least one bite. You sit during meals and when you leave you are done. (Except for me, because if I did that I would be skinny as a rail. I get up about 50 times during a meal.)

It had gotten out of control! We were making really nice, healthy meals for our kids and they were eating one cucumber (drenched in ranch dressing) and asking for dessert. There was crying, seat hopping, indigestion (on our parts) and general discontent.

Time for family meal makeover.

The pediatrician had told us before Maya was born to not give the kids choices about their meals. They will learn to eat what you eat, she said. She promised they would not starve. Did we listen to her????

I heard my friend Meredith tell her kids the other day (when one of them said he didn't like corn), "well that's what's for dinner." He ate it. All of it.

Emilie has removed chicken nuggets and other processed foods from her house and no one even misses them. She came up with alternate, healthier versions of some of their favorites. It's working.

And I finally got it! If we don't serve it, they can't eat it! And if they are hungry enough, they will eat what we feed them!

So here we are 6 days into food rehab and I would like to report is going well. With the help of Jessica Seinfield's sneaky cookbook on putting vegetables in regular food, our kids nutritional intake has gone THROUGH THE ROOF. Last night they snacked on carrots before dinner, ate cucumbers (with homemade ranch dressing consisting of white beans, a little sour cream, buttermilk and spices), steamed broccoli and these yummy rice balls that had sweet potato, squash, brown rice, potato all rolled into a ball and tossed in bread crumbs and browned up. And we are no dummies... they can have a reward for eating like champs. Last night it was a healthier version chocolate chip cookie. The day before, 100% fruit roll-ups.

And we won't make them eat anything. They can leave the table hungry if they want. No force feeding happening here. BUT...if you want to try those yummy cookies...you can choose to eat that homemade macaroni and cheese that has pureed butternut squash in it. Or not. Up to you.

And you know what? It's working! Now when I say, "Who wants dried apricots?" they shout, "Yeah! Me!"

Who wants to come to our house to eat?