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3 Simple Ways to Increase Your Family’s Raw Food Intake

By Stephani McGirr


Do you have kids (or a spouse!) who absolutely refuse to eat anything that is not fried, fatty, breaded, smothered in cheese, sugar-coated, or covered in chocolate?  Are you stuck wondering how in the world you are going to get them to eat healthy, vegan, or even raw food when they turn and run at the mere mention of needing to eat healthier?  Do they think they are doomed to eat “rabbit food” for the rest of their lives?

Think again!  It is possible, with patience, love, and determination to guide your family toward these foods in a natural way without nagging and fighting!  It doesn’t have to be overnight, so relax and have fun!  

Here are 3 simple ways to get started (and this is just the beginning!!):

1. Always have fresh fruit and veggies available for a quick and easy snack.  
   In my experience, one of the hardest struggles was not necessarily choosing healthy food over junk food, but it is choosing healthy food over convenience food!  
   When your demanding hungry crew (whether it be 1 or many) wants a snack food, they want it NOW!  No one wants to sit and wait for the food to be washed and prepared before they can dig in.  
   How can you convince them to make a healthy choice when they have the option of digging into a bag or box of ready-to-eat sweet or salty processed foods IMMEDIATELY (and that is what they always eat)?
 

The key is to have those healthy choices EVEN MORE convenient than the other stuff lying around:

• Keep bowls of fruit on countertops or the kitchen table just begging to be eaten.  


• Prepare pre-cut veggie sticks like cucumbers, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, etc. and keep in a container in the fridge to be popped out and placed on the table as soon as someone comes looking for food.  


• Better yet, keep that plate of veggies on the counter and as the gang comes in and out, it will be there, ready for the taking as they simply pass by.  You would be surprised at how fast these plates are emptied by those who would refuse to eat it while sitting at the table and calling it a meal!



It isn’t just a matter of making the healthy choice more convenient, but it is also about making the poorer choices LESS convenient!  If you aren’t quite ready to make the plunge to just toss the stuff altogether, at least make it hard to get.  

• Remove the items you want to eventually eliminate from plain sight.  Put   them in the highest shelf in the pantry or in the highest cabinet in the kitchen.  Even better – put it in the garage!  


• Buy fewer quantities of these items so that you conveniently run out and the next choice (for the day, at least) is the healthy option (already prepared, of course!)  


• Simply choose one or two of the most offending items to eliminate each week from your grocery list until you are comfortable with taking that final step of getting rid of all the junk choices entirely.






2. Make raw desserts.
   The easiest raw foods to introduce are desserts!  Who can complain about a pudding, pie, chocolate treat, or ice cream, just to name a few?!?  Sweet raw foods are the easiest to recreate from their “cooked” versions.  
   
   
I am working on a family recipe book of our personal favorites.  This topic brings up a whole new article of its own!  This is just a list of a few basic tips.  Until I get our recipe book finished with full descriptions and exact recipes, get creative on your own or search online.  A great place to find raw recipes is www.goneraw.com .

Here are a few specific ideas to get you started:

• Fresh pressed fruit juice or smoothies poured into popsicle forms make delicious popsicles.  Flavor combinations are endless (including chocolate and vanilla), and you can even get really creative and make colored layers!


• Using a nut/date crust pressed into a pie plate as a base, you can create any variety of pie depending on which fruits or flavor (like chocolate cream) you choose.


• Freeze bananas whole on a popsicle stick and then dip them in a chocolate sauce made from raw cacao powder, vanilla, agave, and coconut oil.


• Date/nut balls rolled in coconut are a very, very yummy quick and easy treat.  All you need is a food processor.  They are great for treats on the go.


• Fruit blended thick in a blender makes for a delicious pudding.  Mango and banana is a great starter idea.



3. Have your children choose a fruit combination to try in a fruit smoothie.
   Smoothies are a newer popular trend in the grocery stores.  While the all-fruit smoothies are an excellent step up from the dairy-filled versions, the store bought bottles are often made of concentrate and are pasteurized (therefore losing the benefits of the raw fruits), not to mention being very expensive.  
   
   
You can easily make smoothies at home with a blender.  The big buzz in the raw food community is all about green smoothies and the benefits of getting more greens without eating salad all day.  Before you start with those, try a pure fruit smoothie and discover how tasty and truly wonderful they are!  Then you can start experimenting with greens, superfoods, and supplements to boost their nutritional value.  (Not that they aren’t nutritious enough as is!)

The key here is to have your children help with the whole process.  They will be much more likely to try it out knowing what goes in, especially if they get to choose the ingredients.  Let them get creative.  I have been surprised a few times about the outcome of my kids’ own creations and wouldn’t have ever thought of those combinations myself!

The following are a few tips to help you get going:

• Bananas give smoothies a creamy texture and help sweeten the smoothie when the other fruits are a little too sour.


• Use frozen fruits or ice to create a cold treat.  If you make it thick enough, it can be eaten with a spoon like sorbet ice cream.  (You can freeze the fruit yourself beforehand or make sure the store-bought bags are without added sugar or preservatives – only real fruit!)


• If you don’t have a high-powered blender like the Blend-tec or Vitamix, only put enough liquid in the blender to get the food pureed.  Then add an extra amount of water or juice to get your smoothie to the consistency you like.


• Use fresh squeezed orange juice or other fresh fruit juice instead of just water for a great refreshing taste.

Use these ideas as a springboard for slowly increasing the amount of raw food your family eats.  The more they try, the easier it will get.  Just remember tastes and habits CAN change.  If you believe in what you are doing and have patience, it can be done!!

As always, I would love feedback about what works for your family and what your experiences are as you explore the world of raw food.  Have fun and be adventurous!


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