3 Books That Make Feeding A Family Easier

I like to keep my readers up-to-date on the latest and greatest resources. Here are three books (the first two were sent to me) that can make life with feeding little ones a little easier.

My Plate for Moms: How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better: This clever book by Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, helps moms translate the 2010 dietary guidelines, along with the new My Plate icon, into their daily lives. I like this because the Dietary Guidelines provide a wealth of information that few people ever truly understand and benefit from. Ward has found a way to bring all the research and tips to the daily task of feeding kids.

In the book she breaks down helpful information in an easy-to read format tackling subjects such as maintaining a healthy weight, portions, maximizing nutrition, physical activity and how to balance all foods and beverages. She ends the book with 50 family-friendly recipes including Chocolate Chili, Coconut Chicken tenders and Tilapia Tacos. I can’t wait to try these.

So if you’re looking helpful nutrition advice, healthy food ideas and simple recipes for feeding your family, check out My Plate for Moms — you can also “like” on Facebook. I’ll leave you with one of the recipes for the book:

Cinnamon Pumpkin Smoothie: According to Ward, “Cinnamon brings out the natural sweetness of pumpkin, so you don’t need much added sugar.”

-1/2 cup milk
-1/2 cup canned pumpkin
-2 tsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-pinch of ground cinnamon
-2 ice cubes

Blend all the ingredients in a blender and serve. Double the recipe for 2 servings.

The No-Cry Picky Eating Solution: Gentle Ways to Encourage Your Child to Eat — and Eat Healthy: You are probably familiar with the “No Cry” series of books by parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley, including the No Cry Sleep Solution. This book includes gentle advice on how to help your child accept a wider variety of healthy foods. I like how Pantley explains the why behind picky eating, reminding parents that this is a normal part of development. She includes real-life stories from parents and advice from experts which add both personal and professional components.

Much of her advice is in line with what I write about on this blog (sans the division of responsibility). She makes reading easy for parents by organizing her book into four areas: Attitude, Environment, Amounts, and Rules.

Admittingly, there are some things I disagree with including having your child wait 10-15 minutes for seconds, incorporating a one-bite rule for every kid and hiding veggies (actually I don’t disagree with adding veggies to food, but I believe that you should be honest with kids so there is no “hiding”). But the overall tone of the book — non judgmental (to parents) and being patient and gentle with a child’s eating, is right on.

If you are looking for some support and general information on picky eating, this book may be for you.

Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet. I bought this book for one of my writing projects. After reading it, I felt the title doesn’t represent what this book is really about. If you have a normal picky eater — this book may feel too clinical for you. But if you have a child who gags or throws up at meals, isn’t growing adequately or has tantrums at the sight of new foods, than this book is for you.

Food Chaining will help you decide whether or not your child needs professional help as it walks you through the potential underlying problems that can negatively affect eating, whether they be sensory, an underlying medical condition, underdeveloped feeding skills or behavioral issues.

The process of food chaining helps problem feeders accept a wider variety of foods. The basic idea is to start with foods your child already likes and slightly tweak them. So if your child likes mac and cheese you might first change the shape of the pasta, then the sauce, then you could add some chicken. It’s all about slow gradual changes based on your child’s preferences.

Bottom line: If your gut is telling something isn’t quite right with your child’s eating, than you might want to read this book to help you find resolution.