collaborative post
It’s a standing joke in our family that Lil Sis is always hungry.
The pleas for food start pretty much as soon as she wakes up, and are still going as she’s walking up the stairs for bedtime. I’ve taken to keeping a supply of Organix snacks in the car, so I can stave off the inevitable cries of: ‘Muuuuummmy, I’m starving – what can I have to eat?’
I first introduced the girls to Organix carrot puffs when they were weaning, before graduating to the toddler snack range (the apple rice crackers were particularly handy for staving off tantrums whilst on public transport).
I always remember travelling to St Lucia when Big Sis was just 22-months olds. At home I stuck to a fairly bog-standard menu – fruit, steamed veggies, chicken, ham – so I was a little worried about how she’d adapt to the change in diet. But she absolutely LOVED every second of it.
She was so much more adventurous than OH was – one day we visited a cacao estate and lunch was traditional Caribbean fare – black-eyed beans, blackened fish, rice and fresh mango. She literally couldn’t shovel it in fast enough!
Even back at home she had some really curious eating habits for a toddler, and was huge fan of broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I know, unusual right? It was the same when we travelled to Bali for a family wedding – she fell in love with the local spicy rice, and would eat it every day for breakfast.
Lil Sis is a different kettle of fish, and is much more particular about what she eats. As a toddler she liked what she liked, and was often quite suspicious of new foods and tastes. Fruit, carrot and cucumber sticks, tomatoes, ham and sausages were my ‘go-to’ foods, and she was always quite amenable to things like fish pie and cottage pie. But when I attempted to introduce anything slightly outside the box – like hummus – it was a total lockdown.
Making sure Lil Sis ate healthily was important to me, especially since I was a 70s child and pretty much raised on fat and sugar. Luckily she’s always been a massive fan of Organix, and loves their rice crackers and corn puff crisps. To this day they’re the only crisps she eats (except on very special occasions).
I’ve told you before about our breakfast picnics, when we’d pack the girls’ lunch boxes the night before with a packet of Organix corn puffs, rice crackers and fruit. We’d charge the iPad and leave everything in their room so when they woke up the next morning they could watch Netflix Kids and eat their snacks, buying us an extra (and much needed) hour in bed.
Now they’re a bit older they help themselves after school and on the weekends from a big box of Organix Goodies I always keep in the cupboard. It’s chockablock with a selection of the range – from corn puffs and popcorn, to crispy bars and gingerbread men.
I know I can’t always keep them away from ‘naughty’ food, so my goal is not to ban them completely. I want to teach them why healthy products are better, so they can make their own good food choices.
Which is why we’ll continue on our Organix NO JUNK JOURNEY for as long as I can get away with!
www.organix.com, @organixbrands, www.facebook.com/organixfood #NoJunkJourney
