Episode 099
If moms aren’t comfortable in the kitchen, how can we teach our kids to be confident in the kitchen?
When I say the words “cooking with kids,” how does that make you feel? Does it sound fun? Does the idea stress you out? If I were to talk about mac & cheese, does it create instant overthinking and big emotions? Do you love it? Hate it? Wish your kids would eat something else? Do you have a kid you’d refer to as a “picky eater?” Would you ever give your kids knives to use in the kitchen?
Take note of your answers to those questions because–oh man!—I want you to come back to those questions at the end of this episode after you’ve heard what Katie Kimball has to say and then answer those questions again! I bet today’s perspectives are going to blow your mind and shift your answers!
Katie encourages us in the best possible ways—by sharing truths & ideas that will increase our families’ confidence and connection.
She is on a mission to create a kids’ meal revolution! Because something that we do 3 times a day—prepare food for our kids and eat!—shouldn’t be as stressful as it is.
Katie believes that the best possible learning environment we have access to is the kitchen. Now that we’re home more than ever and health is a top concern, we can use our family connection time in the kitchen to make a positive impact on the next generation. We can increase confidence, creativity, and connection through The Power of Teaching Kids to Cook, and start a #kidsmealrevolution that redefines the kids’ meal as one that kids have cooked!
Katie’s Bio: Katie Kimball, CSME, founder and CEO of Kitchen Stewardship, is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. As a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks, she’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine and contributes periodically on the FOX Network. Over the last 12 years, Katie has spoken prolifically at conferences, online summits and podcasts and become a trusted authority and advocate for children’s health. Busy moms look to this certified educator for honest, in-depth natural product reviews and thorough research, and she often partners with health experts and medical practitioners to stay on the cutting edge. In 2016 she created the Wall Street Journal recommended best online kids cooking course, Kids Cook Real Food, helping thousands of families around the world learn to cook. A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is also a Certified Stress Mastery Educator, member of the American Institute of Stress and trained speaker through Bo Eason’s Personal Story Power. She is actively masterminding the Kids’ Meal Revolution, with a goal of every child being able to cook.
Favorite Knife Skills for Kids video! Sounds a bit scary at first, but it’s really empowering! My 7-year-old is THRILLED about this class and loves that it’s tailored to her.
In This Episode, Katie & I Talk About:
- Cooking with kids
- Looking at the “standard American diet”
- Every bite matters to our bodies
- How to change eating habits without losing your mind (and your budget!)
- If moms aren’t comfortable in the kitchen, how can we teach our kids to be confident in the kitchen?
- Being in the kitchen with our children
- “The Mac & Cheese Dilemma”
- Looking at nutrient density of food
- The guilt we feel when choosing food for our kids
- The lie of convenience (Episode 05)
- Let’s talk about what’s best for kids when it comes to food and life
- “Taking one step in the right direction mitigates 90% of the negative health effects of stress”
- We are the authors of our children’s normal
- The lack of variety when it comes to children’s menus and “kid food”
- Picky eaters—there’s no such thing
- Giving our kids time to adjust to new types of foods
- There’s nothing wrong with mac and cheese being served as long as we understand the role food has in our lives
- Helping our kids have a positive relationship with food
- Aligning our actions and values when it comes to food and mealtimes
- Empowering ourselves to take control over our menus
- Using our emotions as gauges for what needs to change instead of just staying stuck in negative emotions
- Having the ability to self-regulate our food (and how it affects our emotions)
- Just two family dinners per week helps kids increase their academic performance and decreasing their chances of suicide and substance abuse in teen years
- Stop listening to the messages of the food industry
- What Katie wishes more parents knew:
- Food is made to be nourishing
- Food does affect the way we feel
- Kid food should not be different than adult food—food is food
- Family meals are important
- Writing a new family normal, one baby step at a time
- Make change in your brain first—look at the labels
- Ask, “Do I want this food/ingredient in my home?”
- Take it slow
- Katie’s thoughts on snacking (90 mins between meals)
- Kids need to come to the table hungry with three steps:
- Prepare the space
- Come with your ace
- Keep a poker face
- Giving our kids time to get hungry
- Making change lighthearted
- Our mama mindset when we start to invite our kids into the kitchen
- We need help in the kitchen
- We want to raise independent, capable adults
- Connection, confidence, and creativity in the kitchen
- Being creative with your hands opens up the storytelling portions of your brain
- The participation trophy movement is not working
- Kids are members of the family who have so much potential
- Kids’ mental and physical health matters—they are not annoying and in the way, they deserve to feel confident and capable
- Discipline—for ourselves as parents and in our teachings our kids
- Using humor in growth and teaching
- When to train kids in the kitchen: At 18 months!
- Using fun phrases to teach kitchen safety
- Inoculation to risk—how to teach them healthy risks when kids are young so they aren’t drawn to unhealthy risk later
- Every minute you invest comes back 10 and 100 fold
- The 7 Year Change (Episode 74)
- Eating is the hardest skill we have to learn
- Drop the label “picky eater”—it’s kids who haven’t learned to eat
- An exposure bucket when it comes to “new foods”
- Imperative that you get “picky eaters” in the kitchen helping
- Keeping meals pressure free
- Keep our patience up as moms
- Food marketing—being aware of marketing messages and what is “whole” and what’s not
- Eating more whole foods
- What is a “whole food”
- “Whole foods washing”
- The “muffin is a breakfast food” example
- What role our beliefs as parents play in our kids’ health
- Unlearning the food pyramid
- Nutrient density and nutrition
- The Happy Meal was released in 1979
- Food marketing separation between kid food and adult food
- Kid food is bar food
- Unlearning the lessons we’re taught that “food is a battle ground”
- It’s okay to change our minds and not be rigid
- Healing and having mercy for the moms who came before us
- Decision fatigue
- Tips for how to order when eating out
- A “kids’ meal” is a meal that kids have cooked
- Vote with your dollars
- Kids menus are only about 100 years old and were created by doctors
- What we’d like to see change about “kids menus”
- Katie leaves us with simple ways we can make positive changes TODAY!
Katie’s Links: Free Knife Class, Website, and Instagram
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SPONSORS
Blossom & Root: Today’s episode of Elevating Motherhood is sponsored by Blossom & Root a nature-based, Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool curriculum company that has been gently guiding and supporting families for years! This thoughtful, age appropriate curriculum begins at the preschool level with options all the way up to 4th grade with more grade levels being released each year.
Blossom & Root is the homeschool curriculum my family uses and loves! The information and ideas are easy to follow, fun, and engaging. If you’re new to homeschool or looking for an inspired homeschool curriculum to help you lovingly teach and guide your children, I highly recommend Blossom & Root. Using this curriculum has brought so much connection and joy to our homeschool days—I love it! Blossom & Root has generously offered a discount for listeners of Elevating Motherhood: use the code LORIBETH10 at checkout for 10% OFF your order.
For more information about Blossom & Root, head over to www.elevatingmotherhood.com/homeschool
Healthy Mama Meal Prep (Online Course): If you tuned into Episode 76 with Kris Dovbniak, you know that there was a lot of potential for my life in the kitchen to change…and you know what? It has! Since talking with Kris and taking her online course, I’ve learned about just how flexible and time giving (not time draining) meal prepping can be, I’ve happily changed some of my habits—and consequently my attitude—in the kitchen. I’ve organized my pantry, prepped veggies without wasting them (because I actually know how and when I’m going to use them!), and have a better idea about how I can effectively and efficiently tackle meals throughout the week. And it’s all thanks to the teachings & insights of holistic health coach, intuitive eating counselor, trained chef, and fellow mama Kris Dovbniak. Kris also has a fun quiz on her website where you can find out what your meal prep style is: flexible foodie, busy babe, or modern mom. Whichever you are, she has ideas for you! There is more information in the show notes (here). Be sure to use the code LORIBETH15 for 15% OFF enrollment in the Healthy Mama Meal Prep Course!
LINKS
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