This post was sponsored by Kitchen PLAY

I recently shared how I was sneaking veggies into Rohan (cauliflower specifically) by using “cauliflower tots in lieu of “tater tots.” He was none the wiser. (peep the quick vid)

They will sometimes eat carrot sticks dipped in ranch dressing and they eat a ton of fruits, but I still have to blend up greens and throw it into sauces for them to consume them without a hassle.

In my magical dreamland, my children would just sit down politely at the dinner table and happily (neatly) eat whatever is put in front of them, while singing my praises, and asking for seconds. Ha!! In reality, I have to resort to trickery.

I don’t want to have to sneak veggies into my kids.

I’ve been reading books on making meal time more peaceful and getting kids to want to eat what they’re given with less fuss. One of the tips is to have them help to prepare the food, which Rohan loves. Another tip was to have the children have a hand in shopping for the foods as well.

This appealed to me for a few reasons, mainly because it’ll help me keep the kids engaged when we’re rolling down the Publix aisles, and because everything is unschooling and I want to teach them about healthy foods and why we choose the foods we choose.

Enter, Grocery Store Unschooling.

I started slow. We have spoken about the reasons why we will choose a different snack over a certain brand of cookies he may be requesting. I have showed them both nutritional labels and explained what some of the items mean. I’m trying to teach Ro to read nutritional labels as well.

I’ve also started talking about how the different foods we eat impact our bodies. And what the different vitamins and minerals do inside us. (Rohan loves it. Anything about the human body, he loves… Kaya…couldn’t care less)

For example, when they’re drinking milk or we’re talking about calcium, we look for calcium-fortified items. John and I don’t eat bread, but the children eat toast in the morning, and then sandwiches at some point during the day, so they’re getting 3 to 4 slices of bread daily. I want to give them the most nutritious/nutrient dense bread I can.

If you’re looking to up your family’s nutrition, try finding calcium-fortified items. I didn’t realize this, but Subway even offers calcium-fortified breads for their sandwiches, so if you’re eating out you can still find great options. When John made a quick run to the grocery store for me I texted and asked him to take pics of the first two calcium-fortified breads he could find:

Many labels show what is calcium-fortified. The great thing is if your child can’t (or won’t) drink milk, you can offer them calcium fortified foods and know that they won’t put up a fuss because they taste exactly like non-fortified foods. #momwins!

Try looking for the foods you buy along with your kids and see if that encourages them to eat the healthy stuff you put in front of them at mealtimes! Oh, and FYI, sometimes the calcium-fortified items don’t say it explicitly. They’ll say “excellent source of calcium” which just means they have 20% of the daily value of calcium per FDA.

I’m definitely enjoying how the nutrition class unschooling is going. I hope it instills a love of healthy eating in both of my littles.

I have since over heard Ro and Kai in their play kitchen telling their “babies” to eat their food so they can have iron to give them energy to play and calcium so their “bones wont bend.” I had to stifle a giggle on that one, but it proved we are on the right track!

Does your family eat calcium fortified foods?