Feeding Your Kids (and Family) AIP • AIP Recipe Collection Feeding Your Kids AIP

While I’m not a parent, I can appreciate that feeding your kids AIP could be quite a challenge, especially since they’re likely already accustomed to the brightly colored, artificially flavored, sugar-laden main-stream foods like Kraft Dinner, frozen pizzas and Fruit Loops! Heck – you might even have a challenge feeding your “big” kids (aka teens and husbands) an AIP diet for the same reasons!

Unfortunately there’s no guaranteed, “silver-bullet” available, it’s going to take some trial and error to make the transition, but the good news is that it is possible!

Shhh … No One Needs to Know!

If you’re here, I’m assuming you’re dealing with autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue and the like. You know how difficult it is to be exhausted, feeling like you’re shackled to the kitchen prepping food. Compound that with picky eaters in the family or kids that you’re trying to transition to a clean diet and you’re probably going bonkers … am I right!?

My top tip – NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW IT’S AIP (Paleo / Whole30 or what ever healing diet you’re using)! Before you started on the AIP, did you feel it necessary to tell your family about all the ingredients you put in the meal you were presenting? I’m pretty sure the answer is “no!”

I find that as soon as you label anything as being out of the ordinary, you will meet with resistance.

I’ve seen it happen with my extended family – if you tell them something’s gluten free or AIP they simply decline. However, if they were to eat it without knowing, they’d probably never realize it was anything “special” – and trust me, I’ve tested this theory!

Always remember, it’s not AIP Food … it’s just real food! Will every dish be a hit? No … but just make your meals, make no fuss and adjust where you need to.

I’m providing additional resources for getting your family on board with the AIP below, so don’t miss out on those for more tips and suggestions.

You Eat What You See

As you’re setting up your kitchen, clearing out your pantry and just generally trying to set yourself and your family up for success (check out my article Prepping Your Kitchen & Pantry for the AIP), remember this tip! Keeping healthy options readily available on counters or at the front of the fridge or pantry means they’re more likely to get eaten – you and your family eat what you see!

Making sure your fruits and veggies are washed when you bring them home from the grocery store really helps, but you can take it one step further and pre-chop and/or peel veggies and fruit so they’re easy to grab and go when you’re feeling a little snackish. Granted, this works better with some options than others, but there are an abundance of tips, tricks and hacks on the Internet to help set you up for success. Some examples would be to cut up celery and carrot sticks and store them submersed in water in mason jars, be sure to you peel or slice an orange and put it in an air-tight container to take it along for work or school snacks – something that’s already cut open is not only easier to snack on, it’s also going to spoil, so you’ll be more apt to consume it rather than just taking that apple or orange for it’s daily trip to the office/school!

Another tip is to have a few simple-to-prep snack ideas in mind for when you need to whip something up. Don’t miss my AIP Snack Guide.

Nutrient Density & Food Familiarity

I’m not gonna lie, there are some things that you’re likely to have a little more trouble with, (yes, I’m talking about liver and offal), but again, you don’t have to tell your family everything! You’re allowed to hide “gross” foods from your kids, and even yourself, in order to ensure you’re eating a more nutrient dense diet. You’ll find many recipes in the AIP Recipe Collection Facebook page that are named “hidden veggie” or “hidden liver” or something similar.

Here’s a little fun-fact: Did you know that liver is a flavor enhancer?!

What we’re talking about here is called “food familiarity,” and there’s actual science behind it! Familiar flavors and textures in dishes we’re used to eating work in our favor as we incorporate small amounts of “less popular” foods. Things like a hidden liver meatloaf, meat balls or burgers are a great starting point as we transition to healthier choices on the AIP.

If you’re having trouble incorporating liver in your diet, try this starter recipe from Dr. Ballantyne – 50/50/50 Burgers – she says her girls even ASK for these burgers, and I personally love them for breakfast (the liver definitely enhances the flavor) – they’re even delicious cold! Or, try my Blueberry TigerNut Muffins with Hidden Liver – I eat them almost every day – you’d never know there was liver in them!

Another important note is that different kinds of liver have different flavor profiles, butchering processes/practices effect the taste of meat, as do different breeds of cattle, pork, chicken and so on … so you might have to try a few different kinds before you find something you and your family really enjoy.

Positive Association

Another trick to getting your family on board as you transition to your new AIP diet is the use of positive association.

As an adult, we start liking and enjoying healthier foods when we feel the positive results – it’s hard not to enjoy something if it makes us feel better and it gives us more energy!

For kids, it’s going to be a little different – they won’t necessarily realize that food can make them feel better, though some of them are pretty in-tune to their bodies (my nephew knows that pasta sauce makes him feel yucky, I’m willing to bet that tomatoes are likely not his friend). It’s a good idea to start a tracking journal on behalf of your children – food/mood/poop journals are what we use for ourselves during the elimination stage, so it makes sense we’d do this for our AIP kiddos too. As a parent, being aware of changes to energy levels, moods, etc… will help you determine what’s right and what’s less than ideal for your family.

Your best approach is to ensure mealtime is enjoyable – avoid making it all about the new food you “have to eat” – no one ever enjoys being forced to eat something. Obviously there may be some bargaining that takes place to get your kiddos to at least try those new foods that you can’t disguise, but try to keep it up-beat. Make sure meal times are relaxed and try to stay focused on the positive things going on in their life and yours. Use it as a time for communication and kindness – learn about what happened during their day, keep them distracted to a degree, and talk about something fun you can do together after your meal. Positive social dynamics at mealtime will help attach positive association food… and it will get easier.

Get the Family on Board

You can find some good advice in these articles from Autoimmune Wellness – How to Inspire Health in Your Home & Getting Your Child On Board With Dietary Changes.

I also highly recommend you listen to the Autoimmune Simplified episode called Family Nutrition with Autoimmune, where Dr. Alison Danby speaks with Nutritionist Vanessa Bond whose daughter has a very rare autoimmune condition – the advice offered in the podcast is truly exceptional. Included below is a link to Vanessa’s Facebook Group called “The Autoimmune Family” – don’t miss it.

Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, Babies & Kids

Since I frequently get questions in our Facebook Group for “kid-friendly” AIP meals, I understand that getting enough nutrients into them can be tricky, I’ve compiled this additional list of resources that I hope will help save you some frustrations.

NOTE: NOT all of the information below is specifically about AIP, but it is about Paleo (of which the AIP is a modified version as you know). Use caution when determining what foods to include/exclude where this is discussed and above all, consult a professional healthcare practitioner.

Facebook Group – The Autoimmune Family with Vanessa Bond

Facebook Support Group – AIP in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Paleo Leap – Cave Babies: Raising Happy, Healthy Paleo Kids
This article has some links to other web-pages and some specific information about nutrients.

Robb Wolf – Feeding Kids Paleo
Includes a FREE Guide Book if you sign up for his newsletter when you land on his page.

Positive Parenting Solutions – 8 Strategies for Picky Eaters
This isn’t just Paleo or AIP, but the tips can be applied.

Grazed & Enthused – Real Food Baby: How We Introduced Solids

Looking for Kid-Friendly AIP Recipes & Conveniences?

Familiarity is a kid’s best friend – so try to keep it as “normal” as possible.

The first option that comes to mind when I think about convenience food for kids and toddlers is Serenity Kids – click to find out why I’m so excited about these products.

Lovebird Cereals are another must-have! It’s the cleanest cereal on the market, takes you back to childhood, and they give-back to childhood cancer research. Click the link for a discount, my review and a round up of recipes you can make with it.

I also recommend that you try using the search function over in our Facebook Group – try searching “kid friendly” “snack” “brown bag” or the particular dish you’re looking for … like “mac n cheese” or “shepherd’s pie” or “veggie poppers” or “nuggets” or even “baby food” if you’ve got a toddler!

Check out our Food Sourcing page where you’ll find links to my Categorized AIP Amazon Storefronts for Canada, UK and USA. I also have a specific AIP Amazon.com Storefront Section for AIP & Paleo Kids. You’ll probably find my AIP Snack Guide handy too!

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