We’ve come a long way since beginning this One New Food journey. Lauren and I started this as a way to get our kids to stop being so picky and to try eating healthier foods…but for me it’s even more now. I am in a bit of a health crisis and am trying to use food to heal some of my issues. Last week I started to eliminate gluten from our daughters diet, and this week we tried to rid as many pre-packaged foods as possible. Enter sweet potato fries.
We eat sweet potatoes nearly every week baked, and then mashed up. No sugar necessary when you have such flavorful garnet yams! Instead of making frozen french fries for the girls, I followed Nom Nom Paleo’s recipe for sweet potato fries. (minus the smoked paprika) The only problem was cutting them…I need a handy kitchen tool asap! But despite their appearance, they turned out pretty delicious.
*Note: If you make these, put the sweet potatoes on parchment paper, they are crispier!
I paired them with grass fed beef burger sliders, something our girls would never eat before. I was astounded that Lila devoured hers, as she’s never been a fan of red meat.
I hadn’t planned on two new foods, but this was an unexpected bonus. Unfortunately, our almost three year old wouldn’t touch her burger or fries, opting for the bun and some fruit. Our oldest ate her two sweet potato fries but didn’t really like them. However we thought they were awesome! My husband used ketchup, but I thought they were great plain.
Another important lesson was learned this week…I always try to introduce a new food with other foods they are used to. Ironically this time I just made a brand new dinner, and it was almost a success. I’ve been playing it safe by offering new sides, or a new protein, but I think I’ve underestimated our children. It’s interesting to see that it was me all along holding us back from really eating new foods, I was afraid of their reactions. But now that we’ve slowly made them accustomed to change, they sky is the limit with diet. I can’t wait! (diabolical laugh!)
ONE NEW FOOD FEATURE
We are trying to encourage other parents and bloggers to join us on our One New Food journey, and this week there were several brave women who participated. I was happy to see Tara from one of my favorite blogs Family Sport Life join the party! I just wish I would have actually seen the Sheperd’s Pie her kids wolfed down!
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Shepherds Pie success! Thanks to the recipe from @iowagirleats. This is kid approved and they requested the leftovers in their thermos’! Yahoo. @mommyinsports does this count as #onenewfood. #healthyliving #dinner #instagood #eatrealfood #happymom
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Thanks to Tara for sharing her One New Food success, and to the others who continue to challenge their kids each and every week! We are so glad you are inspired to share your experiences with us in this new healthy living and eating campaign.
what will you try this week?
I’ve had the same thought as you: Put plenty of familiar things alongside the one new food. Maybe I’ll just go for it and see what happens!
I’m excited that Lila liked the hamburger because Eli is the same way with ground beef. Maybe we’ll have to try them again sometime. It would be nice in the summers if every BBQ we went to didn’t mean the kids would be eating hot dogs.
If it makes you feel better my kids won’t eat hot dogs! Which isn’t a bad thing though….right?
We love sweet potatoes around here, but I have never turned them into fries. I think that would be a fun remake on one of our family favorites!
I adore sweet potato fries. I mean like I LOVE them. But I have never made them at home. I love the idea of a new food challenge…honestly, my oldest and I would both benefit from doing it! :)-Ashley
We’d love it if you join us! It really isn’t daunting, the kids have embraced it!
My kids are warming up to sweet potatoes. Some days it’s a yes and other days it’s a no go. Thanks for featuring my empty bowl 🙂 Will definitely take a picture before hand next time!
OMG, those photos are taunting me. Very tasty!
Nice job on the grass-fed sliders. You know, I have never tasted a real difference in a grass-fed burger. BUT…when I started learning the stuff in regular meat, and even think about cow conditions, it just makes me happy to know that the cow was happy, (and there are no hormones, antibiotics, etc.) because cows are supposed to eat grass, they don’t get sick, and they FEEL better when they are alive.
Somehow, that just tastes better to me now. Everything is a choice, and I’d rather spend a *little* more on grass fed, eat a little less meat each week, and load up on veggies instead. Great job on the meal, Momma!
Really? I notice the difference right away! Thanks for the feedback and for joining us on this journey!
I LOVE sliders! For some reason, I can’t ever commit to or finish an “adult” sized burger. Also, I love sweet potatoes fries. Once I wanted to surprise Scarlet and Cassidy for dinner (before Des came along) and I made sweet potato fries. I couldn’t understand why they came out mushy and burnt because I had followed the recipe correctly. Or did I??
I used already baked sweet potatoes, rather than raw ones! Oops!
Doh! They are super hard to cut…working on that!
Haha, we have solid knives to help you out with that, Kristen…