How to Make Your Home a Little Healthier (and Cleaner)

In the previous column, we provided several practical tips for successfully starting a healthy diet at home, with Hashem's help.

This time, you'll receive a few more equally important tips, and at the end, I’ll present you with a special gift: a fantastic tip for a healthy homemade chocolate spread.

Positive Stimulus from Environment, Seeing, and Tasting

Usually, when I want to introduce a new dish at home (and children usually tend to shy away from new attempts and choose the regular and familiar), I apply this excellent rule of exaggerated and vocal positive feedback.
My husband or I will taste the dish and say aloud: Wow, wow, Dad, this is so delicious! I've never tasted anything like it!
And Dad will respond: Wow Mom, you're right! It tastes similar to... (something the kids love).

And that's it.
The children watch, listen, think, and make their judgment.
Some will taste it immediately, some will refuse this time, but the message gets through.
Even the next time I offer the new dish, I'll use the same play, and after a few times, it works great.
No preaching, no pestering.

When a Child Asks for More
When a child asks for another serving, I choose to give more from the protein or vegetable portion first, not necessarily the carbohydrate. It's essential to note that the satiety instinct in our body operates after 20 minutes from the start of the meal.
A child suffering from obesity, for example, can take a 10-minute break (you can ask them to do a task, like pouring water), and afterwards, if they still want more carbohydrates, they'll receive them gladly. However, most likely, they’ll politely refuse because the satiety hormones have begun their work.

A Chewing Mouth Doesn't Talk!

Teach your children, along with being a personal example - to eat slowly and in small bites, not to fill their mouths, chew well, and not rush.
In our house, it's an important rule - a chewing mouth doesn't talk!
If a child is eager to tell something, I ask them to gather and save all the talks, and we'll be happy to hear before dessert (besides the fact that talking while chewing is a real hazard, sometimes stories during meals arise from avoidance, for a child who doesn't like to eat, for example).

No Drinking During Meals

Studies show that most vitamins meant to be absorbed in the body are not effective if you drink during meals. We make an effort to train the children to drink only after the meal, once the plates are cleared and the table is arranged. We gain wonderful digestion time and absorption of vitamins.

And a Word About Drinks: Water, Water, and - Water
It's not a shame, and it's not a punishment to drink water.
Encourage your children to drink purified water, preferably at room temperature.
Each child can have their own bottle with a name sticker, making it easy to track their water intake throughout the day.
Water is essential for the body's overall functioning and is very important for our health.

On the Same Frequency: Fruit
In today's consumer abundance, amidst all the variety of snacks, sweet and salty, industrial, and artificial - fresh, healthy, and wonderful fruits have simply been pushed to the corner. Buy a large and splendid decorative bowl, and fill it magnificently with a variety of fresh and inviting fruits. So when passing by the bowl, one cannot help but "grab" a fruit and snack on it. Health at its best.

And the Cherry on Top: Dessert

The truth is, each household has its own rules regarding desserts and their timing.
Dessert in our house includes: halvah, fruit, homemade cookies, a handful of whole wheat cornflakes, or a whole grain snack.
We choose to serve dessert only after lunch, as a reward for a nutritious meal and as feedback for the children.
This way, we reduce snacking "between meals", and eliminate nagging for sweets throughout the day.
The children know, dessert is only given after a specific meal.

Clear-Clean

After the meal, ask the children to clear the dishes. Our children are young, but they understand. A great habit from a young age is that each child clears their own dishes (to prevent difficulties later on when they're older and understand).
I place a box lined with plastic on the table and ask each child to empty their food leftovers into it.
Afterwards, each child walks to the kitchen with the empty plate and throws it into the sink.

We clean the table together and sit down to bless. We thank Hashem for the abundance and the food.
And of course, we receive the desired dessert.
Each time, we choose a child who did a good deed and simply deserves it, to choose the dessert and distribute it to everyone.

The table is clean, the children are satisfied, and we all chat and share stories.
A family experience at its best.

Now to the Recipe: Chocolate Spread - Based on Concealed Tahini, Which Kids Really Love
(Special thanks to Miriam Yaish, who came up with the fantastic idea)

Prepare in a branded chocolate container that the kids love (used and clean):
100% whole sesame raw tahini,
add chocolate powder and a bit of water, and mix until you reach the desired thickness and chocolate color.

For starters, you can add chocolate powder according to your taste and preference, and over time reduce until the spread becomes somewhat like halvah with a mild sweetness.
It is certainly better than industrial sugar-rich spreads.

l'chaim to good health!