Red Light, Green Light

We have some very health conscious children in our household. So much so, it has begun to transform our eating habits entirely. While I'd love to take all the credit for teaching my children good nutrition, part of the credit goes to their preschool. During the spring when it was time to plant veggies, Aiden's class had a discussion about red light, yellow light, and green light food. Red light food is food that you shouldn't eat at all (junk food). Yellow light is food that's not as good for you as veggies, but that eating SOMETIMES is ok. And of course, green light food is food that is healthy for you to eat all the time.

We are asked during each meal if what they are being served is green light food. It definitely makes us think about what we put on our plates each day, and what I'm buying at the store is changing. In fact, during our last grocery store trip, all we had in the cart was milk, bread, and vegetables (that's partially because it wasn't a full blown shopping trip, but you get the idea). If we want something sweet or snacky, I'll bake cookies or muffins. And John's learned how to make jumbo pretzels! And even though I was hungry this afternoon while we were out because I hadn't had a chance to eat lunch yet, I resisted stopping at fast food and just made myself a sandwich as soon as I got home. And you know what? It was filling, satisfying, and I don't feel like my arteries are clogged.

I am hoping that the more we make healthy changes and stick to creating weekly menus so I only buy what we'll eat, we'll see a positive change in our food expenses as well. I guess I should thank my kids for helping to push our family in a healthy direction!