18 Dec 2012

Guilt-free ice cream?

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Now that summer is here icy cool treats are ideal for children to eat on hot days, but my preschool aged kids have suddenly become ice cream and ice block obsessed!

Weight management

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Now that summer is here icy cool treats are ideal for children to eat on hot days, but my preschool aged kids have suddenly become ice cream and ice block obsessed!

If I gave into their requests they would happily eat one or the other (or both, given the chance) every day during the warmer months of the year. I am really not sure where this fixation came from - I’ve always been pretty balanced in my approach to treat foods - well, so I thought.

In my own defence, my kids rarely ever pine for the likes of chocolate, lollies, cakes or chips - but ice cream/blocks are another matter!! Whatever the reasons behind the now almost daily “please, please, please, just one ice cream/block” ritual the issue had to be addressed. So, a few weeks back, rather than go through ten or fifteen minutes of painful back and forth about why he/ she couldn’t have an icy treat every day, I changed tact.

I decided not to withhold ice cream/blocks altogether but to make my own - with ingredients that I’d be happy for them to eat on a daily basis. I was skeptical because my eldest child has become pretty adept at me pulling the wool over his eyes when it comes to food - like spotting “hidden” veggies in meals but I was desperate! Surprisingly (or perhaps not) my five and almost two year old loved my healthy ice cream/ blocks.

Home made “ice cream”
Blend Greek yogurt (my kids like honey sweetened varieties best) with fresh fruit i.e. strawberry, blueberries, banana and mango. Frozen berries also work well when fresh are out of season. Pop mixture into ice block moulds and leave to set firmly in freezer.

I thought it was the sugar of the store-bought varieties that they were craving when in fact I think they desire the experience of sucking away on an icy cool treat more than anything else. Maybe in future I won’t be so ready to assume I know my kids tastes before I make them try things? Obvious when you think about it but not an uncommon mistake…

Have you ever had child food fixation that troubled you? What did you do?

Homemade fruit ice blocks
Fresh orange & kiwi – squeeze fresh orange and pour the juice into moulds. Place a slice of kiwi fruit in the middle of each & leave to freeze.

Watermelon & mint (a favourite on really hot days) – roughly chop up a fresh watermelon and a spoonful of mint and lemon juice (based on around six ice blocks) into a blender. Mix until liquid and pour into moulds – leave to freeze.

*A teaspoon of castor sugar in ice blocks is optional, depending on personal taste.

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