Keeping Them Happy and Healthy with Everyday Dairy

Why is it that whenever summer rolls around the kids seem to be less likely to sit down and have a good meal? They start to prefer juice to milk and in general their diets take a hit. This year I’m prepared to combat this summer health slum and the buy $15 save $5 promotion at Dominick’s is helping me save money while doing it. I’m working everyday dairy in to their diets, and they are loving it.

There were a ton of different brands included in the promotion at Dominick’s so I made sure to pick up a ton of different dairy products. You can see more pictures from my shopping trip in my Google+ album.

The first thing my daughter reached for when she saw the groceries were the Kraft singles. Cheese is one of my kids’  favorite dairy products so I always make sure to have a lot on hand. They are weird though, because they don’t like cheese on top of their food. They just want cheese, straight-up. I love having these on hand to unwrap, fold in half, and hand over to the kiddies. Not a very creative snack, but it certainly makes them happy and it fills their bellies for a little while.

But they can’t live on cheese alone. They usually start their day with yogurt, bananas, and Simply Orange Juice. You can see from Jaden’s expression that his breakfast makes him very happy. This is the only time of day that they happily climb up into their chairs and sit down for a good meal. I’m not the kind of mom who slaves in the kitchen for her family at 7am everyday. Nope. My kids prefer yogurt to anything and let’s face it, I’m not fully awake by 7am – let alone able to operate a stovetop.

They seem to be most hungry in the morning. So, when it comes to dinner time they are grouchy about having to sit down and eat so I have to get creative.

One of my favorite things to do, is to blend up some of their favorite things into a smoothie. It makes them feel like they aren’t “eating” but I know they are still getting lots of dairy and nutrients through the smoothies. Their favorite smoothies have 1-2 6 oz yogurts, 2 cups of frozen berries, 2-3 bananas, and 2 cups of Silk soy milk. This makes enough to fill their sippy cups twice and one for mommy. 🙂 I usually top them with fat-free whipped cream. They are always a hit!

Another thing I noticed, is that during the summer it’s not so much that my kids don’t want to eat, as much as it’s the fact that they don’t want to sit in their high chairs and have a whole meal at once. One way I’ve been working around this problem is by buying things like the Silk Chocolate Soy Milk singles and low-fat string cheese.

I don’t think I need to tell you how excited my son gets about getting to have his favorite drink out in the yard. I was able to save on lots of different Silk products while shopping at Dominick’s this week. Jaden has definitely been enjoying my recent purchases. Eating outside or simply on the go makes food so much more interesting to them. (If this doesn’t look like an ad for Silk, I don’t know what does!) 😉

My daughter, the cheese lover, was pretty happy to have her food outside. I’d offered her the cheese stick about 10 minutes before this, inside, and she didn’t want it. But when we went outside and she was able to sit down and get out of her highchair she was more than happy to dig in.

If I manage to get lots of nutritious food in their tummies throughout the day, then they get rewarded with a delicious treat. I mean, it is summertime. And you can’t talk about the summer without talking about ice cream. Well, I can’t talk about any season without talking about ice cream. 😉

I happened to pick up a few packs of Klondike bars that were part of the promotion and I made the mistake of letting Jaden see them before I put them in the freezer. Do you see his lip? How could you miss it? Haha. He was incredibly sad that he couldn’t have Klondike bars for breakfast but I know he’s going to go nuts when I make him a Klondike bar milkshake this weekend. You didn’t seriously think I’d give my 1yo a Klondike bar and expect him not to be a sticky mess. I like to toss them in the blender with some Silk milk for Jay and whole milk for Nahla.

My kids are getting loaded up on their dairy products this summer. As long as I keep it simple some days and get clever other days, I know the kids will keep eating nutritiously all throughout the summer. They will definitely have #EverydayDairy this summer.

Be sure to visit Dominick’s or your local Safeway affiliate to take part in the awesome Save $5 when you buy $15 dairy offer. This promotion runs all month long!

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