Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to be a princess.
I was six when my mum took me to the cinema for the very first time. We went to see Snow White. I was terrified from the very start. I still remember how I felt on that day as Snow White got lost in the woods and when she took that fateful bite of poisoned apple. No wonder I went off apples altogether for years!
Sorry, this is not about me, so let’s start again.
Once upon a time, there were four hungry little children…
Seriously, are all children always hungry or is it just mine? As soon as they finish eating, they tell me they are hungry. Sometimes, Jumpy tells me she is hungry with a mouth full of food!
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was desperate to eat his five a day, every day.
Crevette has had dry lips for the past few weeks. Ever since his dad told him he had to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit for his skin to heal, he has been really vigilant with what he was eating. At the moment, he is analysing everything I put in his lunchbox, making sure I give him enough greens and vitamin-boosting fruit.
My little man has always been brilliant with food, eating absolutely everything I was giving him. Check my little Mowgli chomping on fruit!
He is so similar to Ratatouille’s Rémi in that sense, planning recipes as soon as he sees an ingredient he fancies, respecting the food and taking real pleasure in eating it after preparing it.
For my children to understand what is good or not so good for them, I find it important to spend time talking about food, cooking it together and having fun with it. If they realise that meringues are nothing but icing sugar and egg whites as we are making them, they are a lot more likely to know they should not eat half a dozen. If they have no idea what is in the food they eat, how are they supposed to know what is good for them and what is not?
Once upon a time, there were four little ones who ate more veggies without even knowing they were.
See my little Lady and her big brother the Tramp?
These two cannot stand tomatoes (I know, I know, tomato is a fruit) or onions, but whenever I make pasta sauce, I let the tomatoes and onions simmer for a long time, until we get the silky, thick tomato sauce they love. I think they were enjoying their pasta a bit too much there… they ended up covered in sauce!
My four children are obsessed with dessert. Seriously. They will refuse to have dinner if dessert is not involved, but yoghurts and plain pieces of fruit are not getting them excited at the moment. My Elsa-obsessed (or as she calls her, “Letitgo” – in one word, of course!) Jumpy will eat anything as long as it contains something frozen, so smoothies and quick ice cream are pretty popular at the moment in this house. I tend to add veg to smoothies, or even beetroot to ice cream to boost their veg intake.
One ingredient none of my children are keen on at the moment is avocado (again, fruit, but still…). I absolutely love it and I decided to have a little experiment with my ‘mini Remy’ last week. We made chocolate ice cream with only four ingredients: bananas, avocado, unsweetened cocoa powder and a bit of Agave syrup. We wanted to see whether the girls would notice it was not ‘out of a box’ chocolate ice cream. Just have a look at this little video. I think their faces speak for themselves…
Does Disney help you inspire your family to be more healthy and active?
Disclosure: This post is part of Disney’s #HealthilyEverAfter campaign with BritMums, sponsored by Disney. Share your stories and be inspired at DisneyHealthyLiving.co.uk and live Heathily Ever After (#HealthilyEverAfter).
Loving that first pic. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.
Thanks Kate! I’ve really enjoyed this fun project with my little ones.
i use disney alot with my kids to!
When I started thinking about which Disney characters inspired me most, dozens of them kept coming to mind. They have been part of my life since I was a little girl and are now role models for my own children. Timeless!
I have used Disney to encourage my Frozen obsessed daughter to eat. I made chicken pasta the other day. She would normally refuse to eat it as she’s never tried it before. I told her it was magical Frozen pasta and was white because Elsa had zapped it with her powers. She cleared her plate.
Brilliant! You’re a genius, Tori!
My daughter is exactly the same she is a really good eater even when she’s finished her meal she would always tell me she still hungry great post
Such a good idea to connect Disney with teaching your kids about being healthy. I think it would have helped me when I was a kid! x
Me too!
I love this! My Prince will eat most fruit and vegetables to be fair and long may it last but the Princess does not like fruit or veg beyond her eating a banana… and that’s about as far as it goes. I am following you now in the hope you may inspire me to try something new with them and also because you’ve inspired em to cook with them more when I can so they can see what they are eating!
My girls are also more fussy than our little man!
Oh maybe it’s a girl vs boy thing then!
Who knows, hey!
I think I would question if my kids were actually mine if they didn’t like avocado. I love the stuff haha
Same here: I love it! Beanie was so angry when she found out we’d put avocado in that homemade chocolate ice cream!
Disney films are so well crafted and are full of moral stories. I can use why they can be inspirational
They are, aren’t they?
What a lovely project and a way to get thinking more about Disney and the values they try and share. x
I think Disney can be great for inspiring children, which is why films like ‘Brave’ are really important. Glad the kids didn’t notice that sneaky avocado in the ice cream 😉
Snow White was my first movie at the cinema and I remember being petrified too!
He he, glad I wasn’t the only traumatised little girl!
Yes! I love the fan fiction as well, Once Upon A Time spin off on ABC 🙂
I’ve heard a lot about it but I’ve not come across it yet. Will see if it’s on Netflix.
The child in me approves ;)!
He he!
Loving the first picture. So cute. Great post.
Thanks lovely!
Loving this and I just love when the kids cook.
Me too! It’s such a life skill, isn’t it?
aw how lovely and I am lucky that mine are happy to eat their fruit and veg
Fruit is never an issue here, but the girls can frown at veg, he he!
I love that you spend time with your children talking about food and cooking, they will cherish the memories 🙂
Thanks Claire. I hope they keep enjoying it and make nice meals for me when they grow up!
I never really have any trouble getting my kids to eat fruit, and one is a vegetarian and doesn’t know it yet (although another is 100% carnivore!). Funny how they all have different tastes. A great campaign idea!
I love the fact one of your kids is a vegetarian and doesn’t know it!
Disney does a lot more for our children than we give it credit for. Children are often influenced by their role models and for some it is Disney characters.
I too love Avocado, used to hate it, but now love it. I love the video x
I love the way this post was written. Very sweet and with the Disney touch, but also very informative.
Thanks Kacie!
This is a lovely idea, not something I would have thought of. I can’t believe you make your own ice cream! Have to give it a go
Making our own ice cream is actually not all that fancy. It’s a lot easier than you’d think. Just type ‘ice cream’ in the search bar on the blog if you have a minute. You’ll see that you can make yummy, tasty ice cream in less than 5 minutes.
Awesome post, I love your photography. It’s great teaching the kids to cook and teaching them what is good and not so good for them.
Thanks for the compliment! I really enjoy talking about food with my little ones and I really hope I can pass on my love of food to them.
I love this campaign, great idea from Disney and I love your post about it xxx
My youngest daughter is so fussy but always wants something to eat (usually biscuits etc) x
My little guy absolutely loves avocado, in fact he loves his veggies! I know with kids can be very tricky but it’s always good to get them started with healthy eating sooner than later. You’re doing great!