Yesterday, Hailey’s hour of quiet time was cut short (I’m noticing a theme here) by our delay in getting to bed after lunch. That left me with not much time to make my tea and start organizing my homeschool plan for September before she came bounding down the stairs. I knew I could send her to play in the playroom solo or to “read” books on the couch, but I had an itch for some quality time so I asked her what she wanted to make in the kitchen. I said we could make anything she wanted.
Her first answer was yogurt (bless it). After googling it and finding we did not have the necessary ingredients, she switched her answer to broccoli. Cute kid. I urged her to really go big here- anything you want. Her eyes got a curious sparkle in them before she answered chocolate cake?
Bingo.
Since I talk a lot of healthy eating for kids, I’ve received quite a few questions about how often my kids eat treats. I guess my answer would be occasionally. When we are in social settings with treats, the girls are welcome to them. When we bake cookies or make ice cream, everyone indulges. We’ll also grab the occasional ice cream out, but for the most part, I follow the advice of one of my favorite healthy eating mantras —
I’m not one for following rules when it comes to food. I know I’ve said it once (or a million times), but restriction and I don’t get along very well long term. Though I’ll eat paleo for a few days in a row, I never label it because by day 4, I’m sprinkling cheese on our homemade pizza. It’s my version of balance. Still, there are a couple healthy eating guidelines I keep in my head that just make good sense to me. One is Michael Pollan’s eat real food, not too much, mostly plants. I guess that’s three, but oh well. The other “food rule” I follow is also from my guru (I will always suggest people read his book!):
Eat any junk food you want, as long as you make it yourself.
There is such stigma against junk food. I have nothing against eating French fries, cakes, and other high-fat/high-calorie food. The problem is that the food industry has made these labor-intensive foods so readily available that they have switched from being occasional foods to everyday foods. Not only that, but the big food companies have gotten proficient at making food with excessive fat, salt, and sugar to excite our taste buds. Additionally, they use additives and chemicals that you would not find in your own pantry to further draw us in and hook us.
[Tweet “The healthy eating rule that lets you eat cake! via @ahealthyslice #healthyeating #michaelpollan #eatrealfood”]
By following this “rule,” you are ridding yourself of restrictions beyond your own time and effort. It’s incredibly freeing and fairly self-regulating.
For example, I love fried hash browns. Think Waffle House style- mmm. But for me to enjoy these at home, it would take washing and peeling the potato, shredding it, and then frying it in oil (which would inevitably splatter my entire stove and counter top leading to a decent clean up). Though I might do this on a Saturday morning, it’s doubtful I’d make them everyday. It just takes too much effort.
Like yesterday’s chocolate cake. I think it ended up taking Hailey and me a good three hours, start to finish, from pulling out the ingredients to making the chocolate fudge frosting.
Please notice the toddler finger grab in the above cake.
The whole family really enjoyed their bowl licking and cake eating. I’m so glad, because a three hour cake baking session certainly isn’t going to be an everyday occurrence around here!
I certainly do not follow this advice to a T. However, it is one of those nuggets of wisdom I use to keep an eye on my overall eating habits. Now, if only I could be so bold as to apply it to my love of chips and salsa. I think I see homemade tortilla chips in my future!
For more of my favorite healthy eating tips, click here!
Do you follow any healthy eating mantras?
What is your favorite “junk food” to make yourself?
For more of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules, click here.
Kelsey says
Love this healthy eating rule! In our house it’s so much more fun to bake a batch of cookies and enjoy them together than grab a box of cookies from the storeβsomething I’d never waste calories on. That cake looks so good – share your frosting recipe??
Brittany Dixon says
It’s from an old Betty Crocker cookbook and called chocolate fudge frosting. Here is the link: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/fudge-frosting/21ed49e9-5d25-4302-926c-02cf2d02938f
Honestly I messed it up though! I didn’t have milk so I used half and half, then didn’t add as much corn syrup as it suggested and added extra powdered sugar (I am not a baker, haha!). It still turned out tasting great though π
Lauren @ Oh Hey! I Like That! says
I love this mantra! I’ve recently started pinning more dessert recipes because I think that I can make a dessert once each week, which is way better than buying a package of cookies and eating some everyday!
Cara says
If I’m going to eat sweets or other foods that are not as “healthy” I am certainly going to make it. I love baking, even a little too often at times but I always know what ingredients are going in to my body. I only ever read parts of Michael Pollen’s book but from what I can tell our food “rules” and philosophies align fairly well. I’m all about the 80/20, no restrictions, whole foods approach. My very favorite thing to bake is cookies, but I love a good pie or simple cake every now and again.
Brittany Dixon says
I love that you love to bake! I think I would enjoy it more if I were better at it, but I just am not the best at following recipes exactly, which is pretty crucial for me and baking. Send a good pie my way please!! π
Tanya says
Ha ha I was going to call you out on the chips and salsa too but you beat me to it!
Brittany Dixon says
;P Thinking of going to the library this afternoon- want to join?
…or I guess I can just text you! π
Lindsay says
Looks delicious! Would you share the recipe you used (particularly the frosting)?
Brittany Dixon says
It’s from an old Betty Crocker cookbook and called chocolate fudge frosting. Here is the link: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/fudge-frosting/21ed49e9-5d25-4302-926c-02cf2d02938f
Honestly I messed it up though! I didn’t have milk so I used half and half, then didn’t add as much corn syrup as it suggested and added extra powdered sugar (I am not a baker, haha!). It still turned out tasting great though π
Alyssa @ renaissancerunnergirl says
I love this mantra! One of the best things about baking is being able to share what you make with family and friends, and it’s difficult to do that happily when the overarching concern is whether one “should” be eating whatever it is. I’m not going to make my chocolate cherry cake every week, but when I do, you can bet I’ll have a slice for breakfast the next day (with a cherry yogurt!)
Brittany Dixon says
The girls were totally asking for cake for breakfast! I was thinking.. hmm, flour, egg, milk… sounds kind of like pancakes right?! π
Heather says
Love, Love, Love, Pollan and all of his books. Food Rules is so easy to read and understand. We don’t really keep anything in the house that is horrible (Popsicle and pirates booty are the worst “offenders” that we always have), but I am excited to make things like banana bread and christmas cookies with the daughter.
At what age did you find that they really got helping in the kitchen?
Brittany Dixon says
Haha, offenders π My girls love pirates booty too!
I started the girls really early in the kitchen- younger than 2. However, I feel like they are truly able to really pitch in around age 3 (http://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/10-kitchen-tasks-for-a-three-year-old/) and now that Hailey is 4 1/2, she can sincerely help which is awesome.
Julie says
I follow pretty much the same “rules” as you do. I follow the 80/20 rule of eating healthy 80% of the time (it actually comes out to more than 80%), but still allow myself the occasional treat. Usually that looks like healthy eating during the week w/ some indulgences over the wknd. I definitely prefer to use my “indulgent” calories w/ homemade treats because they just taste so much better than store-bought. I had never heard of the approach that if we have to take the time to make it, we’re automatically going to do it less often, but that certainly makes sense (and usually results in healthier ingredients anyway – I always swap applesauce for the oil in baked goods, not only is it healthier, but it makes for a moister end result).
Heather says
Mmm, I haven’t made a cake in ages, but I love this food “rule!” I’ve actually been doing much better about not buying any pre-made cookies or other things of that nature in favor of spending some time in the kitchen on the weekend making a special treat. It makes it that much more special and enjoyable and always tastes so much better. We’ve been only making homemade pizza as well and the kids have so much fun doing that and I don’t feel nearly as awful after eating it as I would if we ordered from a chain.
Brittany Dixon says
We have pizza every week and I feel the same way- making it just feel so much fresher and less greasy!
Katherine says
Just wanted to chime in and say that homemade tortilla chips are actually super easy (unless you make your own tortillas – ha!). I make my own regularly by cutting up fresh-made tortillas from our local grocery store. The best part is that they’re totally customizable – you can use whatever oil you want to crisp them up and whatever blend of seasonings you want on top. 12 minutes in the oven for corn tortillas and about 18 for flour, flipping them halfway through.
Brittany Dixon says
It does sound easy and delicious! I also just found some cook-it-yourself tortillas in the refrigerated section that has great ingredients. I should try cutting and frying those… mmm…. thanks Katherine!
Christine says
I love that junk food mantra, one that I will try to follow! My healthy mantra is to try and eat paleo as much as possible because I never know when a fun social event or a random date night may pop up and I want to enjoy myself without the food guilt.
sherry says
Your cake looks delicious–think I need to make one for Grandma’s Birthday. Tomatoes are great now for homemade salsa π
Allison says
Love this! I have been addicted to Reeses cups (why I have NO idea) but it seems I grab a package every trip to Target. yesterday i was like NO you need to stop with the candy but the peanut butter chocolate still called my name at 2pm. So I whipped up a quick batch of no-bake cookies. YYYYUUUUMMM!!!
Chantal says
That looks DELICIOUS and now I want to make a chocolate cake!! I follow similar rules – we try to avoid “junk” but we don’t go out of our way to avoid it. Our home is filled with plenty of great foods, but I keep a bag of Arby’s fries in the freezer for the nights I don’t feel like fixing up potatoes π It doesn’t happen much!
MaryBeth says
I just want to give a big thanks for all your advice that you have given about baby/toddler/kids eating! I have a 3 month old and have been pinning a lot of your posts for the future. I hope my daughter is an adventurous eater and to make food fun for her like you have with your daughters!
And funny timing of this post… my 6 year old niece visited me this weekend and we made chocolate chip cookies together. I was shocked that she was more interested in the process than the final product! She didn’t even finish one cookie! Haha! But she had so much fun helping measure and mixing!
Brittany Dixon says
Hi MaryBeth- love that your niece was more into the process than result- that’s so funny! And thank you for the feedback and encouragement. It means so much to me that my sharing out experience is helpful to others. I hope you have a great weekend!
Julie says
I will remember this! I had never heard the saying before, but that’s how I’ve been living for the past 4 years. For the first time in my life, I’ve been maintaining a healthy weight, and I haven’t cut out any foods–I just make healthier versions at home. I’m really happy with my eating. Not only am I avoiding extra fat/sugar/sodium/chemicals by cooking at home, but by using whole foods, my meals are much more satisfying. Oh, and I bake once or twice a month…and I live alone, so I eat everything I make!
Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday says
I love this “rule”! As an avid baker and person who generally just loves to be in the kitchen, it’s often not a hard one to follow at all… with the exception being high-quality dark chocolate. But is that really “junk”? π I’d usually rather have an apple and a huge spoon of nut butter than make a huge batch of cookies on a weeknight, but when I do decide to make the cookies, I’m gonna enjoy a few. Aside from that, I mostly eat Paleo, but if we’re out to eat or my friends want pizza, I’m not going to obsess about it. Like you said, it’s my version of balance π