Hi dear friends! It's Monday and time for a new week filled with opportunities and a chance to do whatever you desire!

I want to start this week with an article about simple and healthy living and how to make the RIGHT choices.

In this article I will share some tips and tricks that you can use for yourself, your family and especially for toddlers!

This post is my contribution to @lenasveganliving and her wonderful contest, the #fruitsandveggiesmonday .
If you don't know about her challenge yet, be sure to check out her latest post about her contest!

BREAKFAST INSPIRATION

Breakfast porridge is all about the toppings. Add fruits, seeds, nut/coconut butter, something sweet, something crunchy, berries, cacao nibs, and some flax seeds or chia seeds for the omega 3. Sometimes I even add blue sprulina for the B12 vitamins.

Breakfast for children

For my toddler I also add some berry powder or frozen berries to make it sweeter but also to get in the extra vitamins for him. I also love to add some natural protein powder to our oatmeal.
To make a breakfast even more nourishing, try to add some more flavour with cinnamon, cacao or cardamom!
Our breakfast contains probably all we need in nutrients for one day.

SOUP

Soup is always a great choice when you need something warm and healthy.
When we were sick last week, we enjoyed soup a lot and added all the veggies we had at home. And also some chickpeas and lentils for the carbs and nutrients.

Healthy food for CHILDREN

The trick with small children is to offer healthy high carb meals, based on legumes and wholefoods.
I always make sure to have some legumes in our food, nuts or seeds and a lot of veggies.

Children tend to love carbs and sweets a lot, and they actually need it to grow and to keep a high energy level. So always offer the best carbs (legume pasta, nature rice cooked with lentils, oats with flax seeds, cold potatoes with a dip sauce made of avocado, seeds, nuts or legumes, nut and seed butter.), and the healthiest sugars (fruits, berries or berry powder, dried fruits and berries, cacao nibs instead of chocolate, and so on).

My child has never tried any food with refined sugar, no meat, no fish, no dairy products and no eggs. We don't give him dates or any other sweetener at all.
99% of the time we don't eat gluten. This is very simple to do if you are used to it. It is all about the habits.

I also add herbs and spices to our meals to get that delicious taste and also for the benefits from nutrients. No to sport for my child though, than he doesn't like it.

SIMPLIFY

SIMPLICITY is the keywords when it comes to healthy food for our children. And than let them decide what and how much. We always give him the same food as we eat, no difference (only not THAT spicy for him). Children want to do and eat everything we do and eat, so just be a good example and your child will do the same.

Grocery Shopping - Food

When we do our grocery shoppings, we buy at least 90% wholefoods (veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes) and not more than 10% procceced food (oat milk, dark chocolate sometimes, legume pasta, virgin oils). We don't buy the cheapest products, we focus on quality rather than quantity. To choose organic products is to make sure your food is healthier and made without the use of poisons as pesticides and GMO. Even with a low income you can afford organic food. You just have to make your priorities.

Make a Plan

If you want to make healthy eating to a habit, make a simple plan.

✔Meal plan for every day a week. At least breakfast and big lunch (that you can have for dinner. Or a big dinner that is enough for lunch the next day.)
✔Food budget for every week to keep control over your food shopping.
✔80-20 rule: 80% wholefoods and 20% procceced food.
✔Never go food shopping on a empty stomach! (Because when we are hungry, we tent to buy a lot more than what we actually need.)
✔Make a shopping list when you go to a grocery store.
✔Skip the dairy, meat, sweets and soft drinks section jn the store. Straight ahead to the vegetables and fruits section.
✔Choose fresh fruits and veggies rather than frozen.
✔Limit your oil and salt consume. Add sea or Himalaya salt to your food, and no procceced oils.
If you think it is to expensive to bake and cook with virgin coconut oil, than try to do it without ANY oil instead of buying cheap proceeded oil.

Do you want to share some more tips with me? Write them in the comments and I will add them to the list!

If you liked my input about a healthy living, feel free to upvote, resteem and comment! I am happy to get your feedback about this topic.

Please note: these are my values and thoughts, only YOU can know what's right for YOU, so use my tips for inspiration rather than advices written in stone.:)
All content and photography is mine.

Proud member of:

Love, Niina

Ps. Check out my instagram and blog for many simple and healthy vegan recipes!