Ceri started the popular site “Sweet Potato Chronicles”, which has recipes, nutrition information, parenting advice, and more! In her interview, she tells us how we can help our kids avoid childhood obesity and gives us healthy recipes!
Tell us more about yourself, your site, and your family.
Sweet Potato Chronicles tells the never ending story of the well fed family. My online partner, Laura Keogh, and I launched it three years ago. We both worked as editors at one of the big Canadian fashion magazines – she was the beauty director and I was editor-in-chief – but once we both had families we knew it was time for some changes. Looking for something that brought together our professional skills with our life stage led us to create SPC. We wanted to build a site for parents like ourselves who wanted a one-stop-shop for recipes, nutrition information, interviews, product reviews and parenting advice. We always try to cut through the clutter, deliver relevant, useful material for our readers, but we always want to do it with some style. You can take the girls out of the magazine… So we put a lot of work into the production of our site and our photography. Our first cook book is coming out this fall and if I may say, it’s looking pretty sweet! My husband and I have two kids, a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. My husband is also self-employed so our schedules can be a bit crazy but we make it work!
How do you think moms can help their kids avoid childhood obesity?
So many things! The number one step toward raising healthy kids is to prepare the food (or most of the food) they eat. Everyone is busy and it’s very tempting to rely on the convenience of prepared foods, fast foods, restaurant foods to save on time, but once you make that choice, you’re out of control. Many prepared and fast foods are off the charts for salt, fat and sugar. Not only are they bad for you and your kids but they set your kids’ palettes to crave those ingredients. The next most important step is to get your kids involved in the kitchen. Studies show that when kids are involved in food prep they’re more likely to try those foods. It’s a great way to get a picky kid to try new things. When you get kids involved in grocery shopping and meal prep, you’re giving them amazing life skills, spending quality time together and also adding another person to your team who can eventually make dinner! Of course, it’s sometimes easier said than done but there are ways to make the most of the little time you’ve got in the kitchen. We’re big fans of doing some batch cooking on Sundays to make the week run a little more smoothly.
What are your favorite healthy recipes?
I’m loving dinners made from eggs lately. They’re fast, simple and I like taking a break from meat at least one night each week. We like omelettes, frittatas and shakshuka but my new favorite is this Mexican Egg Bake – it’s really quick to make so even if I’m running late I can still get it on the table in less than half an hour.
Can you recommend any snacks or lunch ideas that are kid-friendly?
I’m a big fan of leftovers for lunches. Invest in a good thermos and then the chili or soup you had for dinner makes its way to school. But my daughter’s favorite lunch right now is these Mini Quiche that I batch cook on Sundays. When I make her lunch at night I pop a couple of frozen ones in her lunch box and by the time she opens it up the next day they’re thawed. You can make them any way your kid would like, Esme likes cheese and red pepper.
Here are some more lunch box ideas I pack for my daughter.
How do you suggest that moms become educated on healthy eating habits and ways to keep their kids healthy?
There are so many great online resources out there – we love Dr. Greene and Dr. Sears and both have good web sites. But I think the main thing is to not get overwhelmed. Keep it simple: eat real food, make sure everyone gets out and moves every day, not too much screen time and try to have fun as a family whenever you can.
What are your top 5 favorite foods to eat?
Only 5?! Okay, hmmm…. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (trying to set a good example for my kids!) but I always eat an apple every day, I love avocados and have been known to just eat them plain out of the skin, but I really love them mashed on a piece of whole wheat toast with a good grind of black pepper, I love any kind of soup and will never stop experimenting with new combinations, my whole family loves pancakes and we almost never make them the same way twice, from buckwheat with banana to apple pie pancakes and even though I’m mindful to not eat too much red meat there’s nothing like a really perfectly cooked, juicy burger.
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