Healthy cooking runs in the Family

Page: 1 2 3 4 (of 4)	Previous | Next

grounded in goodness

Mary Lee Chin’s sons, Will (above) and Tom Wagenlander, both seem to have taken a page from her nutritional guidebook. Tom, a junior in college,  has, like Will, eating habits that would delight any mother. During a recent back-to-college grocery-shopping trip with his mother, Tom, without prompting, stocked up on healthful choices, such as cans of tuna packed in water, oranges, apples, fresh vegetables, cranberry juice, and milk.

“When introducing a new food to the kids, I made it as tasty as possible and didn’t make a fuss about it,” Mary Lee says. “If they didn’t eat it the first time, I would just introduce it again a week or two later, keeping it exactly the same—particularly when it came to vegetables.”

Then, as her sons grew, Mary Lee didn’t deprive them of things like chips or candy. However, she also ensured that they had lots of other easy-to-grab snacks, such as fruit, whole-grain crackers, and nuts. In the refrigerator, she kept ready supplies of water, juice, and milk. With the choice, her kids usually opted for the lower-fat, less-sugary alternatives.

To Mary Lee it doesn’t seem miraculous. She thinks it simply comes down to having good parental role models, lots of healthful food options, and an understanding that any food is fine in moderation.