Several days ago, my neighbor’s 8 year old granddaughter was over telling me, in a self-disgust tone, that she was trying not to eat too much food because she thought she was getting fat. OMG really? This kid was so skinny. I asked her what she really liked and she said chocolate chip cookies. Then I asked her “what brand,” (I had heard her mother was not into cooking). She gave me the name of one of the bigger named brands. So I shared what they put into those cookies makes you want to keep eating them and overrides your brain’s signals you’ve had enough to eat. The other issue is the amount of cookies in the package and you have the perfect recipe for binge eating. (I did see her inhale a half dozen of these ultra processed fat bomb cookies on several occasions). While one or two cookies won’t make you fat, eating 5 – 10 every day certainly could. Having apple, carrots, or celery is an excellent snack choice, it’s not likely though first thing a hungry, unsupervised kid is going to pick. Especially when something ultra processed that programs your brain to eat way past satiation is around.
It got me thinking, why not empower the 8 year old to make her own healthy cookies. Make the portion size reasonable, something her brother and she could have for an after school snack. Taking cookies off the “forbidden” list so they become less desirable seems far more mentally healthy than villainizing food and creating disordered eating. Use organic ingredients, dial back the sugar, and make just enough for two to three kids. Keep it easy. When the kids want cookies – have an easy way for them to make them on their own.
The neighbors were fans of this idea so we did a trial run with the 8 year old. She made her first batch of Spice Mama’s cookies. It’s very simple – two tablespoons of oil, two table spoons of water and three tablespoons of chocolate chips (or any other little chunk – raisins, apples, bananas, nuts etc). If you’d like to make your own ready mix for your little ones – send me an email for the recipe- spicemama@spicemama.com. We do sell these if you don’t want to make up your own ready mix – but it’s easy enough to do and I’m happy helping you empower the little chef’s in your world.