Health coach’s hints for cleaner eating
Feeding children healthy food need not be difficult, even if they are picky eaters.
Health coach April Godfrey tells clients that being prepared is key.
The 40-year-old teaches healthy habits to families based on her studies at New York’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
• What got you interested in healthy eating?
I’ve always been interested in nutrition. I grew up on a farm with a stay-at-home mom who made most of what we ate from scratch using the fruit and animals we had there.
We had really nourishing and nutritious food.
I moved into the big world and didn’t always have the best habits but because I grew up the way I did, I always come back to that foundation.
• Did your website, sweetsimpledelicious.com, come about as a result of that?
I have two children, a five-year-old daughter, Baya, and a 2½-year-old son, Callum.
I was so cautious about my eating during my pregnancies and when I was nursing.
Then you have this little being in your hands and all of a sudden, everything looks different. You want to give them the best of everything.
But it’s just as important for adults. And it’s important for our children that we lead by example.
My goal is to inspire wellness. I want to give people the tools to help them make better choices so they can lead healthier and happier lives.
What I’m teaching my children now will set the foundation for healthier lives later.
•Is it realistic to expect people to get their children hooked on fruits and vegetables when most of it is not farm-fresh?
When you know the things you know about food, it doesn’t make sense to feed them anything other than the best you can. I’m big on buying local; I love Wadson’s [Home Farm Market].
An analogy I like to make is if we put the wrong fuel in our cars, the engine can seize; if we put the wrong fuel in our bodies, they can seize.
If it’s too expensive to always buy organic or the food isn’t available, I advise people to at least avoid the “dirty dozen” — those things with the highest pesticide residue even after washing. I’m talking about berries, apples, grapes, spinach, bell peppers, celery — anything with skin that you eat.
They can safely eat “the clean 15” — things like onions, mango, and avocado that you don’t have to buy organic because they have low pesticide residue.
It’s all about getting people to be aware so they can make choices.
• What specifically do you teach parents who come to you looking for help?
With children, a lot of it is about being prepared, so when you need to grab something, there’s something on hand.
I give them recipes, I help them to organise their schedule. It’s about finding good places to hide fruits and vegetables for picky eaters.
My aim is to inspire wellness so people can live happier, healthier lives and where that starts is with what we’re consuming.
• Visit sweetsimpledelicious.com for recipes and a full list of services
• Almond joy freezer bites
Ingredients:
• ½ cup raw almonds or cashews
• ¼ cup almond butter
• 8-10 medjool dates
• 1 tsp vanilla (or ¼-½ tsp ground vanilla bean powder, hands-down my favourite)
• 2 tbsp hulled hemp hearts
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup (I have used one and two. Both options are great, it just depends how sweet you would like it)
• 1½ tbsp cacao powder
• 1 tbsp room temperature coconut oil
• shredded coconut for rolling
Method:
Place all ingredients except for the shredded coconut in a bowl and blend it … a lot! Scrape down the sides and blend again as needed. It will take a few minutes but definitely worth the blending time. Roll into one inch balls.
Roll through the shredded coconut and put in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy!
• Breakfast cookies
Ingredients:
• 1 cup oat and seed blend. I grind together gluten-free oats with sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and keep in a container to use as and when needed.
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2 tbsp cranberries
• 3-5 chopped prunes
• 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 2 tbsp vegan mini chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp chia seeds mixed with ¼ water and left to sit for approximately ten minutes
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup maple syrup
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Prepare baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.
Mix all dry ingredients. Mix in the coconut oil and maple syrup and mix well. Add the chia mix and stir until well blended.
Scoop into rounds on your baking sheet and bake for 14-16 minutes. Allow to cool then store in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Chewy granola bars
Ingredients:
• 1 cup gluten-free oats
• 1¼ cup gluten-free crispy rice
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds or Chia seeds
• 2 tbsp chopped or ground seeds
• 2 tbsp hulled hemp hearts
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla (I love ground vanilla bean powder. It is so delicious)
• ¼ cup dried fruit
• ½ cup brown rice syrup
• Third of a cup nut butter of your choice (I most often use almond butter. You can also keep them nut-free by using sunflower seed butter)
Method:
Prepare a 9×9 baking pan by lining with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients together. In a small saucepan over low heat, mix together the nut butter and brown rice syrup until blended and creamy. If you are using vanilla extract instead of powder, add it here.
Transfer the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix, mix, mix. It really helps to get your hands in there and really blend together.
Transfer to the prepared pan and press. I use my potato masher so that I can get it nice and compact. If you would like to add chocolate chips on top, press partially, sprinkle the chips on and press again.
Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When ready, cut as you would like. I sometimes pre-make these and keep them in the freezer for an anytime snack.
