Nicola Young: Little steps to healthy eating plan

HEALTHY OPTION: The Sophia pre-school grows its own produce to be eaten by the kids. SOPHIA-PRODUCE

I'm a Green mum. By that I mean I am a Green Party member who is also a mum, but I'm not terribly good at combining the two.

The combo of working fulltime and being a primary caregiver makes it tough sometimes - I often feel time poor and it seems, at first glance, that living sustainably takes more time and effort. (For the record, I love my job and being a mum and wouldn't have it any other way.)

The challenges of "doing the right thing" seem huge some days and that leads to parenting guilt, which I desperately try to avoid.

However, after attending a healthy food session at Mr Three's pre-school last week, I realised I'm doing okay. Room for improvement, sure. And that's my plan - a little shift here and there makes all the difference.

One thing I do already is get my boys involved in assembling their dinner - tacos is a brilliant option. Just a little meat with some beans and tomatoes, then put it together with lettuce, carrot, cheese and sour cream - it is a meal they enthusiastically tuck in to.

Their favourite dinner at the moment is pumpkin soup - the cook at Mr Three's pre-school makes a very popular recipe so it's at the top of their request list. OK, pizza is also on their list, but pizza doesn't have to be unhealthy - the Sophia pre-school cookbook has a pizza topping that includes mashed kidney beans for low fat, good quality protein.

One tip I picked up last week is to offer the raw food first - give your children a carrot stick before dinner. And it doesn't just apply to children - most adults, including me, would benefit from one.

The other classic kids food I haven't introduced yet is alphabet pasta - I reckon my boys would love that. Slip it into soup and they will slurp it down (although I anticipate a bit of mess with the attempts at spelling).

My friend has a good suggestion - put a hard-boiled egg in your children's lunchbox and write a funny message or draw a face on the shell. Peeling an egg by yourself is one of life's joys when young.

The owner at Sophia pre-school, Adrienne, had a great suggestion - make a rule of "don't be rude to food". Unfortunately, even with the few good tricks I practice, I am increasingly getting criticism of my labour of love in the kitchen - it is pretty frustrating when the calls of "that's disgusting" happen before a bite has been taken.

I've had a chat with my boys about this approach and I'm hoping the phrase will stick in their minds. Wish me luck.

Another good idea I will eventually try out myself is making ice-cream out of frozen bananas - a simple concept of processing frozen bananas in a food processor with some nuts or chocolate chips. It illustrates that making healthy choices doesn't always have to be expensive (when bananas are in season) or complicated and time-consuming.

Adrienne said she found it sad that many children did not understand where food came from - "The supermarket" was the typical answer.

I tested Mr Three this week with, "Where do apples come from?" and thankfully he answered "the garden" so we have a pass mark there.

I will continue this journey of teaching my children healthy eating habits when they're young - and hopefully I will learn a few things, too!

*Nicola Young has worked in the government and private sectors in Australia and NZ and now works from home in Taranaki for a national charitable foundation. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.