Like most children, I remember sitting down at the dinner table, staring at the vegetables on my plate. I was considered by most to be a “picky eater”, since I refused to eat anything but a handful of foods. Ham sandwiches, bean soup, and fried chicken legs – these were my preferred foods!
When it came to vegetables, it was always a battle with my mother. Even now, as an adult, I remember sitting and playing with my food, unable to get up until my plate was clean. Eventually, it came down to how many bites I would be forced to eat of that nasty green stuff on my plate. Did I end up eating at least a few bites of vegetables? Let’s just say that my dog, Dolly, had some nice healthy under-the-table snacks most nights.
As an adult, I have to say I now love vegetables, and I definitely have a more sympathy for my own mother after raising two boys. With our busy lifestyle, it was common for them to eat fast food or processed foods that were easy to throw into the microwave. Even though they grew up to be pretty big guys, I still regret that we were unable to win the fight on vegetables when they were younger.
So How Can You Get Your Kids to Eat Those Veggies?
At the time, I didn’t know just how important the foods kids eat today are in determining their health tomorrow. Now that I am a grandmother, I want to see my grandkids eat their fruits and vegetables. Children will eat just about anything during their first few years of life, but they will eventually go through that not-eating-vegetables stage which happens at the most important developmental point of their life – when their bodies most need nutritious foods. The question is, how do you get kids to eat healthy foods? If your household is anything like ours, the answer is Mitch Spinach!
Who Is Mitch Spinach?
If there is one thing every parent knows, kids love pretending to be cartoon characters or their favorite superheroes. Unlike most superhero characters, however, Mitch Spinach is on a mission to help kids learn to eat healthy foods.
An ordinary elementary school student, Mitch is considered to be one of the smartest and nicest kids in Ms. Radicchio’s class at Sunchoke Elementary. In many ways, he seems like an ordinary child, until it comes to lunch time. While all of his friends eat traditional kid’s foods, he eats nutritious smoothies made in his battery-powered blender that is part of his Nutripak lunchbox. What his fellow classmates don’t know is that his nutritious smoothies give him super powers! Instead of going to recess, he solves the mysteries of Sunchoke Elementary, using the special super powers he gets from his smoothies, such as supersonic hearing and night vision.
In the Mitch Spinach books, kids are able to meet a role model that shows them the benefits of eating veggies. While they may not get super powers like Mitch, they learn the importance of eating nutritious foods. Most parents who have purchased the Mitch Spinach books have found that their kids go from hating vegetables to loving them! Mitch isn’t just a hero for kids, but a hero for parents everywhere who are fighting the battle of getting their children to eat their veggies.
Mitch Spinach Books
Currently, there are two kid-friendly Mitch Spinach books – The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach and Mitch Spinach and the Smell of Victory. In these beautifully illustrated books, children not only get to enjoy a story loved by children of all ages, but also the fun smoothie recipes that kids love! With these fun recipes, your kids will start eating veggies and will beg you for more!
Everyone at Sunchoke Elementary now knows that Mitch Spinach is no ordinary kid. In this exciting field day adventure, Mitch Spinach receives a coded message on his futuristic watch asking him to report to the gym. After rescuing Becca out on the field, he is determined to help Principal Lycopene find the missing key to the trophy case. When solving the mystery seems impossible, what secret ingredients from his custom-made Nutripak lunchbox will he need? Will he find the key in time? Find out how Mitch Spinach fuels his remarkable sense of smell and boosts his brain power to take on this new challenge in Book 2 of the Mitch Spinach series.
The authors of the series, Hillary and Jeff Hillenbrand, designed the books not only to encourage a nutritious lifestyle, but to be entertaining for kids. They put their expertise together as an English teacher and exercise science major to create the Mitch Spinach series. Having two children themselves, they want to help teach not only own their children, but other children as well, the importance of living a happy and nutritious lifestyle. A lifestyle that prevents childhood diseases such as type 2 diabetes, childhood obesity, and ADHD now, and diseases like high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease later in their lives.
Children will also love the Mitch Spinach website, which has cool facts for kids and nutritious games. These fun games are also great for teachers who are trying to teach nutrition in the classroom.
Parenting with Mitch Spinach
Parents who purchase these books are also able to enjoy a wealth of parenting information that is found not only in the Mitch Spinach books, but also on the Mitch Spinach website. All the information in the Parents section was endorsed and created with the collaboration of Dr. Fuhrman, a board-certified physician who is well known in the medical field for his nutritional research and specialization in preventing and reversing disease though a nutritious, natural lifestyle. He currently presides over all nutritional and medical aspects of the Mitch Spinach series. You can read some of Dr. Furhman’s nutritional advice for children on the Mitch Spinach website (under the “Parents” tab).
On the Mitch Spinach website, parents can find:
- Teaching Points
- Kid-Friendly Healthy Recipes
- Medical Advice
- Nutritional Advice
The recipe section is full of kid-friendly healthy recipes like Apple Walnut Surprise, Banana Cashew Lettuce Wraps, and Chocolate Whizzy Pudding. Among other healthy ingredients, Healthy Chocolate Cake has beets and carrots and zucchini in it, and your kids will love it!
For parents who wish to learn more about how they can improve their child’s diets, you may also want to take a look at Dr. Fuhrman’s book, Disease Proof Your Child. Much of the information on the Mitch Spinach website was based on this book, which teaches parents the importance of a child’s diet now and how it will affect them later in life.
What Others Are Saying
My family isn’t the only who has been impressed by Mitch Spinach. Here are what other parents and grandparents are saying about Mitch Spinach…
We just received the Secret Life of Mitch Spinach children’s book, which we purchased for our 6 and 5 year olds. The full size 8.5 x 11 hardcover book is really impressive with its bright cover illustration and beautifully done interior illustrations. The photo of the cover online doesn’t do it justice! Our children were immediately engaged and insisted that we read it right away! After reading the exciting, mystery/adventure, my kids asked me if I could make them the Mitch Spinach Super Smoothie, which is included at the end of the book (nice touch!). They said they wanted to have “super powers” like Mitch Spinach too! What parent would refuse to make their kids a delicious, fruit and vegetable smoothie? It isn’t always easy to get your kids to eat fruits and vegetables, especially when so many kids seem to live on junk food and candy. The next day, they asked for carrots and some spinach with their lunch! How awesome is that! They keep asking us when the next Mitch Spinach book is coming out! According to the Mitch Spinach website . . . it is coming soon! Oh, and by the way, the website is really cool with tons of information for parents and educators, educational games for the kids, more great kid-friendly recipes and even a Mitch Spinach Fan club with FREE gifts! We love Mitch Spinach!
Saving Money on Mitch Spinach
After checking the Mitch Spinach book out at the library, my family decided to purchase the two Mitch Spinach books. Currently, the Mitch Spinach Website is offering package deals that are not only great for parents, but kids too! With the ultimate Mitch Spinach Fan Pack, parents can buy:
- The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach
- Mitch Spinach & the Smell of Victory
- Cool Limited Edition Mitch Spinach T-Shirt
If you already own one of the Mitch Spinach books, or only want one of them, don’t worry, you can also buy everything separately. And they are not expensive! The books are only $16.95 each, or a package deal with both books for $29.66. If you think of the cost as preventative-health-insurance for your kids (or grandkids), you’ll agree that it’s a very small price to pay.
The fun t-shirt is printed in full color in the front and back, and comes in both kids and adult sizes that are 100% cotton. On the front, you will find Mitch Spinach with his signature Nutripak™ backpack, along with green lettering on the back reading “Get Super Powers From Fruits and Veggies!” My grandkids absolutely love this cool looking t-shirt!
More Info on Mitch Spinach
If your children are having problems eating vegetables, we highly recommend that you purchase the Mitch Spinach books. Kids of all ages love Mitch Spinach and parents couldn’t ask for a better role model when it comes to eating healthy. For more information on Mitch Spinach and to read more reviews by parents, check out the Mitch Spinach Website.
Click to Visit the Mitch Spinach Website
And here’s to health for our kids and grandkids!
