How frequently do you worry about having money for food? Do you go hungry in order to provide for your children? Your concern for them is impressive. However, children know you are doing it, and they feel bad about it. Why not consider some surprising strategies that allow both you and your children to get enough to eat?

You may fear that choosing higher-calorie food will make you and your children eat too much and get fat. Not so. Being afraid of going hungry makes you overeat and gain weight. Knowing you will have enough to eat lets you go to meals hungry, eat until you are satisfied, then stop. You will know that another filling snack or meal will be coming soon and you can do it again.

• Getting enough to eat is most important. Nutrition comes later. You can have both, but to enjoy life and do well, you must get enough to eat.
• Maintain structure; stay in charge of the menu. Eat the food you eat now, just call it a meal and eat it all together. Turn “munching” food into planned snacks and sit down to eat them—together.
• Higher-calorie forms of your usual foods fill you more. Consider whole milk, canned peaches in heavy syrup, fried meat, vegetables with butter and sauces, fruit cobblers and pies.
• Don’t skimp on fat. it fills you up and makes food stay with you longer. Include butter or margarine, gravy, and regular salad dressing.
• Serve one each of expensive foods, all-you-want-to-eat of others. Have one pork chop or hamburger each, and provide plenty of potatoes, rice, noodles, and bread to fill up on.
• Stretch meat, poultry, and fish. Put it in a stew, soup, or casserole. Use a bit for flavoring bean dishes.
• Introduce new foods in small amounts – just enough for a taste each. You will waste less.
• Buy foods that don’t spoil. Canned vegetables and fruit are just as nutritious as fresh (or maybe more). Frozen are good, too, if you have the freezer space.
• Teach children to take many small helpings. Children don’t know when they serve themselves how much they will eat.