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Aquinas, we have Sunday night as pizza night. We do get the pizza from the health food store but ONLY because it is the best we have ever eaten around here. The kids also look forward to the weekends when daddy takes them drive through for a biscuit..:-)

Then of course cake, icecream etc anytime there is a party at our house or someone else's. Or a party at our house with the family "just because". They love sweets but do not ask for it. When it is served they truly enjoy it though.

Exactly our approach, 1111. Couldn't agree more.

A good friend of mine once said, quite aptly, that you should be able to eat ice cream whenever you want it, but that you shouldn't want it every day. Words to live by. A few days of anticipation makes the reward all the sweeter! (Said the pleasure delayer.)

DS6 most exceptional gift may be at sensing disguised vegetables.

But he still eats smoothies ... by trial and error we ended up with cooked spinach in it, kale didn't work for us as it has a slightly more noticeable taste to DS. You can get quite a bit of spinach in a smoothie, but we started with around a heaping tablespoon and worked up to a little more. Definitely banana for anti-vegetable taste. And then blackberries are the one fruit that seems to get the color back to fruity from green. And then whatever else is in the fridge. Some people use a piece of beet or beet juice to color it, but DS seems to sense this as a vegetable. And we mostly use yogurt but sometimes a real icecream instead, just has that extra smooth and yummy taste (and yes sugar).

Other things we actively try to get into DS are vitamin E in it's natural form/s such as in almonds/almond milk or peanut butter. And then selenium which is not found in a lot of foods, we try to make sure he gets about a brazil nut a day or every other day, we put ground brazil nuts in our saturday pancakes. The nuts are not hard as DS eats trail mix willingly. Fish oil, the nordic natural chewies, he still thinks they are candy, has been on omega 3s forever.

100% whole wheat bread, at least lately, I somehow missed for years that regular "whole wheat bread" is generally only a small percent whole wheat flour.

The one thing I still wish I could find a way to get into DS is anything tomato such as pasta sauce or a fresh tomato. As a toddler he'd eat a dish of ketchup if he could, but gave up anything tomato by around 3.

He takes goldfish type crackers, pretzels, and juice boxes for snacks. Happy we are not at a school where that would be looked down on... instead it's the opposite where other people here probably think we are stuck up about our food because the juice box says "reduced sugar". DS eats hot dogs, chicken fingers, pizza, cheerios and homemade muffins when there are any. Eats a reasonable amount of fruit and tiny quantities of raw veggies when forced. Craves cookies and candy, generally has something in that category daily, but in moderation, one cookie or one small lollipop.

Polly, try freezing the fresh kale. It seems to take away most of the flavor. I can tell in my smoothie when I use frozen or not.

We have always given DS Omega 3. I used to give him probiotic supplements as powders or chewies when he was a baby because of antibiotics he took for ear infections. Now that he is healthier, he gets 2 servings of probiotic yoghurt a day in addition to the milk he drinks. His breakfast is mostly multigrain toast with melons and milk or Cereal with blueberries and milk. He eats sunflower seed butter sandwiches on whole wheat (his favorite food) and cucumbers and carrots with fresh fruit and yoghurt for lunch. For snack it is a cheese, fruit, crackers combo. For dinner, it is a protein, a wholegrain (quinoa, brown rice etc) and 2 veggies. No dessert, but he can have a fruit if he wants. Occasionally he eats icecream for dessert.
We eat out twice a week and there are no restrictions on the food he eats then. Also, we attend a lot of birthday parties and his old school used to allow birthday cupcakes. The new school has a "no outside food" policy, so no cupcakes at school this year.
We did not give him sugar or sugary foods until he was 3 years old. So, he does not miss sugar and is not crazy about it and can either take it or leave it. But, his favorite food is anything tomato related and will eat anything dipped in ketchup - including steamed broccoli, asparagus etc!
I used to make smoothies regularly 2 years ago and stopped for some reason. Thanks 1111 for inspiring me again! I buy organic Kale from costco all the time. Now, I will try to freeze it to see how that works out!

Ashely, you are welcome...:-) And YES for ketchup. I am sure if I put it on ice cream they would still find it delicious...

And cupcakes in school, sure. Not a fan of having a cupcake for morning snack, but hey, if it is someone's birthday and there is a party I am not going to deprive my kid. I just smile and say "How wonderful", inside I cringe though....:-)