Mom sets up a salad bar at home to make her kids eat healthy and the internet is impressed

Getting children to eat their veggies is a struggle a lot of parents will relate to, and while many of them come up with creative ways to convince kids, building a salad bar at home might make greens more appetizing. It might sound far fetched, but that’s exactly what one Alabama mom of nine named Melanie Renee (@raisingcades10) is banking on to encourage her children to eat healthier. The mother decided to give her kids the whole restaurant experience at home with a fully stocked, professional salad bar right in the heart of her kitchen.

“I am a little extra,” admits 37-year-old Melanie Renee in an interview with TODAY, before describing how she and her husband have their hands full with nine children. About two years ago, they decided to invest in a $1,300 salad bar from a restaurant supply store with a goal to make it easier for kids to eat healthy and teach them a bit of independence in the kitchen. The salad bar has since become a centerpiece in their home, and Melanie often shares videos showing it off on social media, along with other clever hacks that help her manage life with a large family.

Renee spends $100 a week on seasonal produce and whole cuts of meat, which she slices herself. Surprisingly, she says this approach is more cost-effective than relying on pre-packaged options. “I run a tight ship,” says Renee, who homeschools all nine of her children. “My kids eat cookies and chips but during the pandemic, I saw an unhealthy dependency on pre-packaged snacks because they were readily available.” She realized that these habits were convenient but not healthy for her kids and for herself.

Now, her refrigerated salad bar is filled with seasonal veggies and healthy add-ons like shredded cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and sliced turkey or chicken, making nutritious options quickly accessible. A recent video where Melanie Renee restocks her home salad bar has taken Instagram by storm, racking up more than 5 million views.

"Making food look pretty is the trick," says Renee, explaining that the visual appeal plays a huge role in getting her kids excited about eating healthier. “I’ve learned that kids eat with their eyes so making food aesthetically pleasing feels, ‘Wow,’ to my children. They see the beautiful colors and textures and the variety to choose from,” Renee reveals. 

Her salad bar not only encourages healthier eating but also teaches her children valuable lessons about portion control as they learn to serve themselves and figure out how much they want to eat without piling on too much. “We can always go back for more,” she says. 

But Renee’s kitchen is full of surprises beyond just the salad bar. For family movie nights, she also added a slush machine, letting her kids enjoy homemade frozen drinks. While Renee admits that her setup might not be practical for everyone, she believes it’s more achievable than people think. She started small by organizing healthy options in her fridge’s produce drawer and using individual containers to separate the ingredients. From there, things evolved into the full-scale salad bar that her family enjoys today.

You can follow Melanie Renee (@raisingcades10) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.