Do you ever feel like everything (food) is bad?

Expecting0207 · February 2010

There was a post the other day about red dye 40, so I've been noticing more and more that it seems like it's in everything! I feel almost paralyzed that I can't feed them anything right! Instant oatmeal - well making it from slow cooked oats is better. Fruits - did I wash them good enough or am I giving my kids pesticides. Even canned fruits and soups - most canned goods are lined with a material containing BPA.

Can some of you post what kinds of foods your kids are eating? I feel like we are stuck in a rut and now I'm also overwhelmed with thinking everything is unhealthy.

co18co · February 2010

I buy organic fruits and veggies whenever possible. I don't lose sleep if I don't.

I buy free-range chicken, and avoid things with added growth hormones as much as possible.

I buy bread from a local bakery (which ends up getting used for bread crumbs for chicken nuggets, egg plant parm, etc.).

I don't buy cereals, snacks, etc. with HFCS because, as I posted earlier in Jodi's post, it turns my child satanic, in addition to all the other known evils.

For me, I've been working hard to not let things go to waste (wilted spinach? throw it into a homemade soup), and am trying to do more things from scratch (which ironically enough, I've started since going back to work full time).

I have some food allergies, so I don't usually eat the same things, but I've started making homemade waffles or pancakes (with whole grain flour, etc) on the weekend, and then freezing them, to plop into the toaster on weekday mornings. We make a lot of pizzas since I can sneak veggies in there. I try to cook things that'll have leftovers in the crockpot and on the weekends...

It's hard, but doable. Particularly if you map out a plan for the week!

JOEBunny · February 2010

My kids eat a lot of stuff out of cans. I am sure BPA is in most every person in the US who is on the grid. Honestly, if I had to buy, clean, steam and put away fresh veggies, my kids would never get them. I try to stay away from super processed foods, which I think has been proven to be horrible. You can keep your kids from all that stuff, then they grow up and become an artist who works with fiberglass or a plumber who inhales toxic smelting lead. You just have to do the best you can. I really read studies too. A lot of the "evidence" is pretty minor when you read the actual study or the sample is small or it is inconclusive.

One of the scientist who came out with the studies on second hand smoke has come out and said that the risk has been totally over blown, based on casual exposure (not living with a smoker, which is what his study said was bad, but you never hear that on the mainstream news).

ridesbuttons · February 2010

Always in my kitchen: skim milk, eggs, whole grain bread, unsweetened juice, in season (or close to it) fruit, spinach, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, cheese, chicken breasts, precooked meatballs, whole or ancient grain noodles, tomato sauce, tuna, brown rice, interesting grain crackers, cheerios, raisin bran, wine and champagne (lol)

I avoid highly processed snacking foods (the closest I come to that are the crackers), sweets and stuff that I can mindlessly eat. If I want a treat, I have to get up and go out to get it.

You can make yourself crazy with all the 'knowledge' out there. Buy local, cook appropriately, enjoy your life!

Having said that, I feel like I feed my kids the same meals over and over and over again too. But they are toddlers, and as long as it is balanced, I make myself ok with it.

femmegem · February 2010

Well, DS certainly doesn't eat all healthy foods. He loves chicken nuggets (I get all-white meat ones, but still), hot dogs, and mac and cheese (we get the TJs one, though, so I pretend it's healthy). But he also really likes conventional oatmeal sweetened with honey and TJ's Greek-style yogurt with honey in it. We make miso soup from scratch for him quite often since that's another of his favorites, whole wheat pasta with parmesan on it (he won't eat pasta sauce any more).

For snacks he really likes TJ's applesauce, their Fiberful bars, their cheese crackers and peanut butter crackers, and we recently found fruit rollups at Costco that have no added sugar, HFCS, dyes, or anything else.

He does eat some fresh and freeze-dried fruits and he recently started eating peas and beans. He also likes dried seaweed. We're working on getting him to try more foods and it's going well so far, but his diet is definitely not the best it could be.

Lisa102304 · February 2010

I say stop stressing about it. Seriously, if you worry about every single thing - you are going to lose your ever-loving mind. Try to make good choices most of the time. And don't sweat the times you choose "not so good" things. Your kids will survive and be totally healthy. I promise.

And FWIW, my according to most of the Nest population, my child would probably be better off eating toxic waste. My Ped is fine with her diet and her growth, I am fine with everything....so eh, I ain't sweatin' it.

I am sure that was uber-unhelpful, but I just hate seeing people get worked up over every.tiny.thing and feeling like a bad parent.

praline · February 2010

I hear you! Even reading the whole thing about Jodi&Joe I think...my kid's diet ok? Is it really healthy? I tend to get into a rut of offering her the same things over and over because she won't try new things (probably because I don't offer them enough) and then I worry.

One thing I do for breakfast is feed her a smoothie every day...frozen organic strawberries and mango, one banana (usually don't get organic bananas), a carrot (usually organic), plain organic yogurt, and either skim milk (always organic) or almond milk. I drink a little too.

I make oatmeal with Quaker and just heat it on the stove top. For sweetener for DD #1 I'll let her use a little maple syrup.

Lunch for her is almost always a peanut butter sandwich. She doesn't like jam or jelly so I don't put anything else on it. I'll cut up an apple (almost always organic) or give her applesauce (make sure to get unsweetened).

Dinner I've been working on...I do chicken crockpot meals, fresh green beans and asparagus. Last night we had wild salmon (I try to always get wild Pacific salmon). I love to roast sweet potatos, squash and beets. I buy fresh spinach and use Newman's own dressing. I love that stuff.

But I do have a sweet tooth and have been making pudding and stuff lately. If you make desert from scratch though, which I've been doing more then there is less weird stuff in it. I've been trying to offer DD water more often. I never give her juice or soda (really never ever on the soda...she's never had it).

It can drive you crazy! But really, it's the way I want to eat. I do make caseroles alot and sometimes will use cream of mushroom soup...has MSG. I do feed DD goldfish (um, I do get whole grain though,lol). And we do have McDonald's sometimes.

I'm sure you're doing great!

goodheartedmommy · February 2010

I try to make sure the majority of our food is not processed--shopping the perimeter of the store is helpful (produce, meat, dairy, cheese, eggs) I'm not an all or nothing person (even if people think I am). But the majority of our food is what I want them to eat--and then of course they get things here and there that aren't perfect.

Like oats--I like to feed steel-cut irish oats. But that's not always possible, because there are times I need breakfast on the table in 5 minutes. So we do the quick oats (not the little packets, because it just isn't cost-effective, but the kind out of the big canister). So I'm okay doing the instant oats sometimes.

Snacks are generally things like cottage cheese, yogurt, a slice of cheese, fruit, veggies with dip (Bella loves salad, so she gets it for a snack all the time). We save crackers or cereal bars for when we're out and about.

I do think that eating a good, healthy food outweighs the negative aspect (pesticides/insecticides) on them, if otherwise they would not be eaten at all. I like a big variety, and I feel my kids are better off eating a large array of food rather than be limited to only the things that are available organic at times.

I don't like red dye--so if I wanted something that had red dye in it, I'd find an alternative with a natural food coloring in it (they exist!)

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