Please help- A healthier diet for my kids!

I have fallen into bad habbits in the last year since DS2 was born, buying convenience foods and lots of packageD snacks in particular and letting DH convince me it's all ok. Now DS2 is bigger and I have a little more time to sort things and cook, I am trying to clean up their diets, all of our diets really. I think it is also contributing to DS1's behaviour and sometimes he loses it.
The kids have gotten used to having things like muesli bars, tiny teddies, unhealthy cerials, wonderwhite bread, and other processed, packaged stuff. I have been getting lazy with dinners and having too much pre packages sauces and things too.
So can you give me some tips on what to feed my kids, and DH and I!
What are some healthy packaged snacks? Is there such a thing??
What are the reccommended levels of things like salt and sugar in foods for kids under 5?
What are the particular nasties I should look for in foods?
Add anything else you would like to tell me!!
TIA :)

What sort of food do you eat? Meat and veg, one pot meals ect?

Try looking in the Health Food isle in the supermarket for kids snacks - the gluten free/'healthy' versions are often much better for addatives than the standard versions, Get the plain honey teddies rather than the hudreds and thousands version.
Rather than premade sauce, top meat with garlic butter.
Drop white bread for wholemeal and try and get one with out preservative (a friend swapped bread and her DS fought it the first couple of days but she just stuck with 'this was all the shop had' and after a few days he stopped complaining and she never bought white again.

Google Aditive Alert for a goldmine of info.

Thanks Ambersky! I was trying tothink of the name of that website! We used to only eat wholemeal and multigrain bread, but DH prefers the other stuff, which I hate. So it's a bit of a stalemate! I would much rather the kids eat the wholemeal, but again they prefer the other. I also used to make my dinners mostly from scratch, but since having baby #3 it just got all too much! Now he's bigger and not feeding 2hrly, his day sleeps are also pretty good, so I do get time to prepare without him on my leg, lol! I just have to get back into good habbits.

Do your kids like fruit and raw vegies? Obviously healthy, and quick and easy to prepare. My kids love dipping carrot, cucumber and celery sticks in to hommus, salsa or guacamole. I try to feed them a lot of raw or steamed vegies. My kids eat lots of raw salad vegies whenever we have tacos. They also like corn or rice cakes topped with peanut butter and sliced banana. We also snack on cashews and dates.

It sounds like you know what you need to do re: cooking from scratch and cutting the white bread. Everyone will adapt. Good luck!

ETA re: salt and sugar levels. When buying packaged products aim for less than 10g of sugar per 100g. With salt, aim for 120mg of salt or less per 100g- you will find that most packaged products are way over this salt level. Also, avoid trans fats and aim for very low levels of saturated fats (or preferably none at all).

I try to add something "alive" to everything my kids eat. So even if they're having a ready-made thing I put it on a plate with some fruit or veggies. The key is put a variety of things on the plate/snack box and then it's interesting. There are lots of excellent salad veggie things that kids love - from celery and carrot sticks, through mini-tomatoes and sprouts, snow and sugar snap peas to those miniature baby cucumbers (my kids *love* them). There are lots of different crackers on the market - many of them have a wholegrain element - some have mroe additives than others but in small amounts they add interest to the snack/meal. Also cheese comes in a lots of different configurations, you can add nut butters or cream cheese or hommous to the plate for the kids to "dip" in. Chuck some dried fruit in - blueberries, cranberries, dark raisins and currants all have excellent antioxidants in them, but even dried apple, peaches etc are good. My kids also love having yoghurt with a sprinkle of muesli or whatever fruity-flakey cereal we have at the time. Fruit is good and if you're a bit creative about cutting it into different shapes or serving it with different things they will love that too. Just keep rotating how you serve them up and the food will stay interesting ;).

I struggle some days too so here is what our diet looks like!

Brekky and Snacks - Porridge, raisin toast, toast, (cheerios, nutri grain crunchy nut cornflakes - all sometimes) zucchini slice, cheese, a few bikkies, lots of fruit, muffins (cheese and bacon and I grate veggies into them) mini banana muffins, smoothies with loads of fruit, yoghurt etc. boiled eggs, dips and cheese with bikkies or carrots (only DD will eat them though) muesli bars (want to try making some) pike lets , sultanas.

As for bread - up to you hun, you could get a small white loaf for DH only and hide it and give the kids the good stuff?? We don't ever buy white and if we end up with some like after a bbq etc. the kids don't really care to eat it. The only bread DS doesn't like is a 7grain and seed loaf from Safeway that is really dense. We usually just buy a multi grain wholemeal from Bakers Delight. You could try something like Chia bread that is white with seeds and there are a few others that a more white with seed - something like the Tip Top multi is like that I think.

Planning meals ahead makes a difference to me too - not full on meal planning but in the morning I think about what we might have for dinner so that I am not in a rush, I can get stuff from the shops if I need it and we are less likely to rush and end up eating cr@p or getting takeaway if I am prepared. I also start dinner at around 3:30 and do whatever I need to do to start getting it ready. If it is something like chicken noodle soup I cook it all arvo on low and it makes it deeeelish. Regular dinners here are rice or pasta with meat and steamed veggies chicken noodle soup, swedish meatballs, spag with heaps of veggies,

I would just replace a few things at a time, just don't buy Tiny Teddies at all. We get them occasionally but once they are gone, that's it. Try and buy some stuff from the health section - rice wheels are a hit here for a treat. Otherwise rice cakes etc. Mine also like saladas and cruskits. I know they are a bit high in salt but if they eat a bunch of other healthy stuff through the day Im not so worried about one salada.

Hope that helps babe, it is hard but you can do it for all of you and having a few go to's up your sleeve that the kids love helps. I made swedish meatballs 3 times last week because I knew the kids love it!! oxoxox

A really easy and healthy dinner is spagetti with meatballs - you can pre-make the meatballs or buy them ready-made (small ones - I got some on sale for $2 at woolies!) and fry to seal only in a little spray oil, then add in a tin of tomatoes, a tin of chicken stock along with a tablespoon of tomato paste (I also add red wine). Grate in whatever veg you like - carrots, zucchini, celery etc.

Unfortunately pretty much anything prepackaged will be too high in something - fat, sugar, salt or all three. Kids can tolerate about half as much salt as adults. From memory the recommendation is around 600mg for 8 and over and around 300mg for under that. Which if you check the labels of everything you buy is next to impossible. A vegemite or cheese sandwich would probably get you there on it's own (add the bread, butter, and filling).

For snacks, there are quick and easy things you can do though without packaged foods. Fruit, unsalted nuts (if there are no allergies), rice cakes (the Coles or Sunrice thick rice cakes have next to no salt, but most are too high in salt), sultanas, natural yoghurt, baked pita bread with hommus dip (homemade if possible or even with pureed vegetables instead).

For meals, you can still also do fairly quick and easy things. Tacos are a hit with my boys - I make the taco seasoning myself (chill powder, cumin, paprika and garlic granules or crushed garlic) and buy the lowest fat and lowest sodium tortillas or taco shells. Spaghetti bolognaise with the low sodium tinned tomatoes works well (there is only one brand I can find lately that is really low, it's Italian, let me know if you want the full name) - you can put any veggies in a bolognaise, usually I manage at least 5 or 6 different ones. My DH makes the best curries from scratch (not using jars) but this takes a bit longer. Salmon patties, grilled fish with salad, cajun chicken salad, home made chicken nuggets with pureed cauliflower in the crumbs are some more ideas.

Thankyou everyone for your replies and suggestions!

I did the groceries the other day and was more aware of the salt, fats and sugars in the stuff I brought. While I still got a little of the pre packaged stuff, I have tried to make it some of the 'healthier' stuff. Rice crackers (still too much salt, but I got the least offensive ones!), arrowroot bickies (too much sugar), yogurts (not quite 'too much' sugar but almost!). I got unsalted and no added sugar peanut butter, salt reduced tomato sauce, baked beans and tinned spaghetti. It all tastes strange to us and DH is the one complaining! Baked bean toasties are just not the same!!
It's kinda depressing realising what I have been feeding the kids. But you do the best you can with what you have. Now I have better info, I can do better. They do eat alot of fruit and DD is great with eating raw veggies, but DS1 will only eat raw carrot (literally it's one of two veggies he eats- raw carrot and fresh corn on the cob), and there is only so much raw carrot I can feed him! DS2 is a machine and will eat absolutely anything I throw at him, lol! Cheese and yoghurt is popular, though I try not to give them too much as they are a little sensitve to it and they all get sore tum's if they have too much too often.
DS1 will eat a great breaky, I have gotten some more porridge and vitabrits, adn that's him done. DD isn't so fond of breaky or cerials, so she usually has a sandwich of some sort, usually peanut butter with a little honey, which is ok, now I have the salt and sugar free PB. Dinners are ok for me I do have a good stash of recipes, I just have to dig them out and go through them to see what is suitable to cook with 3 kids underfoot(ie, quick easy and ok for a 4,3 and 1yr old to eat!).
So I am getting there. It's a bit of a shock for the kdis I think with me saying no to alot of what they want and limiting and really focusing on what they eat. I had kind of been just letting them eat whatever they asked for :redface: Now I am making sure they eat fruit and the healthy stuff before getting the junkier stuff, and making sure they aren't eating unhealthy cerials. Hopefully it will get easier and I will find my healthy groove again!!

Good on you. It WILL get easier. Your kids will adapt to the taste of less salt and sugar in no time.

Just wanted to say good on you for taking steps to improve all your diets. I try hard and am very aware of what DS eats, though I do try not to obsess over it as much as I used to. Do you bake at all? Homemade pikelets will be a hit, and you can add puréed or mashed fruit, or grated veges and cheese for savory. And the kids could help you too - a great way to get them to eat! Fruit or vege muffins are awesome too and you can freeze them.

DS likes bran 'worms' for breakky or puffed rice and corn lately. Eggs are also a hit for breakky or lunch - mini crust less quiches (frittatas) are yum and you can add whatever you like, even pasta, quinoa, leftover or grated veges etc. I cook them in muffin trays in the oven and it takes less than 10 mins to prep. DS loves the puffed corn dry As a snack - its just popcorn!

As for the packaged stuff, there's Usually a healthier and cheaper alternative. We cut up cheese for cheese sticks, buy a big tub of yoghurt rather than the squirty ones etc nicer to the environment too!

Excuse the atrocious spelling and punctuation from my iPad! ;)

brekky is always either oats with sultanas (made with water and a teaspoon of honey) or weetbix with a piece of fruit or vegemite on toast with a piece of fruit ...

for snacks, we have lots of fresh fruit, plain yoghurt, celery with a little peanut butter, wholemeal bread with avacado and/or peanut butter (DS and DH may prefer white, but that's too bad ... wholemeal is so much better!), little portions of pre-made couscous salad, cornthins with hommus ... vegie sticks with hommus or tsaziki or cheese ... you get the picture.

only drinks on offer here for the kidlets are water and milk ... aren't we mean?

dinners are out downfall - sometimes we're awesome and have lean meat with lots of lovely steamed veggies, other nights we have latina pasta and sauce ... we're trying to get better, and use the slowcooker more!

dessert is plain yoghurt with seasonal fresh fruit.

more on dinners ... we used to be in a really great routine (when we had teenagers living with us) where on a Saturday, I'd make 2-3 really big batches of good quality home cooked foods ... a massive veggie and beef/chicken/lamb lasagne, chilli con carne, thai chicken curry, beef rogan josh/korma/etc, tuna bake with veggies, stirfries, casseroles, stew, stroganoff, etc ...

whatever worked, with wonderful fresh ingredients, limiting any unnecessary fat and salt and oil ... but not eliminating it altogether!

and focussing on things that could be tubbed up and frozen, and reheated for lunches or quick dinners.

and then I'd make massive pre-prepared salads and store them in airtight tubs, so that all that was needed was for the main food to be reheated, some lettuce to be shreaded and some of the pre-cut salad to be chucked in a bowl or on the plate. taa-daa!

I'd sometimes also do some pre-boiled eggs etc, so there was an easy protein options available too - but some weeks the kids would inhale 12 eggs, and other weeks they would go completely untouched ...

but our plan is to get back into this habit - because it means that we have wonderful healthy lunches to take every day to work, and we know what's in it :)

Oooo loving all these ideas!!! I must take notes!!!


From Queens IPhonio

Ooo homemade chicken nuggets with Califower in crumb! That sounds awesome!


Sent from my smart phone using Tapatalk. (Occasional fat fingers syndrome might occur.)

Make your own snacks and snap freeze in a tray and then transfer to a large ziplock bag for the kids and store in the freezer.

I just made apple cinnamon pikelets for my girls, they have no sugar in them, recipe is on my FB status