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 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!!
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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!!
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