How do I stop giving processed foods?

Why is it that I give them the Gerber pasta/ravioli and they devour it but I give them our ravioli and they won’t even touch it? Same goes for other Gerber foods/meals like chicken and mashed potatoes. While I appreciate the convenience of these foods they are expensive and not to mention I am sure loaded with all sorts of crap. My biggest concern is my little guy he is still very small at 17 pounds and VERY picky and I am always just trying to get him to eat something… ANYTHING but I don’t want to start bad habits.

Has anyone figured out how to make homemade foods more palatable? We add butter and all sorts of fatty/calorie dense things but that doesn’t seem to have any effect.

 

My kids will not eat regular ravoli. For us, just keep serving them is what helped my kids. Also adding butter & cheese at first helped a lot. Now they are older, they are starting to like a lot more stuff then what they used to. Oh, another thing that helped us out was letting them dip their food (into ketchup, ranch dressing, spinach dip, etc.).

 

what about gradually "weaning" them to homemade foods? like, serve 75% Gerber ravioli + 25% home made ravioli, then 50/50, etc. ardon: that's all i've got. hopefully the other gals will have some good advice for you!

 

Without going into an OT rant, I just want to say that the reason kids (and WE) like processed foods is that food scientists have meticulously crafted them to appeal to humans' biological drive for sugar, fat, and salt. You really can't hope to win when fighting against big business.

I'm having a hard time with this too. My guys are small and picky, and if I fed them hot dogs 24x7 they'd probably be happy as clams and at the 50th percentile for weight. But I don't think it's very healthy to eat like that all the time, I'm trying to find a balance.

Putting in more fat and salt do make homemade foods more palatable. I worry about salt because I'm salt-sensitive myself, but I do liberally use butter, oil, cheese, etc. when preparing my guys' food.

I guess if a child never ate processed foods, they'd never get a taste for it. But then again, they might not gain as much weight. Is that a good thing? ardon: That's for you (and me) to decide. I'm trying to split the difference: give them processed foods that make them happy and that they eat well, but also give them homemade foods that I feel are "better" for them. I work a lot, so I can't always cook for them and they will probably always have *some* processed foods. But I usually give them processed versions of things that I never personally cook (like fish sticks and ravioli), and home cook other things (like soups) so they don't normally have to "decide" which version they like better. :laughing:

It's a balancing act for sure! I hope this helps.

 

I envision folks in lab coats engineering the food so that kids will always want to eat junk! Seriously though I really do think this sets a bad foundation. Now that I think back I think a lot of this started when they started going to daycare, I know she feed them mostly processed foods. Both DH and I work FT so our time is also limited, but we will keep trying.

 

I think the thing that has worked best for me is to keep trying. One week they won't touch butternut squash - the next week they love it. I find baking vegetables in the oven makes them sweeter (carrots, butternut squash, beets, potatoes, etc.) Dipping is also a great trick! My kids get all their tomatoes from ketsup - just buy organic and it will have less junk in it. Sometimes we have all dipping finger food dinners - helped my 3 yr old a lot. I also quickly stir fry chicken or tofu with tamari (low salt) seasoned rice vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar. Make enough to give them this as finger food for breakfast lunch or dinner. My kids don't seem to mind. Try cooking (or soaking overnight) oatmeal in apple juice. Add raisens to other cooked vegetables (this works for cooked greens! My kids eat it up). I will admit that I work part-time from home and cook nearly everything from scratch (including their baby food). But I also employ a pressure cooker on a daily basis which allows me to whip out a healthy meal in 30-45 minutes. Cook extra servings of homemade foods on the weekends to stock up for the week. I also recommend the books "CookingLight weeknight" and "Cooking for baby" by Lisa Barnes for some great healthy tasty ideas. Good luck!

 

Can you pack their meals for daycare? I only work PT but I pack their lunch for daycare along with a healthy snack (otherwise they just give them puffs and cheerios).

 

I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one with this problem too! My dd is in the 1% tile for weight and I have come to the conclusion that if she eats it, I will feed it to her. Well, not just anything, but you know what I mean. She also really loves fruits and veggies, so I give those to her as well and feel a little better. We stick to organic here to and that makes me feel a little better. One thing I just started was giving them "milkshakes." I blend yogurt, milk, bananas and berries with a little pediasure and they love it! We only do the processed foods every now and then. But I figure if it puts weight on her now, then I will stick with what's working.

 

[quote name='Shelly's twins' date='28 January 2010 - 03:01 PM' timestamp='1264719660' post='1567331']
I envision folks in lab coats engineering the food so that kids will always want to eat junk! Seriously though I really do think this sets a bad foundation. Now that I think back I think a lot of this started when they started going to daycare, I know she feed them mostly processed foods. Both DH and I work FT so our time is also limited, but we will keep trying.
[/quote]

After re-reading what I posted - I felt like I was being rude - sorry! I actually totally agree that there are some serious issues with the food being produced for babies/kids, well really everyone. I only caught a few minutes of the Oprah show yesterday and wished I had recorded it so I could get some ideas from what they had to say.

We have tried introducing dipping sauces and it is just starting to catch on a little bit, for now he just dips his fingers in and eats it off his fingers. We also do try to purchase organic as much as possible, but I cant seem to find anything like the Gerber toddler foods in something organic - any suggestions? Also we have since changed daycares and the new one is working hard to feed them more homemade foods which I am thrilled about and they are starting to come around there as well.

 

I've never tried any of the Gerber dinners or Chef Boyarde kind of stuff. (I didn't want to pay for it and figured it wasn't all that healthy anyway). Tonight I fed them a Costco veggie lasagna with whole wheat noodles and they loved it! I have found that I can get them to eat almost anything (green beans and broccoli, in particular) if I sprinkle Parmesean cheese on it. We do a lot of "whole foods" and lots of finger foods. We also buy organic for the "Dirty Dozen" fruits and veggies. Yes, it's more expensive, but I don't think I will regret buying healthy food for my family.

 

I have the same problem, Eve has always been in the 3% to 5% for her weight-she JUST hit 21 lbs at 20 months, and it was 18 lbs for months! i started her on pediasure ( nutritionist deemed as a medical necessity) instead of just homo milk --3 bottles a day of pure pedisure or half and half milk-with her bad cold she is refusing to eat so she gets that after her meals-I also add 10 % cream to her foods-she recommended butter,cream,cheese-so far i have only used cream-just that small change has helped her gain some weight the only bad thing is her sister steals her bottles so i have to keep adding more to extra bottles she she gets her share :lol:

 

I know this is the opposite of a lot of kids so take this for what it's worth, but mine like anything with a little spice! I add cinnamon to eggs with veggies, curry to chicken, garlic to sauteed veggies...if I try to go easy on the spice, forget it! They like ravioloi with homemade sauce that my DH makes with lots of italian spices and bay leaves. I should say that their favorite dinner out is at an Indian restaurant not far from us so that could have somthing to do with it!

Other than that, I agree with dipping sauces. Mine love dipping into anything. If I make something that they don't seem to care for, I break out the "sauces", which can be anything from plain yogurt to apple sauce to (you won't believe this one) fresh squeezed lemon juice (my daughter likes to dip chicken or fish in it!).

Persistance is best - just keep offering the good stuff and stop bringing out the processed stuff, even if they don't eat much at one meal. They won't starve and once they figure out that the processed stuff isn't coming, they'll be more open to the good food! GL!!