Table food

I struggle with this because I have a really bad diet myself. My babies are doing good with finger foods, and are probably close to transitioning to what we eat. But everything I think to make just doesn't seem healthy enough. Examples of my issues:

Veggies - I figure canned would be softest - but aren't there a lot of preservatives this way? I'm still too scared to do frozen, they just seem too fiberous/chewy
Soups - I gave a little bit of carrots from my campbells (healthy choice) chicken soup for lunch. But it still seemed wrong - like too much salt/sodium?
Grilled Cheese - I started making this for them. But do you really fry it in butter? I made it on wheat bread and tried to cut back on the butter, and I used real cheese - not the processed American stuff.
Mac & Cheese - just seems so overprocessed and unhealthy. But it would be easy, and I think they would like it. I know I would! Do you really give the Kraft Mac & Cheese stuff, or is there something that's more geared for babies?

So everything seems to involve so much thought. And I'm not very health conscious to begin with, so it's hard.

When transitioning to having them eat what we eat, how do you make it healthy enough for babies (or do you not really alter it?)

Am I going overboard, or are these things I need to really consider with every meal? I guess from watching other people raise their toddlers, we'll soon be entering the chicken nugget, pizza, hot dog, whatever my kid will eat phase. So I guess they can't stay "healthy" forever. Just seems like they're perfect now, starting with a clean slate, and I'm going to screw them up!

 

I found the frozen veggies so easy --- just microwave for 30 sec or so and they are already chopped up !!
other ideas to think of...

multigrain pasta instead of white pasta (like spagetti) add extra veggies (for fast just use baby food puree to add to regular pasta sauce)

no white bread -- get them used to the whole wheat stuff (even if you don't) buy a loaf and separate it up into plastic bags and freeze it to always have some on hand

cherrios mulitgrain, wheatabix, puffed wheat,rolled oats etc. no no no sugar cereals

add avocado to your grilled cheese, or add sweet potato to other meals (two very healthy items)

yogurt -- buy the natural no sugar added stuff -- mine love it more than the sugar stuff and it gives less diarrhea issues

for fruit cups I rinse out the juice so there is less sugar

lasagne, chili, spagetti and meatballs, meatloaf, are all healthy.....

hope this helps.

 

Just to add to heathertwins...

for fruits/veggies I think fresh, then frozen, then canned in order of whats "healthiest". When i do buy canned fruit though I try to buy it packed in JUICE not syrup.

I think any fruits/veggies/whole grain/wheat/ multigrain/ organic type foods are great! Im sure your not feeding your LOs soda,chips, cupcakes, gobs of frenchfries, etc. THATS UNHEALTHY If giving them carrots out of your canned soup is the worst your doing, your fantastic! veggies are veggies

as for mac n' cheese I make my own with real cheese, milk and pasta.

give yourself some credit!!!!

 

Yes, they start out very healthy because that is what baby food is and then it does go a little downhill due to them eating what we are eating.

Mine get hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, Kraft Mac and Cheese, and even fast food happy meals from time to time. However, the still love their veggies and lots and lots of fruit. It all balances out. We eat a family dinner and they get what we eat. I make a relatively healthy dinner but I dont cook low fat. They wouldnt like the bland taste. So yes, I use butter, sour cream, etc.

 

The problem with canned soup and veggies is that they have a crazy amount of sodium, so I wouldn't use them too much... For grilled cheese I don't think it matters too much how you do it, I just toast it personally because it's easier. For the Mac'n Cheese, I'd stay away from the processed stuff. I think it's nasty personally anyway (at least the Kraft stuff, what you find in fresh food section is better). Amy's does some healthier one, but it's expensive, and the best would be to do it yourself I think.

I personally don't believe you have to go through the hotdog, mac'n cheese, pizza and chicken nugget phase. Or toddlers overseas would starve, as it's much less common over there to give that kind of food. Or you can make your own to make it healthier (nuggets with bread crumbs etc instead of the pre-packaged stuff etc).

 

I would also recommend yogurt made with whole milk. You can add fresh fruit here. Also string cheese is (and has been) a favorite in our house.

 

QUOTE(DeniseT @ Jan 28 2009, 05:09 AM) [snapback]1165218[/snapback]
I struggle with this because I have a really bad diet myself. My babies are doing good with finger foods, and are probably close to transitioning to what we eat. But everything I think to make just doesn't seem healthy enough. Examples of my issues:

Veggies - I figure canned would be softest - but aren't there a lot of preservatives this way? I'm still too scared to do frozen, they just seem too fiberous/chewy
Soups - I gave a little bit of carrots from my campbells (healthy choice) chicken soup for lunch. But it still seemed wrong - like too much salt/sodium?
Grilled Cheese - I started making this for them. But do you really fry it in butter? I made it on wheat bread and tried to cut back on the butter, and I used real cheese - not the processed American stuff.
Mac & Cheese - just seems so overprocessed and unhealthy. But it would be easy, and I think they would like it. I know I would! Do you really give the Kraft Mac & Cheese stuff, or is there something that's more geared for babies?

So everything seems to involve so much thought. And I'm not very health conscious to begin with, so it's hard.

When transitioning to having them eat what we eat, how do you make it healthy enough for babies (or do you not really alter it?)

Am I going overboard, or are these things I need to really consider with every meal? I guess from watching other people raise their toddlers, we'll soon be entering the chicken nugget, pizza, hot dog, whatever my kid will eat phase. So I guess they can't stay "healthy" forever. Just seems like they're perfect now, starting with a clean slate, and I'm going to screw them up!



You know what, they sure can. For a very long time. There is no need to start them on nuggets & a lot of processed food.

At their age every bite counts and why would you make that bite not very good for them?


I did give them a few cans of veggies in the beginning. I rinsed them as well as I could. I steamed most of their stuff. Only took a couple of minutes.
You are right, almost all canned soups are too high in sodium.
You are using real cheese in your grilled cheese which is a good start. Keep it on whole grain breads.
I still can't do Kraft Dinner. Fluorescent orange doesn't scream good food to me I make my own Mac & Cheese - it is very easy.

If you are up for it, sounds like a great time to improve your diet - for your babies sake. You will all reap the benefits of doing it.

Visit the Cooking, Crafting, Gardening & Other Activities. The women there are terrific and very helpful. Ask questions, get good & easy recipes!

 

I like the idea of PP of making her own mac and cheese [with pasta, milk and cheese-REAL cheese, not the processed kind. We get the blocks of cheese. It's not hard to cut as you go].

Organic foods are always a good choice.

I LOVE multi-grain cheerios. And that's before I started looking at the nutrition section. Did you know it has almost 100% of what you need daily? It's good and good for you too!

I plan to start the girls on sweet potatoes and avacatos once I decide to give them something other than oatmeal ^_^

 

Ditto pp - hot dogs and chicken nuggets are NOT inevitable! I've found that my kids have become more and more accepting of new foods in the second year, not the "picky toddler" stereotype everyone talks about.

Frozen veggies - perfectly fine! You can microwave until they get the right texture. If your babies don't like the texture, they'll let you know.

Mac & cheese - try DIY. Like pps said, you can make it with whole grain pasta, milk, and real cheese - doesn't have to be neon powder from a box, and doesn't take forever to make. And it's a pretty healthy dish - lots of protein and calcium and fiber (from whole wheat pasta).

Canned soups/veggies - I don't worry a whole lot about preservatives and/or sodium. I do try to choose canned soups that are lower in sodium (more and more are available lately) and make sure that not everything on the menu is salty, but I'm not all that worried about salt.

Other ideas for raising healthy eaters (just stuff that's worked for us, YMMV):

-Whole grain everything. Whole wheat bread and pasta, whole grain cereals, brown rice instead of white. Also experiment with cooking with whole grains - you can make some amazing risottos/pilafs with quinoa, it's nutritious and yummy, and my kids are NUTS for it. (I'm not religious about this, but we do eat a lot of whole grains.)

-Start meals with a veggie. Mine will eat a lot more veggies if I catch them when they're hungriest and don't let them see what else is coming up.

-Fruit for dessert. Frozen fruit is great when there's not much in season.

-Don't worry too much about fat. Babies/toddlers need more fat in their diet anyway, so no need to skimp.

-Just keep offering good stuff! Be prepared to NOT WORRY if your kids don't eat a whole lot at a meal or two. I think a lot of people get hooked on the chicken nuggets & other junk because they're so intent on seeing their kids eat a lot at one meal and start offering "treats." Just make a policy of "this is what we're having" (as long as you're reasonably sure that they like at least part of the menu) and don't freak if they don't eat a huge meal every time. I've found that my kids' appetites vary a lot from day to day. Some days they are bottomless pits, other days they eat lighter. Just trust them to know what they need.

Sounds like you're off to a good start already - keep it up!

 

QUOTE
'fuchsiagroan' date='Jan 28 2009, 06:33 PM' post='1165988']
Ditto pp - hot dogs and chicken nuggets are NOT inevitable! I've found that my kids have become more and more accepting of new foods in the second year, not the "picky toddler" stereotype everyone talks about.



Mac & cheese - try DIY. Like pps said, you can make it with whole grain pasta, milk, and real cheese - doesn't have to be neon powder from a box, and doesn't take forever to make. And it's a pretty healthy dish - lots of protein and calcium and fiber (from whole wheat pasta).



Absolutely - I often use tofu in my cheese sauce. You can also add in pureed veggies or meat.


QUOTE
-Don't worry too much about fat. Babies/toddlers need more fat in their diet anyway, so no need to skimp.

-Just keep offering good stuff! Be prepared to NOT WORRY if your kids don't eat a whole lot at a meal or two. I think a lot of people get hooked on the chicken nuggets & other junk because they're so intent on seeing their kids eat a lot at one meal and start offering "treats." Just make a policy of "this is what we're having" (as long as you're reasonably sure that they like at least part of the menu) and don't freak if they don't eat a huge meal every time. I've found that my kids' appetites vary a lot from day to day. Some days they are bottomless pits, other days they eat lighter. Just trust them to know what they need.

Sounds like you're off to a good start already - keep it up!


So true. Appetites vary so much from day to day. Try to look @ what they eat over the course of a few days or a week. You just want balance.

 

the book I mentioned talked about how often kids will eat less for supper. so you might want to plan out the day so they get more of the good stuff for breakfast and lunch and snacks and if they eat supper it is a bonus.

Breakfast -- multigrain pancakes with bananas inside or add some sweet potato to the batter, eggs or frittatas with potato and veggies, omletes with veggies. Puree broccoli into eggs for green eggs and ham... oh i've made pancakes with various food colouring in the batter and with cookie cutters made shapes (then freeze the leftovers)

Girls love pink so you can puree cooked beets into stuff to make it pink.