Thank you very much.  Keep on what you’re doing!

Thank you!  Keep trying and maybe you’ll replace more of the unhealthier cooking with healthier.  I think it is easier the more you practice.  I likethe 80/20 rule from The Unhealthy Truth — aim for 80% of your diet to be healthy and let only 20% be the junk food.  Best of luck!

For those friends who do give those types of snacks, I certainly don’t resent it.  I’m not the type to stop my kids from eating treats at a birthday party or special event either.  I do feel badly for some friends at times because they might feel intimidated.  I am not perfect and try to realize most parents are only doing what they feel is right.  

A major problem here is that our food is messed up and many unhealthy snacks are marketed as healthy.   I just try to limit the kids’ exposure to the unhealthier stuff— limit it to occasionally and they should be ok. I want my kids to have a healthy attitude towards food as well— I don’t want to be so restrictive that they’ll want to binge when I’m not around.  I think if I teach them about good food they’ll eat well even when I’m not here. 

Thank you.  I think some people get caught in the convenience trap. They don’t think they’re doing anything wrong, just trying to provide food for their family.  For some it might just seem too hard to cook at home— maybe they’re in the car and a drive-thru is on the way home.  Or they didn’t grow up cooking and don’t realize it’s doable; especially now that there are so many wonderful short cuts available.  But it doesn’t have to be fancy or time consuming or expensive to provide healthy home cooked meals.  Hopefully, I’ll give some ideas to those who’re ready to give up a day or two of fast food or overly processed packaged foods. 

Wow, I am sorry you feel this way, but I think you’ve misunderstood me and my blog.

I do live in the real world and what I am saying is that in this real life it is possible to feed kids healthy foods.  However if you’ve read through this you would have seen stories of going to McDonalds, feeding my kids desserts, ice cream topped with candies and pizza.  But the aim of my blog is to promote healthy eating and getting kids to eat well.  The blog that was suggested has gorgeous photos of great looking food, but doesn’t fit with my message.  Many of the pics were of junk foods and I didn’t think my site is the proper forum.  I was not meaning to put it down at all, just thought it’s target is different to what I am trying to convey.  It’s more like food porn; beautiful to gaze at but probably not too good for you. 

I have to heartily disagree on what I cook; many of my recipes are possible to make easily and quickly.  I’ve never suggested a 3 course meal for those in a rush, but the time it would take to make Kraft mac and cheese you could have made the fish dish I just posted.  Grab some frozen rice from Trader Joe’s— 3 minutes in the microwave.  While that is cooking season the fish and fry in a pan.  Takes about 7 minutes.  The salad was simply Romaine lettuce cut into strips and bottled dressing by Briannas.  Also during the time the fish is cooking you could throw some green beans or even frozen peas on to cook which both only take a few minutes.  Tilapia can be purchased for $4 a pound.  And a pound of Tilapia can feed a family of 4-5.

If you must go mac and cheese route— don’t give them Kraft but try a different brand like Annie’s or Trader Joe’s. Those and many store brands (that are all natural) are only cents different in price.  Kraft’s got Yellow #5 and won’t say it doesn’t have artificial growth hormones in milk/cheese products.   

I am a real mom— I do work, have a son with special needs, another who until June had high fevers every 10 days to 3 weeks apart and a husband who works most nights of the week (actually leaves the house at 8:15 am and comes home around 11 pm 5 days a week).  My shopping bills are high in ratio to our income (and compared to always buying non-organic) but what I spend now is an investment in my children’s future.  Food can get expensive but by avoiding snack-sized pre-packaged snack foods and belonging to a CSA I save money over time.  Healthier foods don’t need to be expensive, it just takes time to learn how to shop and stretch out your food (think chickpeas, beans, rice, pasta, lentils).  I don’t say you need to have everything organic and have given links to guides on which how to choose.  I have read enough to know that there are valid reasons why I steer clear of certain additives, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.   

Try looking through my blog.  Read some recipes and stories and you might be surprised that I am not pretentious but trying to be helpful in getting others to give kids best choices in food for a healthy life.  You may also find some recipes 2 exhausted working parents needn’t further exhaust themselves over. 

Here’s an article that’s so apropos to this conversation.

Thank you!  Though, my kids’ manners are still a work-in-progress!  Not quite up to the grandparents’ standards. 

I do believe it’s possible to feed kids well and I am trying to show that it doesn’t have to be hard.  It is not easy being a parent trying to do the right thing when constantly bombarded with misinformation when it comes to healthy food.  Marketing or labeling tells us that certain foods are healthful but they’re actually not.  Then throw in pesticides, artificial colors, sweetners, geneticially modified foods, hormones, and other chemicals it’s a minefield!  I’ve just sniffed out a safer path that might help those who wish to follow.