You Feed Your Child What??

We feed Lincoln a pretty balance diet. Meat, carbs, dairy, fruits, veggies. The fruits and veggies are a little bit harder to get him to eat, so we make him smoothies and also have him drink V8 Splash. I do my best to make sure that my child is getting all the nutrients he needs. Most of my mommy friends feed their children about the same as we feed Lincoln or even healthier than we do. I am glad that my mommy friends are aware that their children need to eat a variety of things to get the nutrients they need to grow. But then there are parents that feed their children food that I wouldn't even eat.

These are the parents that take their children to fast food restaurants on a pretty regular basis. Their children don't drink 100% juice or much water. They eat lots of processed foods and foods that don't have any nutrients at all. I understand that not everyone can afford to buy organic food, but most families with working parents can afford to buy real food and prepare real meals. I understand being tired at the end of the day from working and not having the energy to make a real meal. I know it's so much easier to pick up the phone and call someone else who will make the food and deliver it to your door. But when it comes to your child's health easier doesn't always mean better.

Both of my parents worked full time jobs while I was growing up. For awhile only my dad was working and my mom was a stay-at-home. But when my brother was about 4-years-old my mom went to dental school. So, she was at school all day and sometimes past dinner time. Then both her and my dad had full time jobs and they still managed to cook us healthy dinners every night and make sure that we had breakfast in the morning and a good lunch. We would only go out to eat on special occasions. On Friday or Saturday nights we would usually ordered pizza or get some sort of take-out and watch a movie and eat in the living room. This was the only time we were allowed to do this. Sunday through Thursday nights we all sat down and ate dinner as a family and had a home cooked meal. I am glad that my parents did this and it is something I am working on doing with my family. We have been eating a lot of home cooked meals, but we're still working on sitting down at the table and eating them all together.

There is a reason childhood obesity is a huge problem in America right now. Actually, obesity in general is a huge problem in America. See fast food is cheaper, foods that are bad for you tend to be cheaper. America has been in a recession for quite awhile and so people are either out of work or their hours are getting cut back. Many people are making very little money and so they buy cheap food which is usually not very good food. I always wondered why canned foods and junk food was so much cheaper.....I know why it's cheaper, but I'm not going to get into it because it all comes back to politics and I really don't have the energy to get into that anymore.

There are nights when I'm tired and don't feel like cooking. There are times when I'm bored of having the same food every week for dinner. If any of you parents out there are like this when it comes to preparing meals I recommend you either get a cookbook or look up recipes online. Tomorrow night I will be cooking my first crockpot meal and am looking forward to it. It will be something new and prepared in a way I have never made food before. I'm very excited. I went to the store with Lincoln today and we bought all the ingredients we will need. Lincoln and I will also be making cupcakes tomorrow afternoon. I know that cupcakes are not healthy, but I have a horrible sweet tooth. Plus I make all my baked goods completely from scratch so I know what's going into them.

Here's a great part about cooking and baking, you can get your children involved in it. Lincoln loves helping with making food. He likes to dump the cups full of ingredients into the mixer when I bake and he likes helping get together ingredients for when we cook dinner. He also really likes watching how meals are made. I think it's great to get your child involved in cooking. I remember pretending to cook when I was pretty young. I thought I was making salad one time, but really it was just some lettuce in a bowl full of salad dressing. I was just so eager to help out in making something for dinner and my parents knew that's what I was doing. From a young age I have enjoyed baking and cooking and I can see that Lincoln enjoys it very much as well.

So remember, easier is not always better and having your children help make a meal or watch how something is made is good for them and it's a lot of fun. I know you are tired and I know that we don't all have a ton of money, but lets try and do our best to feed our children healthier meals.


Blogly Question(s):

What are some of your favorite meals to make? Do your children like helping or watching?