What are we feeding our kids?

We are overhauling our pantry. We’re on week 3 of the low-junk-food consumption plan. I have become so tired of the goldfish crackers (that horrid orange color can be found in the strangest places) and fruit snacks. I can’t imagine that anything in there is good for them and it’s just filling them up on poor ingredients. I decided the best way was to handle this was to go cold turkey.

Andrew and I are so careful about what we eat, it only seems fair to be that way with them. We try to buy organic, fresh, no preservative foods for ourselves. Shouldn’t we do the same for them?

I figure I can’t do much about the playgroups or picnics we have with others, but I want to do better about their eating habits at home. So we’ve started substituting fruit, cheese, crackers, milk, veggies, cereal for the more snacky foods. The result: pretty decent success. Once they realize we don’t have cookies, goldfish or sugary snacks, they go to the their favorite “healthier” snacks. As a result, we’ve had better success with dinnertime habits. They will eat the carrots and peas and even try the spinach and salmon. And when they go to playgroups, they can enjoy the treat of goldfish crackers, Shrek fruit chews and yogurt-covered whatevers.