I try my best to feed my family in a very healthy way. I buy organic as much as possible with fruits and veggies. I always buy organic milk and yogurt. And for the most part, we eat healthy meals and snacks with tons of fruit and veggies). But, they are kids and have a sweet tooth-just like me. So I also buy some cereals and treats that I know are junky (Lucky Charms for example) and fruit snacks (like Dora). Even though we have a small treat after dinner most nights, I am trying to teach them about moderation and we eat really well overall. I felt good about the food choices I make for my family- until I read an article recently about 14 foods that the US allows but are banned in other countries (http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/13-banned-food...) . One of those items was food colorings (yellow 5 & 6, red 40 and blue 1). When I poured my 3 and 5 year old girls a bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast, I read the label on the box for the first time. It contains all of the food colorings on the banned list. So then I looked at the Fruity Cheerios box- same thing. I started looking at the Dora snacks (obviously those colors are not natural) and all the banned colorings are in there too. Even our NutraGrain cereal bars (which they eat daily for snack in the lunch boxes) have red 40. I'm a working mom and like all of you, don't have tons of time to spend in the grocery store playing food detective. Plus, I feel like these banned ingredients are probably hiding in many of the foods I often buy. So my question is- what are some yummy, kid-friendly, convenient cereals and snack ideas you have found that don't contain toxic chemicals? Thanks!
Stick to the cereals in the health food aisle and you should be better off. They have several kids options that are tasty and much better for them. When in doubt, buy Rice Crispies or plain cheerios, since the sugar is lower.
If you buy other organic food, just buy organic cereal. They won't have the ingredients you are concerned about and if you really want to buy sugary cereals (why not just let them get used to the more complex tastes of whole grains), there are plenty of high sugar organics.
Instead of fruit snacks, we always feed my son actual fruit - it sounds like you do as well, so I see no need to also add processed pretend fruit. There are not many snacks that are easier or more convenient than an apple, orange or banana. Portable, no required refrigeration and no prep.
Other easy snacks - chick peas, green peas (super sweet and when they are not in season, the frozen are almost as good), grapes, carrot sticks, wasabi peas.
Read the labels . Please don't let 1 article rile you up so badly that you can't have a normal life. If you believe everything you read about the dangers here and there, you might as well wrap your family up on bubble wrap and stay in a closet all your life..
A little bit of this and that is not going to hurt you. I would much rather have a happy family than a paranoid one.
Moderation is key!!!
Make your own. That way you know what is in the food. Get a few good recipes and use them. A dehydrator for fruit will do wonders. The same with cereals. Reading the labels does scare you at first but you use to it. If you can't pronounce it you don't need it or you make the natural version without all the "other" stuff thrown in.
Use moderation for the things that you can't change and change the things you can. Every now and then you are bound to eat something on the banned list but don't do it daily.
Sometimes we have to go back to the old ways of doing things and not depend on the convenient way and the quick processed foods.
the other S.
There are healthy options to each thing you've mentioned. There are organic cereals, even some sugared ones, that don't contain chemicals. My girls also eat oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, fruit, yogurt with granola and smoothies for breakfast.
Ditch the "fruit snacks" for real dried fruit and if you can't make your own granola bars just find another snack. If you have a Trader Joe's in your area it's a big help. Not all healthy but much better than the regular market.
Being aware is the most important step, it sound like you're doing really well feeding them at this point. Just slowly start phasing out the stuff you know is junk. Doesn't mean they can't have Lucky Charms once in a while, just treat it like the junk food it is.
You are right to be concerned about American processed foods. People don't seem to understand how pervasive chemical additives, preservatives and dyes have become in our food. By the time the kid has their sugared cereal for breakfast, fruit snacks mid morning, granola bar at lunch and a processed treat after dinner they've loaded up on an alarming amount of additives that have been proven to cause disease. I always wonder why more people aren't concerned about this. You're right other countries think we're crazy and when I see what my daughter's classmates are eating I tend to agree.
Did you ever try any of the cereals that are the brand called Mom's Best?
If your kids were eating Lucky Charms everyday for years, well, I'd be concerned. To me, it sounds like you are doing a fabulous job. Lucky Charms or whatever in moderation is ok.
I make our own cookies and fast breads using organic ingredients. Chocolate chip cookies are the favorite and they taste great. I just use my regular recipe with all organic stuff.
Annie's has great non GMO stuff. Chocolate bunnies, cheese nips, snack mix all from Annie's. Fig bars not fig newtons but I can't remember the brand. Clif Z kids energy bars and clif kids fruit twists - use fruit and veggies to color the twist.
My boys are crazy for pretzels. I just buy snyders but the ingredients are pretty safe.
Also, I make trail mixes with dried cherries and organic apricots, nuts, granola, pretzels, sunflower seeds, whatever I think to throw in...
HTH!
There are better options out there, you need to keep checking the labels.
If you have time make some homemade oatmeal cookies with raisins, crush them up and use that as cereal or for snacks. I also like Suz T's suggestion of drying some fruit (or you can purchase some already dried).
It's sad that in the US they will allow almost any ingredients to mass produce packaged foods. The FDA should be paying more attention to the medical studies done on some of the dyes, etc. used in our foods.
Just because some article says this doesn't mean it's valid. Our FDA isn't perfect of course but the do an overall good job. Those additives do effect some kids but they aren't horrible. Keep that in mind.
There are healthier versions of all that stuff. Cascadian farms makes yummy cereals and granola bars that are organic. Kashi is also another product I buy. They make cereal bars, crackers, cookies. They are right next to the junky stuff so it's just as easy. Do you have a trader joe's around? I buy a lot of snack-y stuff there. I buy organic yogurt tubes, chips, and natural Cheetos.
It is pretty alarming when you start reading food labels, it really is. My husband and kids love sweets, but recently my husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. (This was a surprise, because he's pretty active and not overweight, but that just goes to show you what a lifetime of processed foods will do for you!) Anyway, we have made a big commitment as a family to start eating whole foods as much as possible. For us, that means as few processed foods as possible, and as many organic foods as we can afford. I completely understand where you're coming from with not having a ton of time to make everything from scratch. Here are the foods I keep handy:
Breakfast foods:
* Smoothies (frozen or fresh fruits, which you can even pre-portion into containers on the weekends so they're ready to go quickly on school/work mornings, organic almond milk or cow's milk, maybe a little kale, lemon juice, ginger... kids love it, I promise!)
* Steel-cut oats - I know, I know! Who has time, right? Okay, my secret is to put it all in the rice cooker. Hit "start" when you wake up (or even better, plug it into a timer the night before so it will be ready when you wake up!). I do 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 cup water, 1 cup oats, 1/4 tsp salt - it is rich and wonderful and fills you up until lunch. We sweeten it with Coconut Palm Sugar (low glycemic index, husband and kids love it) or Truvia (for me). Slice a little banana on there or add some blueberries, and it's the breakfast of champions.
Lunch:
* My youngest does love a peanut butter sandwich. I buy organic, whole wheat bread for her (we don't have any gluten issues around here), organic peanut butter (the kind with only peanuts and salt - you can get it at Costco), organic jam (I'd love to make it myself, in all my spare time, bahahahaha).
* I buy those big bags of kale and red chard stir-fry at Costco in the produce department, and eat it raw as salad. On the weekends, I boil a bunch of eggs and keep them in the fridge - chop one of those onto my salad - delicious!
Dinner:
Just do whatever you do for dinner. I like to go to Dream Dinners once a month and prep a bunch of meals so that when we get home at night and it's getting kind of late, and I have no good ideas, I can just pull out one of those dinners, and there I have something pretty healthy and quick to make.
In terms of dessert, I keep a huge bowl of fruit on the counter at all times. Right now, I have avocados, apples, oranges, and bananas in there. In the fridge, I have kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, mini cucumbers. Anyone who is still hungry after dinner is welcome to eat as much fruit/veggies as they'd like, or a handful of raw almonds. Because of my husband's diabetes, we just don't keep processed anything in the house anymore. At first, everyone was a little upset by it, but after about a week, they were over it. We all feel a lot better now that we have cut all of that stuff out of our diets. We aren't dogmatic about it (I mean, when the kids go to birthday parties or friends' houses, they eat what they're served and enjoy it), but when it comes to what we eat in this house, we generally don't eat processed foods. It does require some advance planning, but it doesn't necessarily take more time on a daily basis.
I have found some good basic granola recipes online, so I periodically make a batch or two at home. It's not very labor intensive, and a batch can last at least a week. I use it as the basis for breakfast or for fun snacks (my daughter loves parfaits--a layer of granola at the bottom, a layer of yougurt, and some fruit on top).
Cheerios is actually pretty good too; even their sweeter ones don't have a lot of other additives. I mix up a bunch of different kinds along with some other cereals and put a bag into the lunchbox for take one along for snack between school and activities.
Oat bran is an easy hot cereal and you can flavor it yourself.
I like mine with a spoon of nut butter on top (I like almond or cashew).
It's great fiber and protein and keeps you filled up for a long time.
Skip the sugary flavored oatmeal stuff - might as well give them several spoons of sugar and call it breakfast.
I use to eat a lot of kids cereals growing up - I loved Captain Crunch.
I tried it again as an adult and just hated it.
We never bought kids cereals for our son.
He has Wheaties, Cheerios (plain or whole grain) or Fiber One with no sugar on them - just milk.
If he wants fruit he can have real strawberries, blueberries, raisins or bananas on his cereal.
You can make your own fruit leather at home for snacks.
What about the non-fruity options? Like Captain Crunch or Frosted Cheerios?
I honestly don't know...I don't pay attention to stuff like that, I guess I should.
Baby carrots and seedless grapes?
Organic candy all Natural, no HFCS, Corn , MSG etc.. They have a variety of things in them.
Try not to eat anything processed (yep, hard as can be). You will be shocked when you read the lables, what all has the dyes in them.
I spend the time on the weekends to "prepare" meals for the week and use my crock pot a lot. That helps me get away from the processed foods. I double recpies and put half in the freezer also. Soup, chilli etc.
My son is Gluten Free, so a lot of processed fooods are off the table anyway.
Goood luck.
