If you don't eat many processed foods, what do you feed your kids?

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I feed my kids minimally processed foods. I work full time, so there is no way I could make everything. DD eats cut up fruit, oatmeal, yogurt and bananas for breakfast. For lunch she gets REAL chicken breast nuggets from whole oohs (they are prepackaged but minimally processed) They are actually real meat and not all compressed looking. I give her organic pasta (from a box) with homemade cheese sauce (butter, cream and cheese) with cooked broccoli. I give her a lot of frozen organic veggies cooked. I give her scrambled eggs with toast, etc.

I consider these foods to be minimally processed yet convenient.

[Anonymous]

I feed my kid exactly what I eat, but cut up. Lots of vegetables (raw, grilled, roasted, steamed...), meat, fish, poultry, fruits, milk, yogurt, cheese, nuts, etc. I think it is even more important to feed her a whole foods diet than it is for me. It is almost as easy to prepare whole foods than it is to open a box, o we just avoid boxes and cans. I don't really have anything that is specifically for her. When we are at parties or out, we tend towards these types of items but eat whatever is available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I feed my kids minimally processed foods. I work full time, so there is no way I could make everything. DD eats cut up fruit, oatmeal, yogurt and bananas for breakfast. For lunch she gets REAL chicken breast nuggets from whole oohs (they are prepackaged but minimally processed) They are actually real meat and not all compressed looking. I give her organic pasta (from a box) with homemade cheese sauce (butter, cream and cheese) with cooked broccoli. I give her a lot of frozen organic veggies cooked. I give her scrambled eggs with toast, etc.

I consider these foods to be minimally processed yet convenient.

Given that you don't seem to want to feed your child compressed meat, why don't you just cook up a bunch of chicken breasts and throw them in the freezer. Takes about 10 minutes once every few weeks, and then they are always available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP who uses Panko - I like them b/c they give a better crunch. As for seasonings I mainly use a not real spicy mexican blend. Once they are baked and cooled, they are ready to freeze nicely. You may want to invest in a food saver system (the ones that suck the air out) to keep out freezer burn (which is where you'd get the soggy mess), although once you bake to reheat it shouldn't be soggy...

Thank you (and 11:02). I will try this next weekend. (maybe not with 50 right away - haha)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 19m and her major foods are fruits and veg (broccoli, blueberries, bananas and avocado are favorites), any kind of cooked beans, cubes of tofu, cubes of cheese, eggs (usually fried and cut into pieces), oatmeal, yogurt, bread, rice. We offer meat, but so far she isn't into it.

That sounds like a diet! LOL

Yes, we all eat a diet, and this doesn't seem like a terrible one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I feed my kids minimally processed foods. I work full time, so there is no way I could make everything. DD eats cut up fruit, oatmeal, yogurt and bananas for breakfast. For lunch she gets REAL chicken breast nuggets from whole oohs (they are prepackaged but minimally processed) They are actually real meat and not all compressed looking. I give her organic pasta (from a box) with homemade cheese sauce (butter, cream and cheese) with cooked broccoli. I give her a lot of frozen organic veggies cooked. I give her scrambled eggs with toast, etc.

I consider these foods to be minimally processed yet convenient.

Given that you don't seem to want to feed your child compressed meat, why don't you just cook up a bunch of chicken breasts and throw them in the freezer. Takes about 10 minutes once every few weeks, and then they are always available.

I do not like to handle raw chicken AT ALL!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 19m and her major foods are fruits and veg (broccoli, blueberries, bananas and avocado are favorites), any kind of cooked beans, cubes of tofu, cubes of cheese, eggs (usually fried and cut into pieces), oatmeal, yogurt, bread, rice. We offer meat, but so far she isn't into it.

That sounds like a diet! LOL

Yes, we all eat a diet, and this doesn't seem like a terrible one.

I only say this b/c I have an underweight DD and these foods are not really weight gainers.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree with some of the PPs' advice. You just feed your child whatever whole foods you are eating yourselves.

Give us an example of some of the meals you and your husband fact yourselves, and we can give you feedback on whether it needs changing for a child.

[Anonymous]

For example, if you are going to eat a dinner of broiled steak, roasted potatoes, and steamed asparagus:

dice the steak (for an infant) and mash with the back of your fork (I'd add a bit of olive oil but you might consider oil "processed" so I don't know) until it is a texture your child can handle, for an older child, make bigger sized dices, for an even older child, thin slices across the grain;

mash the potatoes a bit or chop so they are manageable;

mash the asparagus or make small slices

etc!

The above is a great example of "kid food" that I fed my children all the time.

[Anonymous]

For meals, I feed DC what I'm eating.

But I think there are times when you want an easy food you can throw at your kid to eat as a snack when you aren't having food yourself.

We did a lot of cut up cheese and yogurt. I did allow an organic o (I don't remember the brand) for pincher practice.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and OP -- one big reason you see so many parents feeding their children things like Goldfish crackers and Cheerios is because they are shelf stable and stay in the diaper bag and can come out quickly when you are out and about and realize that your child is behaving like a maniac because he is overly tired and hungry!

So they reach for the Goldfish to keep the kids happy and fed.

You have to plan ahead a bit more if you are bringing fresh fruit and vegetables that need to be kept cool. But it is possible! But I'm sure you will be willing to make the effort in order to avoid all the processed foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 19m and her major foods are fruits and veg (broccoli, blueberries, bananas and avocado are favorites), any kind of cooked beans, cubes of tofu, cubes of cheese, eggs (usually fried and cut into pieces), oatmeal, yogurt, bread, rice. We offer meat, but so far she isn't into it.

That sounds like a diet! LOL

Yes, we all eat a diet, and this doesn't seem like a terrible one.

I only say this b/c I have an underweight DD and these foods are not really weight gainers.

Not the other PP, but I also have a pretty skinny DD, but we try to eat this way. There are definitely other ways to add in some good fats - avacados, butter, whole milk, cheeses, full-fat yogurt. Our DD does eat meat though, so that gives us the option of chicken and beef.

[Anonymous]

OP I think if you and DH are mostly eating non-processed foods, your kid will be okay too. Try not to worry about "what should BABY eat?" Let baby eat essentially the same things that you eat (minus a few obvious no-nos like iced coffee and chocolate cake and such).
DD is 17 mos. We did BLW so there was never a puree in sight, just chunks of whatever was handy. Current faves include ground meat of any kind, meat on sticks (ie large bones), cubed cheese, yogurt and fruit smoothies, beans, and whole fruits (she gets mad if you cut up the apple, sigh, she has to have it whole to gnaw on). Yeah, she gets the occasional goldfish or fruit and cereal bar, but not on a regular basis. We don't care if she has a hotdog... at a birthday party or cookout. But on a regular weeknight basis? No way.
The only thing that she still has trouble with is salad... she only has 8 teeth, so missing the molars needed to really grind up a piece of lettuce. She still tries it, but is very confused and spits it out
We mostly just try to avoid super processed foods (see: hotdogs) and stuff with unnecessary added salt and sugar. Frozen microwave meal = no, storebought dry pasta = yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 19m and her major foods are fruits and veg (broccoli, blueberries, bananas and avocado are favorites), any kind of cooked beans, cubes of tofu, cubes of cheese, eggs (usually fried and cut into pieces), oatmeal, yogurt, bread, rice. We offer meat, but so far she isn't into it.

That sounds like a diet! LOL

Yes, we all eat a diet, and this doesn't seem like a terrible one.

I only say this b/c I have an underweight DD and these foods are not really weight gainers.

What are your favorite weight gainer foods for your DD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 19m and her major foods are fruits and veg (broccoli, blueberries, bananas and avocado are favorites), any kind of cooked beans, cubes of tofu, cubes of cheese, eggs (usually fried and cut into pieces), oatmeal, yogurt, bread, rice. We offer meat, but so far she isn't into it.

That sounds like a diet! LOL

Yes, we all eat a diet, and this doesn't seem like a terrible one.

I only say this b/c I have an underweight DD and these foods are not really weight gainers.

Not the other PP, but I also have a pretty skinny DD, but we try to eat this way. There are definitely other ways to add in some good fats - avacados, butter, whole milk, cheeses, full-fat yogurt. Our DD does eat meat though, so that gives us the option of chicken and beef.

I posted that list, and you'll note that it includes avocado and cheese, her yogurt is whole milk by default because she's a toddler, eggs and bread always come with butter. And of course she drinks whole milk. I offer some of what we are eating, but she has a strong preference for simple and non messy foods. As long as it's good food that is fine with me.