I wouldn't call us snobs, but we do prioritize eating and preparing organic, real foods. My husband and I are gluten-free and do the paleo/primal thing about 90% of the time (I have food allergies and volatile blood sugar). We focus on lots of veggies and free-range meats and eggs, eat moderate portions, and don't really worry about fats. We get a shipment of veggies every week from Washington's Green Grocer and do most of our shopping at Trader Joe's and MOM's. My husband is a SAHD and does all of the cooking -- from scratch, every day, and yes, I know this is a godsend.

Our 4YODDs eat grains, but we try to limit refined grains, processed foods, and refined sugar. Our rule is that they HAVE to eat at least two pieces of veggie at lunch and dinner, no matter what. We have been trying to brainwash them from early childhood that soda is terribly unhealthy, and juice is a sometimes treat.

Breakfast:
French toast made with free-range eggs and whole-grain spelt bread, served with no-sugar-added apple butter
Low-sugar cereal (Barbara's oat squares or Trader Joe's Os) with organic whole milk
Scrambled free-range egg and whole-grain spelt toast with fruit spread

Lunch:
Leftovers from the previous night's dinner
Pita pizza (made with small, whole-wheat pitas), served with veggies
If we are in a hurry, Dr. Praeger's fish sticks and some veggies

Dinner:
Baked salmon with sauteed kale and baked sweet potato fries
Stew beef with carrots and onions, served with sauteed broccoli and baked parsnip fries (put it in a fry shape and my girls will eat it)
Broiled steak served with roasted fennel and sauteed collard greens

Snacks can be fruit, oatmeal sweetened with maple syrup, cookies made with almond flour, full-fat Greek yogurt with fruit and honey, hummus and crackers, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Mine is not a baby anymore, but we never eat fast food (dd didn't know what McDonalds was until kindergarten) and we rarely eat processed food. I cook most nights, and we do go out on Friday nights. Seasons 52 is a favorite. I am not a food snob, I am just eating the way I was raised. We always had a garden, so lots of fresh veggies, and parents never spent money on fast food unless they had a buy one get one free coupon. I shop once a week, and only buy what I will be cooking that week. By the end of the week, the refrigerator is bare, but at least the food is eaten before it goes bad.

You cook every night except Friday? Do you WOH?

Mine is not a baby anymore, but we never eat fast food (dd didn't know what McDonalds was until kindergarten) and we rarely eat processed food. I cook most nights, and we do go out on Friday nights. Seasons 52 is a favorite. I am not a food snob, I am just eating the way I was raised. We always had a garden, so lots of fresh veggies, and parents never spent money on fast food unless they had a buy one get one free coupon. I shop once a week, and only buy what I will be cooking that week. By the end of the week, the refrigerator is bare, but at least the food is eaten before it goes bad.

DD is 2. We don't completely prohibit anything (ie, ice cream as an occasional treat - like once/month) and she has no allergies.
BREAKFAST - eggs, cereal+milk, oatmeal with dried fruit
LUNCH - usually leftovers (see DINNER) or fruit/cheese/crackers/nibbles kind of deal
DINNER - whatever we eat, minus salad (she doesn't "get" lettuce) and spicy condiments. Recent dinner hits include pork chops, quinoa, spaghetti squash, anything noodle-y, lamb stew.
SNACKS
plain full fat yogurt, maybe with fruit or honey
fresh fruit
seaweed chips (her FAVE she will eat these all damn day)
I don't really see what's so hard here. Just stay away from all the marketing ploys of "toddler meals" and "Squeeze pouches" and feed them real damn food. I don't think that makes me a foodie, it just means I have common sense.

oops, pp here-meant to bold responses to the questions

Anonymous wrote:Op I know what you are asking. And yes, I'm confused by what is healthy and what isn't. My mom was very very strict about what we ate, and now I kind of freeze up in the grocery store. Everything I think is healthy also has an unhealthy side
Peanut butter? Fat[b]you need fat in your diet--pb fat way better than say fast food..avoid hydrogenated fats and your are good-buy natural pb
Cottage cheese? Sodium, cholesterol-low fat, reduced sodium-easy
Yogurt? Sugar-buy sugar free yogurt and add/serve with fruit
Deli meat? Sodium-buy preservative free and limit to a couple of times a week
I just try to use my common sense and not feed them too much of anything

What is so hard?? This post lacks common sense

Op I know what you are asking. And yes, I'm confused by what is healthy and what isn't. My mom was very very strict about what we ate, and now I kind of freeze up in the grocery store. Everything I think is healthy also has an unhealthy side
Peanut butter? Fat
Cottage cheese? Sodium, cholesterol
Yogurt? Sugar
Deli meat? Sodium
I just try to use my common sense and not feed them too much of anything

OP, caring about the health of one's family does not make one a snob. The fact that you think that is really sad. The easiest rule of thumb is to avoid anything packaged and go from there. It's really easy to do the younger you start.

Breastmilk ONLY.

Sorry hit submit too soon.

We don't prohibit anything. We just don't buy it. If we're at a party DC will eat whatever is served as long it's not in our allergy list.

We're glúten and dairy free. Here is what we eat (DCs are 2.5yo and 9months)

Bfast
Fresh fruit with raw oatmeal
Smoothies
Bread/toast with jam
Fresh squeezed fruit juice
Omelet

Morning snack
Fresh fruit

Lunch
Sandwich made with a home made chunky veggy paste or left overs from dinner the nigh before

Afternoon snack
Hummus and rice chips
Chips n salsa
Smoothies
Guac n chips
Fresh fruit

Dinner
Rice beans meat and salad
Rice and lentils with a stir fried veggie mix on the side
Quinoa pasta with veggies and tomato sauce

Dessert
Dressed up fruit or sorbet (we rarely have deserts though)

I wouldn't call us food snobs. I'd say we prefer to eat healthy food. That's all. I don't care about what you feed your children just don't offer my child that crap.

Everything I eat, plus a lot of whole fat dairy. I don't eat a lot of sugar, sodium or high fat, or processed foods. So it's pretty easy. If you're such a food snob it should be a snap to just feed your kid what you're already cooking for yourself.

16 months old, and here's a loose list of the stuff she eats:
* DAIRY
any cheese—shredded, cubes, or cut into “sticks” string cheese (I make yogurt from scratch and will sometimes just mash up some peach slices or berries & toss them in)
* FRUITS
melon chunks, banana chunks or whole kiwi, berries (chunked or halved, then whole) avocado chunks, grapes—peeled and quartered or halved apple “sticks” whole apples, peels removed, soft pear chunks, frozen berry mix (from Trader Joes), plums, pluots, pomegranate
* VEGGIES
cherry tomatoes sliced tomatoes asparagus broccoli (chopped or “trees”) cauliflower, cooked squash cubes sweet potato fries from Trader Joe's cooked carrot/potato/other root veggie chunks
* LEGUMES
edamame cooked peas cannellini beans green beans (canned cut or fresh cooked) garbanzos black-eyed peas
* PASTA/RICE
radiatore fusilli long noodles cut up farfalle macaroni pennette tortellini ravioli sticky rice
* MEAT/POULTRY/FISH/EGGS/OTHER PROTEIN
deli ham or turkey slices ripped into quarters baked chicken, cut up, crambled egg (or egg yolk) hardboiled egg (or egg yolk), frittata, tofu cubes or “sticks” (soft, firm, baked) rotisserie chicken, cut across the grain salmon, cooked, flaked, or chunked
* BREADS/CEREALS
whole wheat banana pancakes, toast (cut into quarters), croissant, crusty bread bagels/mini-bagels (frozen for teething) Cheerios, Rice cakes, small graham crackers, sweet/savory bread pudding, biscotti
* COMBINED ITEMS
quesadillas (bean and cheese, salmon and hot pepper cheese, veggie) · pizza with ricotta, mozzarella, tomato sauce; cut · zucchini pancakes · Eggos (with cottage cheese, cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar, or jam) · bread, bagel, or pita with hummus · bread or bagel with avocado · grilled cheese sandwiches (remove crusts if desired and cut into chunks) · tuna or egg salad on bread (remove crusts if desired and cut into chunks) · soft cheese spread on bread chunks

I can see how too much sugar and too much sodium can be a problem, but infants and toddlers need a diet high in fat and calories.

I try to limit sugar, their "candy" is home maid fruit roll-ups, pretty much nothing with preservatives unless it's a special treat (like goldfish).

The recent threads I have been reading on kids' nutrition have me wondering this. Everything either has too much sodium, too much sugar, too much fat, too many calories... So apart from leaves, what do your kids eat?

Please be specific, maybe 3 examples for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I'm dying to know!