Feeding ourselves, feeding our kids

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This is something I've been thinking about for a while - why do we (I) feed my child something I wouldn't eat myself? I've been working on getting most processed food out of our house, although I still buy bread (whole grain), pasta (whole wheat), granola bars, brown rice. Mostly healthy stuff, and I mostly cook using whole foods. But my fallback foods for my child's lunch tend to be things like hot dogs (turkey, but still - they're not super-healthy) with totally processed buns, individually packaged fruit cups, Nestle Quik (to encourage drinking milk), Oreos... I could go on.

My child's diet is pretty good - there's no soda in our house, no sugar cereals, no Spaghettio's and the like - but I find it interesting as I try to clean up MY diet, that I'm still willing to let her eat things that I would not. I've managed to switch her to almond butter instead of the overly processed JIF she'd been used to, and made some other similar baby steps to improve her diet.

Maybe I'm over-thinking this, but I was just wondering if other Moms encounter this as well? I'd like to get a lot of this food out of our house, because why give it to her in the first place if it's not good for her? I don't want her to have struggles with foods as she gets older, and I feel like now is the time to set her up with good eating habits. Those turkey hot dogs are just so damned convenient!

As you've worked on your on diet and foods, has that affected that of your family? I'd love any tips on further improving ours.

Bonus points to anyone who can point me in the direction of an organic granola bar that my child will actually eat.

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	granola bar advice I make my own granola bars. that way i control what's in them (nuts, dried fruit, chia, flax etc) and i use honey and butter for the 'glue' it's super easy and you can use all organic unprocessed ingredients. Google granola bars and then change it up. all you need to know is the ratio of dry to wet ingredients. Good luck! Posted by misssandy on Oct. 31, 2011 at 03:57PM
	I hear ya... Trader Joe's just started a new line of granola bars too - organic and high in fiber. It is a chore to change stuff like that, but baby steps will get you much further in the long run.  I never really kept junk in the house, but once it became evident that my daughter had an eating disorder *all* convenience foods (aside from fresh fruit and carrot/celery sticks) were pretty much banished from the house.  I didn't announce anything... I just quit buying it.  When the kids asked why there was no more "X" I said it wasn't very good for us and we needed to find a healthier alternative.  Granted, some of the replacements we tried really tasted like crap, lol.  Bonus side is that now they both know how to read food labels and cook ;) Posted by dawnmathmom on Oct. 31, 2011 at 06:52PM
	Granola bars Thanks for the advice on the whole granola bar thing. I wouldn't be so crazy about them if my daughter didn't eat one every day... if she's going to have them that often, I'd like them to not be chock-full of chemicals (although I readily admit that we don't eat an entirely organic diet). There is a Trader Joe's in my area so I'll think I'll try that option first, but making them myself sounds like a great idea, too. I had a conversation with a friend the other day where she said she pretty much thought the typical granola bars that are marketed to kids are just like candy bars. My kid already eats enough candy without giving her something that is advertised as being healthy but is just more of the same. Posted by Wren_Again on Nov. 03, 2011 at 12:02PM