I’m a little late with my weekly meal plan due to some sickness. I didn’t get to the grocery store until Monday. It seems every time I wait to shop it rains. Not fun with two kids but thankfully I had a friend to help out.
For Mexican night (last night) we had carnitas which my husband really loves. We have that once every few months. I’m also going to try a new slow cooker recipe I saw in a magazine while waiting for an appointment. I frantically wrote it down on my iPhone. It’s not cool to tear out the page, right?
For more meal plan ideas and a giveaway for meal planning book, visit Org Junkie!
What’s Cooking This Week
Monday: Slow Cooker Carnitas tacos with all the toppings
Tuesday: Pasta and shrimp with salad and fruit
Wednesday: Chicken curry slow cooker and rice, broccoli parm
Thursday: Leftovers — whatever is in the fridge
Friday: Grilled Salmon, bean and corn salad, bread and fruit
Salad of the week: Orange Walnut Salad (I substitute feta for Gorgonzola)
Snack of the week: Homemade trail mix
Is there too much judgment when it comes to feeding kids?
On my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago week I posted about a blog I came across (thanks to someone linking to my picky-eating series) about a mom admitting she feeds her kids “kid food” because that is all they will eat — waffles, mac and cheese, noodles, etc.
Why the confession? Because another mom judged her for feeding her boys waffles as a snack. Here’s a glimpse of how she responded:
So, yeah, in our house waffles are a snack. I would feed them waffles all day long if that’s what it took to fill their bellies. Why would anyone assume this is because I’m lazy, or haven’t tried other things?
The post ends with almost 200 comments, mostly from moms admitting that they too feed their kids foods that are less than perfect. They also don’t like being judged for doing so — and were relieved to know they weren’t alone. If you have time check it out.
The article discusses how food, as with many aspects of parenting, has become a hot ticket item, loaded with judgment. One reason I think food is such a sensitive topic is that parents understand that eating well is directly related to a child’s health. And I believe every parent, with very few exceptions, desires good health for their kids.
So when someone questions the food you are feeding your child, this translates to “you don’t care about your child’s health.” And this strikes a huge chord with parents.
This all reminds me of a conversation I had with a mom friend a while back. Her three year old would eat very little — and was very thin. I mentioned something about my favorite whole grain waffles and she said, “I used to try nutritious stuff like that, now I just want to get her to eat.”
It’s the hierarchy of needs. If your kid is eating decently well, you have the luxury of making nutrition a priority. But if they are barely eating and low on the weight scale — just getting food into them (any food) becomes the new goal.
Just the other night we had dinner over at my friend’s house. Her now 5-year old son who has always been notorious for eating everything all of a sudden wants kid food like mac and cheese, pizza, and chicken nuggets.
This is why it’s important to have a long-term view of feeding. Kids will go through stages and how parents react to them makes a difference over the long-haul. I personally don’t think we have to choose between “healthy” and “kid food” – we can provide a variety of everything.
Around the web
Angela from Mommy Dietitian is having a color challenge in honor of National Nutrition Month. She is asking people to take pictures of their colorful plates and post it on her Facebook page. The person with the most colorful plate will win a prize. I plan to post a colorful burrito soon.
Dr. Katja Rowell is hosting a Webinar on the trust model of feeding and adoption. She will discuss particular issues with adopted kids in terms of eating and the feeding relationship.
On March 30, the FDA is going to meet to discuss whether artificial colors and dyes safety needs to be revisited. They are meeting just about 2 years after CSPI’s report and letter to the FDA.
That’s it for now. I hope you have a great rest of the week!
Want to create your way to meal plan in a way that works for you? Get step-by-step help in Maryann’s book The Family Dinner Solution.
-Next time you could just take a picture of the recipe with your iphone!
-Carnitas sound awesome – definitely adding it to the list, thanks for the inspiration:)
-Love the start on a discussion about judging the food we feed our kids.
Good idea Lillian. Will take a picture next time!
I must have missed that discussion on your FB page, I’ll definitely check it out! Yep, that sounds like me, some days you just don’t feel like making dinner I’ll just feed the kids something easy like waffles, I serve it with fresh fruit on the side and yogurt….don’t really see all the fuss in that. I say you have to pick and choose your battles each day!
What an interesting post and series of comments! Thank you for pointing us to it. Who knew waffles could ignite such a heated debate?!
I agree that when someone questions what we feed to our kids, it really does feel like they’re questioning whether we care about their health. It’s such a highly personal issue. My goal as an RD is to let moms know that nobody feeds their children a “perfect” diet–if such a thing even exists. A lot of the comments I get on my blog are along the lines of, “Thank you for your honesty!” I think as RDs, we not only have to educate our audience, but also admit that all of this is hard for us sometimes, too.
I look forward to the picky eater series too!
Sally — you are so right. There is no perfect diet and we all struggle from time to time. You are doing a great job over at Real Mom Nutrition!
Very much looking forward to the picky eaters series. I have a lovely challenge on my hands – both kids are picky about different things!
I’ve now resorted to feeding my kids “kid food” but making healthier versions from scratch.
Oh the food dye battle. My oldest is sensitive to red dye. It blisters her little rear end and the looks of “YOU’RE one of THOSE mothers!” (referring to an overprotective helicopter parent) when I try to alert people to her red dye sensitivity drives me nuts. I want them to come to my house while I hold my five year old down screaming on the floor to clean her hiney and cream it after eating too much red dye and the skin is beginning to blister.
It’s been an almost 2 year battle and it is under much better control, but red dye is almost everywhere and is very hard to avoid without much acceptance that it can be a real problem for some. My daughter has learned how to make different colors because she had to learn what she could and shouldn’t eat.
Thanks for the blurb about potential problems from artificial dyes. It would be great if their safety could be revisited and their use limited or eliminated.
Ramona, I can relate with teh red dy issue. My 17 month old recently tested positive for celiac, he has the dermatitis form on his cheeks, they get all red, dry patchy, bumps. I noticed that if he has red food dye it irritates his cheeks. He had an ear infection last week, was put on amoxicillin by Teva – it’s gluten free but not red dye free, very frustrated. We eat clean and I make most of our meals and snacks to avoid certain ingredients and food dyes but when it comes to medications or vitamins it makes it more difficult to avoid. You wonder why manufacturer’s have to add food dyes? I know it’s added to make it more appealing to kids but really it has no nutritional value so why???
I completely understand what you are going through but if it makes you feel better the FDA is holding a hearing on the issue later this month. Here is the link: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6562/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6090
Lisa, thanks for the link and I will probably add my two cents to it. There are cephalasporins (a class of antibiotics), Omnicef is one, that do come in dye free formularies, but I don’t know if they are gluten free. There are also a very small handful of antihistamines and one cough/cold prescription med (Corzal plus) that are dye free. You can easily find Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen in dye free formulas. After using the dye free meds, the additional dye helps visualize what you’re measuring so I can kind of understand it, but it isn’t worth it to me.
My biggest problem is having a day care director tell me they will do their best preventing her from consuming red dye, but my daughter and her symptoms tell me otherwise. I know we will have the same problem when she goes to elementary school next year too.