I feel like a hypocrite writing a post with "real food" in the title because it has been one of those weeks where we have had lots of compromises!
Where do I compromise?
Snacks. I don't buy snack cakes, or puddings, or chips for us to eat. The kids are usually starving as soon as we get home, and I can fix dinner easier if they have a snack to eat. If I have whole wheat muffins or rolls made, those work great for snacks. That is usually available about 50% of the time at my house because I like to keep those things on hand for a quick breakfast. When it is not available we usually go straight to cheerios or goldfish. I know they are "processed", but since there are a lot worse things I could feed my kids than cheerios or goldfish I choose to not to worry about it too often. In the summer when I home I tend to make whole grain soft pretzels, granola bars and other snacky foods. During the school year after making all the meals for the day, I really don't have time to make snacks too. I usually have homemade granola on hand that Trey likes, but it has nuts in it, which makes me really nervous for Charlotte. I don't let Trey have the homemade granola around Charlotte because whenever Trey starts to eat something, the rest of it ends up in Charlotte's mouth.
When we are out. On Wednesday nights we eat dinner at church. Trey eats about a half a frozen chicken tender every Wednesday night. Do I ,keep those at home? No. Is it worth making my life easier by not having to worry about dinner on Wednesday's between late faculty meeting and getting him to choir by feeding him "processed" chicken tenders? Absolutely.
I also tend to compromise when entertaining. Let's be honest, organic food is often more expensive and everything from scratch takes extra time. When we are having a group of people over I would stress myself out too much trying to do everything, and I have learned to just buy items that make my life easier and don't stretch our budget to the limit. I like to serve homemade pizza but if life happens and I go get a pizza for dinner when friends come over, it is not the end of the world.
Ok, now it sounds like we never serve real food!
What about those picky eaters?
I have learned I can't make my three year old eat something he doesn't want to eat. I can maybe get in one bite, but it is pointless to serve him food I know he doesn't like and expect him to eat a full meal. It isn't going to happen. So I often put out healthy options for him to eat and one new thing that I fixed for dinner. Usually both kids have a grain and fruit I know they will eat for dinner, then I offer whatever else I have fixed. Sometimes cutting things into shapes helps Trey eat, sometimes it doesn't nothing.
My favorite food blogs
Lot's of the blogs have great ideas and recipes. I don't necessarily agree with all their opinions, but they have good ideas and make me think about what I serve my family.
www.100daysof realfood.com
www.heavenlyhomemakers.com
www.passionatehomemaking.com
http://megsfavrecipes.blogspot.com/
Recipes I use over and over .
Homemake tortillas
Granola
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
All the bread, rolls, pancakes, muffins, and any variation of those come from the recipes in this book from Bread Beckers. Best $6 I have ever spent.
Real food is a journey. For our family right now we are working on trying new vegetables (some of us are just working on eating a vegetable!), finding new ways to buy local food, and deciding what is worth compromising on and what isn't. We aren't there yet. We will probably never be there. But I leave with this story from Tuesday night.
While I was grinding my grains into flour to make some bread, Trey was playing with the grain bucket. I kept bending over to refill my measuring cup and pour it into the mill. Trey started telling me, "Good job Mommy! I am so proud of you! Go faster Mommy, go faster!" So does this mean he appreciates the extra effort I put into making his food? Doubtful.
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