Tag Archives: food

Going Dad’s Top Ten Pinterest Picks (7): Food Matters!

Do you know exactly what went into the last meal you ate? If it wasn’t you making the meal, chances are, you may not.

This way of thinking has had me making my own meals for several years now. There are times when I go out to eat, not by my choice, and I have to pick apart the menu and annoy the crap out of our wait staff. But, I have no shame when it comes to wanting to know exactly what I’m being served and how it was prepared.

I wasn’t always like this, I used to go out all the time and the words macronutrients, calories, trans-fat, high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, etc. were never a consideration. If it looked and sounded good, I ate it. Back then, I was being “healthy” when I requested no cheese on my double-meat hamburger from McD’s.

Yeah, things have changed and now I’m a health food advocate who questions any and all ingredients. If it’s packaged, I have to scrutinize the label several times and maybe even perform a Google search. For the several years I’ve been like this, I get extremely irritated at how food companies advertise their “healthy” products and at the ignorance of the average consumer.

And now, as a parent, I’m disgusted at what some parents feed their children. I might get a lot of negative responses here, but I see no reason any kid should have to eat fast food. There is a wealth of information out there on what is healthy vs. unhealthy and enough buzz on the topic to claim you “didn’t know.”

I know Going Mom and I will instill our healthy values in Avery, but I fear how powerful the influence of her peers will be. I remember what it’s like being in grade school, and how no one wants to be the odd one of the group! All I can do is hope Avery values health and knows what is good and what is not when she’s faced with choices on her own.

Hopefully, these ten food related Pinterest Pins help open your eyes and inform you in a way to be able to make changes for the better. I know right after I changed my eating habits, I felt, looked, performed, and recovered better than ever before. I could easily go way beyond ten, but for these are a great to start with to make changes today!

1.

2.

3. 10 reasons not to eat at most restaurants.

4. Convenience, not price, limits veggie consumption.

5. A 20-ounce soda contains 65 grams of sugar, that is approximately 22 packets of sugar in just one bottle.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Hopefully you found some or all of these thought-provoking and useful to help you start making changes for yourself and loved ones. Or maybe you’re already in the know and these are nothing new to you.

If you already are a health living advocate and you have older children, how have you worked to keep your little ones from eating fast food or other processed junk when at school or a friend’s house?

I would love to hear anyone’s tips/advice as I feel like we are a minority when it comes to caring about what we eat.

Crap My Baby Will Never Eat: Frozen Pizza Bites

Are we all so desperate that we have to rely on frozen processed food to feed our kids and ourselves? There are many products I can (and most likely will) speak on for being unhealthy snack options, but today I’m focusing on the ever popular frozen pizza rolls/bites. Mainly, Bagel Bites (H.J. Heinz) and Totino’s (General Mills).

Have you seen the Totino’s commercial with a mom on the phone with her hungry kids? I first saw it about a year and a half ago, but I’m sure there’s still something similar playing now.

The kids are looking for something in the freezer and are saying there’s nothing to eat, but of course Totino’s is right in front of their face. Apparently her kids are too dumb to see the bright yellow packaging until she tell them the exact location.  Then they are all happy and the kids go off to make their food-like substance pizza rolls.

Here is the nutrition info for their basic cheese party pizza…

….and that’s the one with the least ingredients!

The seemingly most popular pepperoni pizza rolls look even worse….

….and you know being little bites that it’s easy to go over the standard serving size.

Bagel Bites are the lesser of evils here, but still have no place being called real food. They even pit themselves against Totino’s in an ad trying to make us (the consumer) feel like the are the better (and only) option. No thanks to either.

And really? Are they assuming we’re stupid and only eating cheese? NO! Here are the rest of Bagel Bites’ ingredients:

Bleached Wheat Flour, Water, Mozzarella Cheese (Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes)Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste, Water)Pepperoni (Pork, Beef, Salt, Spices, Water, Dextrose, Seasonings [Oleoresin of Paprika, Natural Spice Extractives, BHA, BHT, Citric Acid]Lactic Acid Starter Culture, Sodium Nitrate)2% or Less of: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Modified Cornstarch, Salt, Soybean Oil, Yeast, Whey Protein Concentrate (Milk)Nonfat Milk, Flavor Enhancer (Potassium Chloride, Ammonium Chloride, Yeast Extract, Maltodextrin [Corn]Lactic Acid, Citric Acid, Calcium Lactate, Natural Flavor)Methylcellulose, Citric Acid, Red Pepper, Natural Flavor, Dough Conditioner (Ascorbic Acid)Enzymes.”

Unfortunately, I am guilty of having these years ago and sure, they tasted good. But, I was also fat and out of shape. Now I make plenty of delicious snacks that taste great and offer wholesome nutrition I feel good about.

Right now we’re just starting to get Avery into eating solids through baby-led weaning, but soon she’ll be helping daddy cook in the kitchen and I can’t wait to teach her the benefits of real food. I will show her the frozen non-food “food” when we shop and explain how and why they are not a good food option.

Some, okay, a lot of people might call me anal when it comes to food, but why shouldn’t I be? You don’t know what you’re getting when someone is preparing food for you and I’m not okay with that. I am more at peace when I make everything myself and know exactly what goes into my meals.

The few times I do go out, it is rare to actually get what I order via special request. I don’t get why, because it’s usually asking to do less than the original menu item. If I get a salad, I ask for no dressing, cheese, croutons, and oils on the side. Sometimes that salad arrives with a seemingly extra amount of each!

I could make a full post over this (maybe I will), but for now my message is that I will not succumb to feeding our beautiful girl any processed junk. I realize many parents face time constraints, but obtaining healthier options is not that difficult.

This is why I’m working to start Avery on healthy veggies now and trying to put off the sweeter foods like bananas and other fruits. I will definitely share the joys of sweet fruits, but it’s veggies first. My mode of thinking is that she will grow up only knowing these nutritious foods and not craving something she can just throw in the microwave and mindless munch on while watching TV.

There will be more of these posts as Avery grows and I hope I am able to help parents strive to offer better, nutritious food for their little ones and themselves! I am already nervous about how I can keep her from having anything containing the worst ingredients in processed food when at a friend’s home or at school, but luckily, I have some time.

Back to the pizza rolls/bites; you can quickly make your own that can be frozen or cooked as needed with simple ingredients. Here are a few easy and healthy recipes to try with whole grain tortillas:

Tortilla Pizza

No-Bake Spinach Pizza Rolls

Another Easy Pizza Roll for the Road

What do you think about these types of foods?

Any tips on how to keep your little ones eating healthy when you aren’t with them?

Am I crazy?

The True Meaning of Memorial Day and BLW Progress

Me·mo·ri·al Day
noun
noun: Memorial Day
  1. a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May.

Hi there and happy Memorial Day!

I wanted to share the definition of Memorial Day to make sure we all take a moment of silence to remember those who died while serving our country. So please, before you fire up the grill and open a cold beer, pay your respects to these men and women.

Also, Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veteran’s Day which celebrates all of our country’s veterans. Although I have never served, many of my friends and family (including my mom and dad), have, and I am thankful for everything they have done. I’m also thankful for those currently serving and always will be!

I’m writing this a day before since I’m running my last 10k today and will be up before sunrise. The 10k is in honor of our nation’s heroes who died serving and I’m dragging Avery, Going Mom, and G-Ma with me!

Running races used to be pretty common a few years ago, but this will be the first in over a year now! Yes, I’m a little nervous, not for the race, but more on if I’ll be able to go #2 beforehand. Gross? Sorry, this is a parenting blog and poop is mentioned a lot!

If you’ve ever been in a race or any event requiring activity, you know how vital using the restroom before the start is to your performance, so hopefully you understand my concern. In the numerous races I’ve run over the years, this is still one of my biggest issues. Pretty crappy (ha ha), huh?

While we’re on the subject, guess who made progress in our baby-led weaning endeavor.

DSC_0105

Yep, Avery took her first real bites of food this past Saturday! She had a little carrot and part of a green bean. But I must confess, I didn’t follow the rules as I held the veggies for her as she bit into them. She also held them, but they ended up in her lap.

After taking a bite from the carrot, she experienced her first gag reflex kicking in and was over it in seconds. It wasn’t fun to watch, but she handled it well. It was obvious gagging didn’t phase her as she was reaching for more a minute a later.

DSC_0119

Or maybe she was just raising her hand because she had a question; hmmmm.

Despite her gagging, we weren’t 100% positive that she really had a lot of either veggie since she had a lot of spots on her onesie. But, what she left in her diaper the next day removed any doubt; little specks of carrot all over!

Guess I need to connect that diaper sprayer now. I’ve been putting it off since it seemed like she wouldn’t eat anything, but now we know she will and it doesn’t take much!

G-Ma is coming over to spend the night so she can ride with us to the race, so hopefully Avery will show off her new found eating skills. Of course, she also knows how to pet the cat thanks to Going Mom, so maybe she’ll just do that instead.

DSC_0090

It’s getting late and I better get some rest, so until next time, enjoy your Memorial Day!  And please remember the reason we are able to enjoy this day with our friends and family. I’ll let you know how the race (and bathroom situation) goes!

Are you doing anything special today?

Do you have a certain way of remembering those who died in service?