Healthy Eating by Real Moms

This is a guest post by my dear friend Donette from The Journey, I've asked a few moms to guest post and tell me about their experiences with healthy eating and food.

This is what Donette had to say:

Growing up, we were what the polite would call "financially challenged". Crisps on rolls or a opened tin of curried vegetables on toast was quite a filling meal and considered healthy!
Other times our plates were piled high with pasta. Every scrap would have to be finished off. There were no healthy snacks in between meals. Fruit was something I knew very little about. Never mind the benefits!
My increasing large size was blamed on a "big" bone structure and a mindset of "it's in the genes", where in actual fact I am actually quite average boned and every big person in my family has big plates of food all the time. It would never have been thought of to once question the calorie intake. Since getting married I have thankfully been introduced to wonderful delights of fruits, vegetables and other delights I would never have thought to try.

When my son was born I introduced fruits and vegetables as per the guidelines in most books. Unfortunately my son is a bit Orally sensory defensive. What this means is that my son refuses to eat fruits and vegetables unless cooked. He will eat bananas on good days and none on others.
How do I provide healthier meals for him, was often a question I asked myself.
Sugar is the answer at this point. I definitely notice that the more sugar my son consumes through chocolates or sweets the worse his behaviour!
Breakfasts are the easiest meal to organise. No sugared cereals are the first step. Yoghurt, fruits and home-made fruit bars are often the best for snacks. I have recently started using Jessica Seinfeld's deceptively delicious cookbook to hide more fruits and vegetables in our food and although it does take some thought to get started it is so much better for us.
Now although we are not completely sugar-free - I dont plan to be either, it does help to offer different choices. I am sure there are other avenues we will later look at, for now sugar is our first battle.

One other statement I will make is that often people blame TV as a being used as a baby-sitter...How many times have we used food as a baby-sitter..."here's a packet of crisps while Mommy pays for groceries. Just be quiet!" I have been guilty of this, But I have realised the dangers in offering food to avoid situations.

Something else on my mind...
When one begins to run their own home, shopping can be a chore. I used to go to the shops, see a "good deal" - especially on the fresh produce side and buy bulk. At home, the produce seems ok. We often just accept that this is the quality/taste that is on offer. Two days later, when half the bag has gone bad, off I go again.

I came to realise that some more finesse is required when buying healthy food. Instead of always looking at the price, look at the quality. Looking at what I am buying often saves me some money in the end as well as keeping me from poisoning my family with less chemicals.

There is a common sales pitch that seems to be used with meat especially....Advertised as grain-fed beef, we think, OK this must be healthy for us then!
Is this a joke? Well unfortunately the joke is on us. We have no idea what goes on with the production of the grain! How many pesticides and other poisons are used when growing the grain?
We are sometimes blessed with some mutton and lamb straight from the Karoo. The difference in taste in the wholesome naturally fed mutton/lamb versus the mass produced/grain-fed is indescribable!


Thank you Donette!