Eat Yer Broccoli

Some time ago, on a visit to the pediatricians, I saw a poster on the wall that listed foods for kids and had them in 3 categories: Green, Orange and Red. 

Green was the good foods obviously  - fruit & veg, lean protein, whole grains, good fats etc., Orange foods were red meats, chicken nuggets, cheese, sweet potato fries and hot dogs. Red foods were the pure sugar, salt & fat foods but I was surprised that the number two villain was marshmallows and the number one was ... Lunchables! After looking at the label I totally understood why it is the on the no-no list for kids. I haven't bought them since and just hope I haven't caused a lifetime of obesity, high blood pressure and behavioral issues by pumping him full of it between the ages of 1 and 2.

I do try and feed my kids good things but there are days when tins of ravioli or microwave pizza get me through. And I'm guilty of giving my kids ranch dip to make them eat carrots and celery. Where is all this leading you might be asking? Well, I think I found something worse than lunchables ...

Last week I asked Craig to pick up some cheese slices while he was at WalMart and he did just that. "American Singles" no doubt - the standard in all things cheesy and bland. I ate one last weekend on a chicken salad sandwich and immediately pulled the sucking lemon face. The cheese slice had a texture of silly putty and tasted of chemicals. When I went to the fridge to investigate I saw that underneath the words "American Singles" it said "Imitation pasteurized process cheese food". WHAT? A quick gander at the label confirmed that the cheese slices did not in fact contain any cheese. 

This kind of thing makes me despair. How are we supposed to raise healthy kids when we don't even put the ingredients in food now?