Au Natural

I had a playdate with a friend today who has two sons (3 yrs & 5 yrs) that E adores. When we first met we talked a lot about food. Kids food. I think that's just a natural thing because either you have a kid that is picky about what goes in their mouth or they eat too much/too little. Since what they like today they may hate tomorrow, it's a hot topic to find other things to try to give your child(ren) some variety.

My friend J told me she didn't know much about nutritional food and wanted some help making better choices for her sons. I'm no health food nut, especially for me (I do have that Jelly Belly addiction), but I do make sure what I feed E is on the healthier side. I read labels & I also limit sugar and artificial ingredients. Since I grew up thinking Entenmann's was a relative, I want E to think differently and have a good foundation of knowing good, healthy food as his majority. My feeling is what he's never had, he won't miss. While Mommy still makes the rules and buying decisions, he eats what I give him and doesn't know any different.


J asked me for a list of things for her to go out and buy so I spent a little time compiling one of stuff E will eat. I have a SUPER picky eater. Up until about three weeks ago, he wouldn't eat the kid standards of pizza, hamburger, or even chicken nuggets. Lately though, for some reason, he's been open to trying stuff.  He ate pizza out with my husband once, he tried some frozen nuggets I found, and he ate a slider at BUCU in Paramus. 

I hate that I am a brand shopper and have to go to numerous different markets to get what I need so some weeks I just try to find one that has just *most* of what I'm looking for. The winner of that is Shop Rite. In the area, as far as having a large organic or more "natural" section, I think I'd pick Rochelle Park, Oakland, Englewood, then Paramus. But, they're all sort of catching up to each other. Just know if you go to Englewood, they have that stupid cart tethering/locking system. You have to put a quarter in to get a cart and you get your quarter back if you return the cart to be tethered together with another cart. I couldn't seem to connect the carts back together having E with me in a busy parking lot, so I just left my quarter.

I do have to go to Whole Foods sometimes (I love their seasoned, seasonal, chicken/meats that I just have to throw in the oven), and usually Stop & Shop has really competitive prices to Shop Rite. Sometimes I go to Kings (I know, I know- it kills me to pay $1+ more for pretty much everything), because it's closer to me than Shop Rite and they're the only ones that carry my jelly (Dickinson's) aside from Shop Rite & Pathmark (I hate Pathmark- their bagging system sucks). Anyway- below are the things my son eats these days-

Breakfast: Trader Joe's has a box of frozen organic whole wheat silver dollar pancakes for $1.99/box. I think there's like 48 in there. E eats six at a time. It's a very good deal. They also carry a bag of frozen Ebelskivers (Danish Pancakes) for like $3.49 and they're fab. I started buying these both because it was just getting more for my money. I used to just buy Earth's Best Organic mini blueberry waffles or their french toast sticks. They're "plain" not flavored like Eggo or other brands. Sometimes Van's Waffles. I still buy them all- just depends where I am. Can't always get to TJ's- totally out of my way. He also has raisins and some Bear Naked Fit granola or dry Kashi Heart to Heart cereal. Sometimes Cascadian Farms Honey O's. There is also an organic pancake batter that comes in a canister like whipped cream - they sell it in Shop Rite.

Lunch: Thomas's whole wheat bagel thin or Arnolds Deli Flats (sometimes Pepperidge Farm). Or just any whole grain/whole wheat regular bread. Organic Valley Neufchatel cheese for the bagels or deli flat. Or MaraNatha creamy peanut butter (they also make all kinds of nut butters- Soy, Almond, etc). And now, other "regular" brands are making more "natural" options- lower sugar, lower fat, no HFCS in it- Skippy, JIF, etc) & Polaner All Fruit jelly or Crofter superfruit spread.


Dinner: There are actually choices!

-Horizon organic American cheese melted on whole wheat bread. I just look for any whole wheat that says no high fructose corn syrup.

-Happy Baby makes frozen organic chicken nuggets, salmon stix, mac & cheese, and veggie bites.

-Earth's Best has Elmo frozen mac & cheese with carrots & broccoli or pasta in marinara with those same veggies. They also make a frozen pizza on whole wheat. It has Elmo on the box so we call it "Elmo Pizza".

-Dakota Organic frozen beef patties. In Shop Rite they are in the meat section in the freezer. They're $7.99 for 4 patties, and I made them in the toaster oven on broil. Came out great and he loved them.

-Amy's makes a veggie pizza that is pretty good. They make other stuff, but he will only eat the organic frozen toaster pastries (filled with either apple or strawberry).

-Applegate Farms: organic chicken, turkey and beef hot dogs. Cheese. They also make organic turkey & chicken cold cuts but E won't eat cold cuts. He is LOVING their frozen chicken fingers. Not the "nuggets", which they also have, but the chicken fingers are bigger and flatter. For some reason, he likes those better and he doesn't give me a hard time at all when those are on his plate. They also make frozen turkey & beef burgers he'll eat.

-Coleman: Organic chicken nuggets. Shop Rite has them. They're smaller than Applegate but they're good and he ate them. Works for me. They've been $3.99 so far.

-Trader Joe's Frozen Turkey or beef meatballs. *I* like to eat them myself. Three in a little dish in the microwave for 1 min, 40 sec, and they're done. I LOVE them.

Everything above are my "standy-bys". I know he'll eat any of them at any time. I also make an Italian style turkey meatloaf with Jenny O ground turkey meat. It literally takes me 10 min of prep and 45 min in the oven.

Snacks:

E LOVES Kefir. It's cheaper than yogurt, the plain has very little sugar, it comes in organic and non and it's great to drink in a cup for part of a lunch, a snack or instead of milk on occasion. It's in just about every supermarket and I love that it's like drinkable yogurt in a $2.99-$4.99 bottle. The most common one I find is Lifeway but there is also Evolve and some other brands. I almost always mix half plain and a flavor and serve in a in a straw cup.

http://www.lifeway.net/

http://www.evolvekefir.com/

I also bought this Bolthouse Farms "smoothie" bottle. It has a lot of protein. It's not a juice, it's thicker. I call it a "Groovy Smoothie", like from Fresh Beat Band and once I gave it to E, he's asked for it every day since. I usually give it to him with his waffles for breakfast because I have to assume it's filling- it's 190 calories per serving. He gets up early so I feel like he won't be hungry when he finally gets to school if he drinks that instead of skim milk with his waffles. I bought the Protein Mango flavor which is a hit. But, in addition to mangos, it also has carrot, apple, banana, and orange in the "Mango" flavor. That particular one is hard to find though. I seem to only be able to get it at Target. There is another Mango one but it's not nearly as protein packed.

They make a lot of different smoothies and other beverages for different things. More vitamins, more protein, etc. I picked the Mango on a whim but I'd try others.

http://bolthouse.com/our-products/beverages/proteins/protein-plus-mango/detail


-Happy Baby, Earth's Best, Ella's Kitchen, Plum Tot, Peter Rabbit and Revolution Foods all make fruit/veggie puree combination pouches. HE LOVES THESE since he was first able to hold them himself. He doesn't like to touch wet fruit or veggies, these are combos I'd never think of, and have veggiesin them I'd never buy or know how to prepare. Carrots/parsnips/apples, sweet potato/apricot, mango/spinach/pear, blueberry/purple carrot/pear, pumpkin/banana, so on and so forth. I can't rave enough about them.

Plum Tot- http://plumorganics.com/for_second_blends.php - they tend to have more calories/be more filling. Usually between 70-100 cal. Could probably use as a meal.

Ella's Kitchen- http://www.ellaskitchen.com/baby-food-products/ - they are less caloric- like 35-60 cal, and have less in the pouch. More interesting combinations though. Better used as a snack.

Revolution Foods- http://products.revfoods.com/products - theirs are called "mash-ups" and are fruit/veggie combo. They also have Jammy Sammys which are great on the go.

Happy Baby- http://shop.happybabyfood.com/our-products/happytot.html - These are usually the least expensive, they're filling, and you can get most of them under $1 at Shop Rite.

Earth's Best just more recently came out. They're a fruit/yogurt combo. They're on the more expensive side though- $1.49-$1.99. http://www.earthsbest.com/node/548

Peter Rabbit- http://www.peterrabbitorganics.com/veggie-blends/. These are good but they're usually $1.99/each which is the most expensive of the bunch.

Any/all the pouches are my best easy snack/meal. They're awesome on the go, I know they're good for him, he loves them, and they're re-closeable.

Other snacks- I just found at Shop Rite snack sized bags of organic (Organic Valley) cut apple slices. Horizon Colby cheese sticks (like string cheese). Shop Rite no-surface salt mini pretzels, Nature's Promise (Stop & Shop) organic animal crackers, Revolution Foods Jammy/Grammy Sammys, Nature's Path organic toaster pastries- frosted and unfrosted (we use the unfrosted), Barbara's animal cookies, Cascadian Farms Simply O's/Honey Nut O's, Happy Baby organic fruit/veggie puffs, Plum Tot organic puffs, Kashi cereal bars, Barbara's whole wheat fig newtons.

I've actually also been shopping at Target for food because the one in Bergen Town Center in Paramus opened a fresh market in there. They have a lot of stuff, a decent amount of organics and if you're missing anything in there you can go across the mall to Whole Foods. It's a pretty good combo. They have THE best prices on organic milk. A gallon of Horizon organic milk is $5.99. I've gotten a HALF gallon in Kings for $6.99. Totally worth the trip to Target just for milk. But, their fresh fruit and veggie section is great too. They also have seasoned meats/chicken that's ready to go on the grill for really good prices. I've gotten bacon wrapped steaks for approximately $9. Chicken kabobs were less. They also have these Mickey Mouse shaped snack sets that have either sweet apple slices, grapes and cheddar cheese or green apple slices, pretzels and cheese. They are great for take-along. They're not organic, but sometimes you can't get organic and convenient in the same package so we just don't worry too much about it.

Food sites:

Amy's Kitchen- http://www.amys.com/
Applegate Farms: http://www.applegatefarms.com/
Barbara's Bakery: http://www.barbarasbakery.com/
Bear Naked: http://www.bearnaked.com/
Cascadian Farms: http://www.cascadianfarm.com/
Crofter: http://www.croftersorganic.com/
Horizon: http://www.horizondairy.com/
Kashi: http://www.kashi.com/products/tlc_cereal_bars_blackberry_graham?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=kashi%2Bbars&utm_content=search&utm_campaign=Brand
MaraNatha: http://www.maranathafoods.com/
Nature's Path: http://www.naturespath.com/products/toaster%20pastries?tid=8&brand=All&nutri=All
Nature's Promise: http://www.stopandshop.com/our_stores/offerings/brands/index.htm?brnd=NATURE_PROMISE
Van's Waffles: http://www.vansfoods.com/