MY HOME/PREPARED MEALS
Growing up in my house, it seemed I would always eat come the moment I woke up, noon for lunch, and at 6/7 pm for dinner. I never skipped a meal until I started middle school and eating that early bothered my stomach. Even now its to the point where if I am not THAT hungry, I will still eat on schedule. Another point to note, growing up, I really didn't have a say or have a choice in what I wanted to eat. Whatever my mom cooked for dinner (WHICH WAS DELICIOUS) was what was for dinner. Now if I care to put in the effort, I can eat what I want if I don't feel like having what my mother made. My mother even makes the baby food for my niece and nephews. She takes the time to cook orzo, ground pork, sautee veggies and blends it up for my 1 year old niece to eat. We don't buy babyfood. However sometimes we do get the baby snacks that melt in the mouth or pureed fruits. Portion wise, we are generally consistent with the appropriate amounts...but it is the amounts that WE THINK is right. We could be wrong in doing this...
OPTIONS/WHOLEFOODS
The first babysitting job I had was for a 1.5 year old girl. She would be already sleeping when I arrived, wake up an hour later in which I'd bring her down for lunch/snack, and then leave once her mom came home. Her mom doesn't cook and does the whole "I SHOP AT WHOLEFOODS" thing. So there was hardly anything worth eating in the fridge. But I was definitely able to whip something up. The first day, I tried giving her pieces of a turkey sandwich...which she didn't want to eat. The mom told me she would usually take a plate and arrange finger food that the baby could choose from. BABIES KNOW WHAT TO EAT?? I guess my inclination when hearing this, letting children choose what to eat, is that they will always choose candy and crap. Not true and kinda interesting to see the little girl make good decisions about what she ate. After the failed turkey sandwich, I made a plate of blueberries, diced cheese, sliced strawberries, and pieces of the turkey. She very much enjoyed picking what she wanted to eat and for the most part, I was okay with her leaving food behind. I could see what she didn't really like and what she loved. With this, the next time I watched her if I really wanted her to eat what she left behind, I would pair that with something different and it turned out she'd eat it. It was interesting having to play around with the different combinations of finger food and I think the important thing was that she ate until she was full. This is a perfectly healthy baby, who didn't really care for meat, but loved fruits!
HIPPY/ORGANIC/SNACKING
The next family I babysat for has 2 boys, one is 7 and the other is 3. Both are home schooled by the mother and the father started and runs a non profit organization. The best stereotypical way of describing them is as a family of hipsters trying to survive in the suburbs. When it came to meat, the 7 year old doesn't like to eat meat because he knows the animal had to die for it to be on his plate. But he could handle chicken nuggets and ground beef because he doesn't quite know yet where it comes from. His little brother in general doesn't care for meat too much either. In my opinion, the food that the mom made never seemed appetizing, but some how the kids would eat it. Sometimes, the kids didn't have a meal at all and it would be because they snacked through out the day. They had a drawer full of snacks-healthy snacks and were never denied dipping into it. In my house I was raised that if I wanted desert or a snack...it had to come after the meal or in that between time of just coming home from school and starting homework. I even saw in their fridge a lot of their produce were organic. The mother told me that one day she tried giving her 3 year old son the option of choosing regular strawberries and organic ones in which he would always choose the organic. Are organic strawberries really that much sweeter and better tasting than regular ones? My mom would always slice strawberries up for us and add a bit of stevia to sweeten it. Both are perfectly healthy though I think could benefit with a little more fiber in their diet...needless to say...the kids aren't regular in their poopage.
Vegitarian/local produce
I currently watch a 3 year old girl in which every time I pick her up from day care, I start cooking her dinner once we get home. She and her mother are vegetarian (the mother's decision) while the father eats whatever. Occasionally he does slip his daughter a bacon strip or a piece of fried chicken and she goes crazy over it. I feel so bad when I have to deny her her dad's food sometimes, especially when she is sick. The mom really didn' t want me to give her chicken soup when she had a cold...HOW CAN YOU BE DENIED CHICKEN SOUP?? Anyways, I actually do prepare meals for the little girl and I do try to use up whatever is in their fridge before it goes bad. The mother got into getting local produce shipped to her door. She is big on wanting to know where her food comes from. She eats eggs, but they have to be organic and cage free. she doesn't drink milk because she believes milk is rape (rolls eyes). She didn't even want to use her garlic anymore once she found out that Hmart gets it imported from China. She wants to avoid all produce from China because she believes farming and land conditions are poor and we'd some how get cancer (which her family has a high risk of). She also doesn't eat fish because shes afraid of the toxins that stays trapped in the oil and again...will lead to cancer. I think she needs to realize...everything today...pretty much has the potential to lead to cancer. But yeah, back to the local produce. The idea is nice and I really am up for supporting local farms and businesses. I also understand that the difference between the US and other countries is that we give into eating what we want to eat...even if it is not in season and if we have to pay top prices for it. But the reality is, when the farm ships you a bag of beets...WTF ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL THOSE BEETS?? She receives produce in which I am not familiar in how to cook like swiss chard, kale, beets, parsnips, and mustard greens. Those take forever to disappear from their fridge and in the end...they have to be thrown out. Its a waste in the end, if you are trying to support your local farm and eat what is in season.
For cooking vegetarian...they come out pretty awesome and tasty!!
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