I know most right-wing conservatives believe all us liberals to be agnostic, hemp wearing, peace & love, vegetarian, no shoes wearing hippies. But I’m here to say that all of us leaning toward the left, aren’t hanging off the left. I love my disposable diapers, my ribeye steak with brown butter, and leather Wilson’s nap sack as much as the next red-blooded American. I enjoy my Presidents moderate and my government bipartisan! And you would actually catch me walking out of a catholic church on any given Sunday….that is when it’s not football season! But like most of my liberal brothers and sisters I do try to live a pretty healthy, green, organic lifestyle. Unfortunately though I have fallen victim to the era of convenience many many times! Especially between work, and my colitis and just the hustle and bustle of life… Listen I have been known to feed my child a frozen dinner every now and again! Yes I said it! Me the mom who makes her own applesauce, soup stocks, and juice! However I’m not talking about Kid Cuisines or Hungry Man dinners. Here are some great products we use for our kid that works for my family’s hunger pains, time constraints & budget!
1. Earth’s Best Baked Chicken Nuggets: They can be hard to find, but when I was in Texas they were at most of the Super Target stores. In LA I have found them at Whole Foods.
2. Ian’s All Natural Gluten Free/Allergy Free Products: My son LOVES the chicken nuggets, the fish sticks, Cheeseless Mac & Cheese, and Popcorn Turkey Corn Dogs. I’ve shared some of these with him and have to say…pretty tasty!
3. Alexia Sweet Potato Fries: Now usually I’ll slice some up and bake them, but these are just as tasty! No need for oil, or frying, just put them straight into oven!
4. Amy’s Kid’s Meals: The Baked Ziti & the Rice Mac & Cheese…. Mommy Approved FOR SURE! So delicious! Vegan cheese! My carnivorous kid will eat these veggie meals!
5. Goodness for Kids from Fresh & Easy: They have juices, apple sauces and other products that are all tasty and good for kids. Not very much sugar.
6. Tritan Alaskan Salmon Burgers from Costco. Now these aren’t certifiable organic, but they are better than most salmon burgers out there and the kids love them. He’ll usually eat them as a burger or mixed with rice. I add a little lemon pepper to the burgers before putting them into oven.
Now these are just a few of my favorite products that I use often. But I’m always on the hunt for new stuff to buy and try. Most of the products from Trader Joes like the frozen Buffalo Burgers, Teriyaki Chicken, Battered Fish Sticks and the mini frozen pepperoni pizzas. I try not to give my son too much of this food, but when my colitis flares up, I’m gonna be too late too cook a fresh dinner or it’s just not a day I wanna be in the kitchen all day, these items fill my little hippo up and I don’t feel as guilty. You see my son has asthma, so I like to keep the amount of sugar and salt down in his diet. Sugars don’t only come from sweets and fruits, but gluten products as well, so we like to keep that down as well. Some of you try to keep the gluten down because of asthma or autism or whatever reason, so try pesto’s instead of tomato sauce. Some vegan cheeses are very tasty even to kids that have never had them. Try the Orowheat sandwich thins instead of regular bread. You can still use your cookie cutters to make fun shapes for the kids and it’s like a third of bread from a normal slice. I use Bragg‘s Liquid Amino Acid instead of soy sauce, salt for taste & color. Instead of sugar in my applesauce I use either raw, agave or brown sugars with fresh nutmeg and cinnamon for an antioxidant boost. I use grapeseed oil & cold pressed olive oil. There are little things you can do in every meal to help keep it healthy and delicious for your fam. Like I said I’m not the most green organic person, but I try!
