Need Resources for Healthy,organic Eating..

http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/en_US/jsp/EDS_Pa...

I find this wibsite by procter and gamble helpful. Most the recipes are easy. Some weeks are better than others.
Also, Kraft has a great free magazine that you can request on their website.

If it were me I would start with trying for less processed foods and skipping the organic stuff right now. Buy fruits and veggies (frozen are great oppions and actually healthier than fresh) and switch to 100% whole grain products.

If you really want to go organic spend the money on organic fruits, veggies and meats and skip organic snack/packaged foods. The packaged organic foods are just as proccessed as the non-organic. Many organic cereals lack the extra vitamins found in regular cereal.

A couple more ideas:

Go to library to check out old copies of Parents and/or Parenting Magazine -- flip through back issues to see which ones carry any articles about food, eating, etc.

Check out this link - http://www.my-meals.net/index.html - for a fun way to bring the kids into your efforts to improve your nutrition and eating habits.

There's also a search function here on mamasource; you can enter "healthy snacks" for instance, and see older postings where moms have shared their many snack alternatives to MacDonald's, etc.

Good for you (all) for committing to eating better! Oh, one last recommendation. There's a book called The Healthiest Kid on the Block by Dr. Sears. You might find it at the library or Half-Priced Books. Retail book stores should definitely have it. Bon Appetit!

Your other poster really hit all the bases. I would just say that my first reaction to your request was that it's a huge leap to go from McDonalds and MacNCheese from a box to 100% organic - taste wise, convenience wise, price wise, and perhaps even digestive wise! Baby steps. How about getting a fruit and veggie on each plate for each meal (and getting the kids to at least try if not eat them?). Then how about nothing from a box or bag for the meal (ie home-cooked)? Next you could start thinking about organic. Do a web search, there are great articles about how much pesticides are absorbed into certain foods, etc, etc, and why you would want to tackle dairy and meat before some other foods when going organic. There are lots of fun blogs for sustainable living, organic eating, eating local, etc out there - again, just do a web search. My favorite magazine is Mothering, they are very into all of that and have a great online community at mothering.com - check it out. The coops the other poster mentioned might have classes about getting into natural food (or could just talk to you on-site). There likely are groups in the Twin Cities who are into this sort of thing (In fact I know there is a Slow Food group, again, web search it.) Good luck to you!

ETA: I just searched for Slow Food Minnesota group: http://www.slowfoodmn.org/ Maybe contact them, I know they are active and get together with the bread baking club in St. Paul. Bet they could steer you in the right direction!

Congrats on your decision to go healthy, organic. I myself have a 5 year old who has been on an all organic (healthy) diet since birth. It is a tough road to stick with with all the fast food, restaurants, and commercials out there. In the FM area the best place I've found for food is Cashwise. I came from the Twin Cities and let me tell you it's been tough to get variety since I moved. The most important things to remember are synthetic is not good. You want to stick with as much organic fresh fruits and veggies as possible. Next always remember to read the labels. "All Natural" really means nothing. Look for the organic seal. My son is so well trained he can spot the seal on all his food and won't eat it if it doesn't have it. He always asks people "is this organic?" Cutest thing. Anyway as for resources check out the local heath food stores. There are a ton of books that can help you. Also one of the grocery people at Horbacher's south in the Osgood center was a manager at a health food store in the cities knows a huge amount of information on the best books, sites, and resources.
It is important to know that it is a whole change in lifestyle to change your foods to organic. I think the best place to start is with the fresh fruits, veggies, milk, and meat. Also cutting out processed foods of all kinds as much as possible (obviously in our society that is almost impossible) is in your best interest. Canned goods are not the same as fresh. You have to buy fresh in smaller amounts (only to avoid waste) and more often but the benefit is well worth it. Start small as your family is used to overly processed everything. Start switching by an item or two each time you go shopping. This way you can limit overspending and can test the food before making a complete switch. The fruits, veggies, meat (free range), and dairy (raw when possible)are the easiest to switch as there is not a big difference in taste.
I hope I was of some help and I will get the names of books that were a big help for us. Good luck and congrats!

L. - a great website is http://www.kidseatgreat.com/. Dr Woods also has a great book "How to get kids to eat great and love it."

You might also want to check out a posting at http://www.viewzone.com/mcnugget.html. It's taken from a book called The Omnivore's Dilemma. You may make a lot of different choices when you read this article.

I eliminated nearly all processed foods, artificial colors, preservatives, etc from my cabinet years ago. I replaced it with whole grains and whole foods. My children might make a choice to go to a fast food place but it's on thier own money, not mine!

If you want to discuss more of what I've done, contact me.

You'll never regret making this choice for your family!

www.sneakychef.com is a great site for moms of picky eaters, if you can, buy the book.

I am an independant director with the Pampered Chef and I love our recipes. You can look them up at www.pamperedchef.com or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me through my website www.pamperedchef.biz/ashleysdreamkitchen There are nutrition facts with every recipe and they get you trying so many new food items. I love it!

L., here are a few websites that might help you start thinking and planning:

To eat healthy you should know what foods are good for you, and those that give you "more bang for your buck" as far as nutrition goes. These websites are great for finding out the nutrition in specific foods. I know it's a lot to take in, but these are great resources.

1. http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/top-10-food-sy... -This is definitely worth reading

2. http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php -lists the "Worlds Healthiest Foods"

3. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ -This is a site I used when my son was under 1 year but it does have nutritional facts for each food [fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, And grains] if you look under "Foods for baby" and there are other worthwhile things on there too

And here is a site for healthy recipes for kids. Since they have a magazine, I would assume that they test all of their recipes before publishing them:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/collections/healthy_eat...

If you want other recipes for kids, you could try the Better Homes and Gardens site [http://www.bhg.com/recipes/] or other popular magazines that have recipes. Again I would stick to those rather than just searching "kids recipes" because you can be sure that they have tested the recipe before. Also most of those sites have ratings and comments too, so you can see what other users thought of it

It's overwhelming at first, but just take your time, and do some research before you begin so that you kind of have an idea of what you need to do. And even if your kids want PB & J or fast food, that's okay sometimes. You will have an easier time getting them interested in the new foods if you start to incorporate them slowly anyway.

By the way, PB & J is not so bad if you use a low-fat peanut butter and whole-grain or whole wheat bread

Hot dogs are not so bad if you look for lower fat and salt contents and whole-grain or whole wheat buns

McDonald's and Mac & Cheese are REALLY really bad though! But hey it's not like they are never going to have it, and billions of other kids have been on the same diet too so don't beat yourself up

Hope this helps

--I just wanted to add that frozen fruits and veggies are just as good as fresh and cost so much less...and if you haven't tried the "steamers" veggies, definitely go get some...you just pop the bag right in your microwave and its done...plus, no extra water = no lost nutrients--

my husband is an independant dist for nuskin i know he has all nat suplements and such. at www.nuskinusa.com let me know if you want to become a cust.
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HI L.,
I am so impressed by your commitment to take those first steps! And you've gotten some super advice from other wise mamas. I just wanted to add another thought: in your quest for a healthier family, you may want to consider foundational supplements for the kids. In this day and age, it is virtually impossible to get all the nutritional support our bodies require through even the best of foods alone. And as you transition to the best of foods, supplementation gives added peace of mind that the basics are covered. As a representative for a health and wellness company, I work with a lot of moms who want the nutritional insurance of at least a natural multi-vitamin/mineral for their kids. I can also help you with all-natural snack options.
Here's to creating healthier lives!!
A.

When i found myself in this boat a few years ago i tried and tried but couldnt fully switch over once i had my son i fully commited. After looking at labels of boxed and frozen food dinners seeing all the sodium and fat and everything bad i started using the prepackaged foods to my advantage i saw i dinner that looked good and i flipped it over and read what all the put in it. then i could make it myself with out all the added junk. cooks.com and recipe.com really helped. sometimes i even amaze myself with what i get on the table each day. I started lowering the amount of butter in cookie and baked goods recipes and found they still tasted great. switch out regular pasta for whole wheat. eventually we started to find that the greasy stuff was no longer appealing. pizza and burger commercials look gross to me now. Bags of frozen veggies are pretty cheap and very good for you. I slip veggies or fruit into almost everything i make.

Hi L.!

Healthy, local food is a topic that I am passionate about!! It IS overwhelming to change your diet--there's so much information out there. Take baby steps. Do one or two things each month to eat healthier. Think of it as a journey, not something you are going to completely accomplish in a week.

Where to start....

(1) Michael Pollan has two AMAZING books out on food. I think they should be mandatory reading for anyone that eats. ;-) They are "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Food: An Eater's Manifesto". Both will be at your library, but there may be a waitlist. "Omnivore's Dilemma" is a long book. There were parts I skimmed over, but I can honestly say this book completely changed the way I think about food.

(2) Start shopping at Whole Foods, co-ops, and natural food stores. If you have never done so, you might just want to go once and walk around without planning to buy anything. It's going to be a very different experience than shopping at Cub or Rainbow. I see you are in Excelsior, and I'm not all that familar with that end of the metro. In Mpls, there are two great co-ops, Seward Co-op (www.seward.coop) and The Wedge (www.wedge.coop).

Some of the stuff there is going to be more expensive than what you will find at regular grocery stores, but you can pick & choose what you spend your money on. For instance, I only buy meat and dairy products that are from MN or WI and are hormone- and antibiotic-free. If I need to spend an extra dollar or two to get quality meat and keep local farms in business, so be it. We eat less meat and dairy than we used to, but I know that what we are eating is high-quality. I am less selective on other food items--you will find your own "hot button" food issues, and can work your food budget around them. My philosophy is, I either spend the money today on better food, or I will spend it tomorrow on medical expenses.

(3) Get in touch with what food is in season when. Right now, the sap is running and maple syrup farms are hopping. In a few of weeks, rhubarb will be ready to harvest. Food is at it's best when it's local and in-season. Try to incorporate seasonal food into your meal plans.

(4) Visit a farmer's market. Make sure the food is local--I know the big market in downtown Mpls has wholesalers at some booths. Two of my favorite markets are the Mill City Farmers Market and Midtown Farmers Market. You will be surprised at how inexpensive local, fresh produce is!

(5) Find a local farm that welcomes visitors and take your kids there. Let them see the chickens who lay their eggs, and the cows they get their beef from.

(6) Start cooking from scratch, at least some of the time. I grew up in a household where Hamburger Helper was the norm, so it took years for me to get where I am today--don't expect to go from convenience food to Martha Steward overnight. Cooking from scratch is not just healthy and fun, but it will save you money. I no longer buy expensive dry cereal. Instead, I make my own granola, and we eat old-fashioned oatmeal I buy in bulk at the co-op for $0.89/lb. I also make my own bread, yogurt, and kefir on a weekly basis. I can buy a pound of pinto beans for $1.50, and with a little prep work, eat off that all week long--beans & rice, burritos, honey baked beans. I have dabbled in canning and freezing produce I bought at farmers' markets last summer.

(7) Read the list of ingredients on everything you buy. Avoid high fructose corn syrup. It is in everything from bread to juice drinks to cereal to jams. HFCS is the hallmark of cheap, over-processed food, causes blood sugar to spike, and is one of the reasons for our country's Type II Diabetes epidemic. Also avoid artificial colors, preservatives, and really anything that sounds like a chemical or that you have no idea what it is.

The ingredient list is where the truth lies. Just because the front of the box says something contains 100% Vitamin C or Iron does not mean it is necessarily healthy. Do your research and know what terms like "organic" and "natural" mean. Organic junk food (chips, cookies) is still junk food.

(8) Lastly, make sure your snacks and meals are well-rounded. My rule for snacks is that they should contain 3 of the 5 food groups; meals should have at least 4, if not all 5. If you follow that simple rule most days, you will be eating healthy.

Food is exciting--it nourishes us, it's what keeps us alive. Enjoy!