Snack choices
I don't keep chips in the house other than tortilla chips because salsa has fruits and veggies in it. We don't buy cookies or cereals, probably because we rarely have milk in the house. We just don't use milk that often. I do buy reduced fat crackers to pair with peanut butter or sometimes cream cheese. The kid loves green apples, so I have them. I also have red Gala apples because those are the kind I like. The kid demands we keep celery and baby carrots in the house so he can make celery carrot surprise (peanut butter is the surprise). I try to keep lite yogurt in the house, but it goes quick. We were buying cartons of ice cream, but I've found that mini ice cream sandwiches and chocolate coated vanilla on a stick were cheaper and lower in sugar, so that's what we do now.
Meal choices
We tend to buy a lot of frozen foods, like hotdogs, pizzas, Banquet meals, and bratwursts. I try to get beef, pork, and chicken when its on sale. I pair Banquet meals with biscuits, a canned veggie, and instant potatoes. I get baked beans for hotdogs, mac and cheese to go with chili...adding side fillers helps stretch our meals for the kid. The kid instantly loves to consume protein and starch. It's my job to break them up for him. He likes having tuna for lunch in the summer. Last night, the child actually requested I buy some boneless chicken to put in the crockpot with cream of chicken and cream of mushroom for a dinner. We don't always eat crappy meals, but when we do, it's because the good stuff didn't go on sale.
Making changes
We're always trying to stretch our food dollars. Even with buying such frugal meals, we average about $300 a month on groceries. I've gotten to the point where I've said to heck with the cost! We have to eat to survive and its all expensive, so we might as well buy healthy foods that we like. Now, I can't afford to keep buying grapes, but I always find a way to keep carrots, celery, apples, yogurt...(whatever fruits or veggies the kid likes) in the house. There was a time when the boy wouldn't touch anything green or anything that touched something green, but now that we don't have junk food to stuff up on all day he's a lot more willing to try other foods.
About food consumption in our home
I once took the kid to the clinic (never again) and the doctor told my son he was "a little pudgy" and should try to be in better shape like his mom. I told her, "I'm not in better shape! I barely eat because I can't afford to feed the both of us well, so he eats better than me. Do you really think that's the right thing to say to an impressionable prepubescent boy?!" Of course my kid doesn't care about his body, but I was still insulted. She doesn't know if her statement could trigger anorexia or bulimia in my little boy! She smiled and left the room to collect some printouts. Then a different doctor joined her to dip around the food pyramid with me. My kid did not get treated for his illness, a cold-like bug, until his insurance switched over to Nc a week later. I just wanted to GTFO of there before I served that doctor a can of mama bear's most famous.
Exercise for the kid
The kid always comes first, as he should. He always gets the bulk of a dinner and for a long time he'd get the junk food that filled him between those meals. He eats well, better now, but he doesn't get enough exercise. That's his problem and you can't force a kid to exercise when its 90* outside, when he has allergies and we have to be frugal with Zyrtec, when he has a phobia of bees...While I'm dedicated to this exercise goal, I'm indirectly forcing my son to go outside with me while I do these new exercises. I can see where he's slowly encouraged to join me and choosing to go out by himself to be around other kids. He no longer wants to emulate me at this age, but he is still subjected to the social norms of our household. His school councilor said to me that she was very surprised to hear him say he went outside with the neighborhood kids and that he was excitedly reading in his free time. We're doing the summer reading program, which means we'll be walking a quarter mile each way to the bus once a week and then doing our normal neighborhood trudging between bus time. It'll cost me about $35 in bus fare and surely weekly sodas, but its still cheaper than car insurance. Juices and teas have just as much, if not more, sugar, but soda is still a very rare and special treat for us.
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