Our food philosophy as a family can be described as mostly-homemade, as healthy as we can, whole food, always allergy-friendly, part-time vegetarian/vegan, with occasional treats on the side. Phew!
On the whole, we try to buy and cook with whole grains, fresh produce, grass-fed meats and dairy, and organic ingredients as often as we can. We’ve always been pretty healthy eaters, but became more focused on specific ingredients when we discovered that our oldest daughter had an egg allergy at only 8 months old. Since then, we’ve become professional food label readers. While checking for eggs listed as an ingredient in our food, I started noticing the overwhelming presence of other “ingredients” that I didn’t recognize and quite frankly couldn’t often pronounce. And I didn’t like it. I especially didn’t like the idea of putting those ingredients into my little one’s body. I had to make better choices for her.
After researching and reading about both food allergies and these other “ingredients” in many types of packaged and processed foods, we made a gradual shift toward purchasing and cooking with mainly organic and minimally-processed foods (thanks to some guidance from an early blogger influence 100 Days of Real Food). And although our produce bill is slightly higher than before (counterbalanced by the less money we spend in the middle aisles of the grocery store), we think it’s worth it. Once you’ve read about this stuff, you just can’t unlearn it.
In the name of keeping some balance in our lives, I admit that we don’t shy away from sugar now and then, mainly because I LOVE to bake. And when we’re away from home or out with friends, we let our girls share in what their peers are eating, in an effort to 1) share in the fun of eating with friends and 2) not create an atmosphere where certain foods are taboo. In my opinion, it’s more important that my girls learn to take pleasure in eating things they enjoy because eating is a social experience. As they get older, I hope our conversations about food and our time spent in the kitchen together will help them make informed decisions about what they put into their own bodies.
At home, I’m a firm believer that kids should eat what we eat as adults. Real food. Yes, we eat our fair share of pasta and applesauce, but we’re also encouraging our girls to try salmon, curries, veggie fajitas and salads. Although our oldest is pretty good about at least trying everything we make, she certainly doesn’t love every recipe, and that’s okay. Our youngest is a bit more particular (and opinionated!) about what she likes. But if I make a recipe and Jon and I like it, we’ll make it another time and encourage them to try it again. That’s all we can do.
In recent years, we’ve been experimenting a lot with vegan cooking…and I have to say, I’m loving it! I was a vegetarian throughout high school and college, so I’m no stranger to plant-based recipes. However, when our youngest was just 3-weeks-old, we found out she was sensitive to cow’s milk, soy and eggs in my breastmilk, so in removing those ingredients from what I was cooking, we ended up making a lot of vegan recipes.
So, here we are…most-of-the-time vegan/vegetarian, some-of-the-time meat-eating, full-time allergy-friendly eaters, with an occasional treat on the side!
