I love cooking, especially elaborate and complicated meals, so when I was pregnant with my first child a friend joked, “Just wait till you have kids, then you’ll be eating crackers and cheese for dinner with the rest of us.” Now everybody has their priorities, and for me, not having a real meal would signify a state of total personal chaos. Sometimes, to my husband’s frustration, our house will be a disaster, there will be no clean laundry, but four food groups will still be on the table. That being said, I can empathize with the challenges of cooking for a family: we don’t all want to spend time in our kitchen, especially with whining kids, no gratitude and a pile of dishes to wash. Cooking is also an acquired skill, so if you have not learned how to do it, the results can be devastating. I remember the first time my father cooked us dinner – he started a fire that almost burned our kitchen down.
But here is the problem: in our current food environment, cooking is the only affordable way to enjoy a healthy diet. I have done a fair number of shopping tours with moms and they always want to know about the Sidekicks, the hot-dogs, the crackers, the cans of soup. And while these foods are convenient and most kids like them, they are not really healthy.
Looking at the food labels, you will see that they are usually loaded with sodium, sugar and preservatives and lack fibre, vitamins and minerals. Healthier “quick” choices are available but are usually significantly more expensive. So what are some quick ways to compromise?
• Dilution: For some instant meals, the nutrition profile can be improved by mixing in a plain food. For example, if your child likes canned pork and beans that offer fibre and iron but are also loaded with salt and sugar, you can heat them up with a can of plain beans.
• Healthy additions- a bowl of instant ramen noodles can become a lot healthier with the addition of frozen vegetables, an egg or some leftover meat. Similarly, vegetables and protein can be added to Sidekicks, Kraft dinner or canned soups.
• Keep a container fresh chopped veggies in the fridge and add a handful to your plate at meals.
And the old reliable; cook large quantities and freeze leftovers for another day.
