what do you feed the girls?

I've been talking a lot about what I've been eating, and that's kind of egocentric of me, eh?

I thought I'd spend a little time talking about what the three little (actually not so little any more) girls eat. I think a lot about food because I want to 1) keep MWH and I healthy for them, and 2) keep them healthy.

The girls eat a lot of plant-based foods and for the most part have never really eaten meat. They have turkey meatballs (I buy them frozen from Whole Foods) about once a week, and they eat hard boiled or scrambled eggs once a week or so. They love their dairy and eat cheese, yogurt, and drink milk all the time. I'd like to reduce their consumption, but change is slow and takes time.

Up until about 6 months ago, I didn't think there was anything wrong with dairy, and then until a few months ago, I couldn't imagine life without dairy, but here I am... dairy-free. I've been that way since beginning of December (I think--I wish I'd written it down). As the girls get older and are more amenable to change, I'll probably try to get them to reduce their dairy consumption.

As they are getting older, I'm asking them to eat more veggies and fruits. They all will eat lots of fruit--even twoK, remember this? Now, I don't agonize over twoK and what she eats that much. She has her days that are bad, but for the most part, she's not too bad. (Except when we travel, but we don't travel that often, so I don't worry about it.)

All the girls eat broccoli, carrots and peas. (twoK will only eat broccoli for n3nny, but whatever, I'll take it!) They all drink spinach blended in fruit shakes--twoK and oNe don't know it's in there yet, Three-a does, and she's fine with it.

I've given up soy milk, so consequently, they have too. Soy can cause problems with digestion, thyroid and disrupt other endocrine systems in the body, including those related to fertility. (Not that I care for myself, but I do care for the little girls! I want grandbabies someday!!!!) I've been drinking unsweetened rice milk and mixing it in with the fruit shakes to make them creamier. (Some day I'm going to make rice milk from scratch!) (And, google "dark side of soy" or "problems with soy" to read more if you're curious.)

The girls eat lots of whole grain tortillas, pastas, and breads with peanut butter, cheese, hummus (it's a new big favorite around the house twoK loves it the most), or guacamole (Three-a and oNe). They also eat lots of rice, salsa, marinara sauce, fruits. I can't think of it all right now, but I'll come back to it.

One of my goals for this year is to "expand" what the girls will eat. I've just instituted a rule that they need to try one bite of whatever Mom and Dad are eating... I forgot to enforce it tonight with the chard and onions I made for MWH and me--oops! They've tasted the peanut butter soup and they say they don't like it. We'll keep working on them.

twoK is pretty sensitive to textures and I try to be sensitive to her dislike of anything lumpy in something smooth. It's one of the reasons I make so many fruit shakes.

Oh, the other thing about the girls' diet, they really don't eat much refined sugar. Or at least, I don't feed it to them. N3nny gives them more than I do. I think she might feel a little sorry for them and how healthy we eat around here. My feeling is, and always has been, if they don't know any different, they don't miss it, so I don't give it to them.

Anyway, this post is kind of a snoozer, thanks for reading if you made it this far....

I'll close with an advertisement for that broccoli salad I told you about.... scroll down. SO YUM! I doubled the recipe and made it again on Sunday. It'll be gone tomorrow (W). I love that salad!