Would you like fries with that?

I try to wholeheartedly monitor what the kids eat and try to make sure it is somewhat of some nutritional value. I said try. I feel guilty if they eat fast food regularly or consume a bag of potato chips. Sure, there are a multitude of times that there is no way in hell Kale is getting a wholesome, cooked meal made with organic ingredients. I mean, geez. I wish. Our time doesn't always allow for such grand fiascos at lunch or dinner time. It's called a toddler and a baby. But, the least we can do is cut some of the bad shit out, right?

I think it should be against the law for food companies, the FDA and everyone else who is involved in our food supply to allow so much fake crap into our food. I mean, they're basically feeding us junk pumped up with antibiotics, pesticides and a whole bunch of food additives that our bodies weren't made to process. Why should natural, healthy food like meat and produce cost so much more to the public? Doesn't that sound ludicrous? And, of course this isn't a new topic that I've been dealing with...I did live in Austin for 2 years (lol) "You mean you don't have your own recycled organic cotton grocery bags?", but it's something that moved up in the level of importance once we procreated 'cause now it's just not ourselves who were feeding this crap to. So, it sucks that it goes something like this...Hey, if you want your kids to be fueled on high fructose corn syrup and food colors, buy our juice for $1.50...but, if you want natural fruit juice without added sugars well then you can pay $4.50 because we'd rather all the poor people eat unhealthy and die early. I admit that is extreme, but c'mon. I realize it costs more to grow and raise food sources that are untouched and produce at normal rates. But, if it was the norm, then maybe prices would fall a little.

It's hard to eat right all the time...especially with kids. The alternative seems complicated and pricey at the same time. I'm always looking for ways to make it less complicated, so I thought I'd share what I have been doing and what I'm looking for to make the transition less intimidating.
1) Stick to the outer areas of the grocery stores (i.e. produce, dairy, meats) all the aisles on the inside are usually all the overproduced food with the bad stuff.
2) Try and buy organic fruits, veggies and milk when you can.
3) Read the labels and stay away from these things:
*High fructose corn syrup
*Sodium nitrates-hotdogs, bacon and sausage
*Potassium bromate- I just read this in a Newsweek article. It's used to process flour.
*Acesulfame Potassium- a sugar substitute often found in things sweetened with Splenda.
Also look for it baked goods, gelatin desserts, ice cream, iced tea and soft drinks as stated by
the article.
*Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (trans fat). Be on the lookout for it in crackers, baked
goods, fried chicken and french fries.
*Artificial food colors: FD&C Yellow No. 5, No. 6 and FD&C Red No. 40

There's lots of things to stay away from and of course we can't eliminate all this stuff, but the first step is at least identifying what and where these bad guys are.