Tips When You Need to Buy Readymade Snacks

As mentioned in my previous post, there are times that I can’t prepare my son’s meals. Just like any other working moms out there, I don’t always have the time to do everything! As much as I want to keep everything homemade, there are times when it is impossible. So I do the next best thing for me: buy store-bought snacks. It is better than to allow my son to go hungry, right?

However, I just don’t buy snacks just because that’s what other kids eat or because that’s what I used to eat when I was little. To choose ready-made snacks, here are some things moms can keep in mind in choosing what to put in the grocery basket and what I do before handing over for kids to eat:

• Avoid overly sweet or salty food. Even your local public health nurse recommends not giving salty and sweet food to your little one (until the age of 3). Small children’s internal organs are not ready to process huge amount of salt and sugar in their teeny-tiny bodies. Studies show that what we eat when we were little has an impact on our food choices later in life. Avoid cream-biscuits, wafers, or crisps when buying ready-made snacks for your kids.

• Don’t fall for the organic labels, read the ingredients. Moms these days are easily drawn into the organic food labels, thinking that organic meant healthy. While it could be true for some brands, not all food labeled as organic are healthy. So when shopping for ready-made snacks, make sure to read the ingredients list. If there are anything in the list that you are not familiar with, it is more likely to be artificial.

 

Left vs Right: See the difference?

• Check the expiration date. Make sure that the pack you bought is not yet expired or way in advance of the Best Before Date.

• Taste it first before giving it to your kids. A lot of issues these days show that even the well-known brands falling culprit to negligence in food preparation. Moms reporting of molds inside a packet of flavored milk or fruit smoothie are rampant these days. Even if the packet indicate that the item is way before its Expiration or Best Before Date, it is better to take a few sips especially if you can’t see the contents before handing it over to your child. It is always better to go on the side of pre-caution than to get the risk of food poisoning.

• Try to avoid flavored options. These usually applies to dairy products such as flavored milk and yogurt. Do you know how easy it is to add sweetness to these items naturally? My advice is to buy the plain ones because it allows you to cut the sugar amount drastically! Buy plain fresh milk or plain Greek yogurt for your kids. To sweeten, you can easily add fresh fruits such as banana, berries, or cooked apples. I recommend to add a drop of maple syrup or honey (if your child is more than 12 months).

Note: I store a couple of packets of ready-made snacks in the cupboard to make sure my son has something ready for snacking on days I am unable to cook for him. If my first choice brand is not available, I try to buy the next best alternative. My goal is still to provide my son with healthier and homemade food choices. 

I also buy fresh fruits. Sliced fruits are a nice snack for little ones. Kids will particularly love eating some sliced apples, a banana, or plum as a snack. Snacks are meant to keep your kids from getting hungry as they wait for the next meal such as lunch or dinner. So it need not be too heavy to avoid losing appetite for the meals.

Useful Tips When Making Child's Meals

Ready-made meals are very convenient. Just choose a packet from the grocery aisle, put in the cart and pay before leaving. Super fast and convenient! Plus, it reduces the amount of chore that you need to do when you get home. It is an easy way to get things done for parents who are working or too tired to make meals for the kids. But did you know that ready-made meals, even those made for kids, contain a lot of sugar?

A number of recent studies show that babies who were given ready-made meals tend to be fussy eaters when they become toddlers. Scientists also discovered that the some diseases we have when we become adults like obesity; are traced back to the nutrition we received when we were infants.

I am not saying that we should NEVER give our children ready-made meals. We could be in a situation that ready-made meals are the only choice that we have. However, new parents should not think that ready-made meals are healthy. They are not. And the frequency that we give these to our children should be very limited. Ready-made meals should only be given to children when we are outside or if we are on-the-go. When kids are at home, homemade meals should be the number one choice.

When making meals for your kids, especially babies, here are some useful tips:

• Do not cook for a single serving only. Cook in batches and freeze.
• Do not add salt especially if your child is under 12 months old. Their tiny bodies only need a very little amount that they can easily get from breast milk or formula.
• Buy small containers to put your child’s meals. This is extremely helpful when feeding babies.
• Do not think that you need to be a professional chef to cook for the baby. Babies do not have a clue what delicious food is. Parents and people that feed the child influence the baby’s palate.
• Do not be afraid to mix-and-match vegetables and fruits to make your child’s meals.
• Introduce your baby to natural food such as fruits and vegetables first. Avoid ready-made rice cereal or artificially flavored cereals as first food for the baby. These do not have any guaranteed health benefits to your baby.
•  Do not be afraid not to follow what your mom said. This is a tricky one especially if you still live with your parents or they live nearby. The generation that they lived in received a different advice in weaning the baby and recent studies oppose what they know of. Explain that there are recent studies that back up what you are doing and show her the article, if possible.