So DH has just told me that the DCs diet today has been rubbish. I disagree what do you think?

[Virgil]

Ok so it's not exactly going to win awards for healthy day of the year but I genuinely don't think what they've eaten today is too bad.

Two Weetabix with raisins (and sugar)
Slice toast with marmite
Strawberry and banana smoothie

Lunch spaghetti bolognese which had mushrooms peppers onions, tomatoes in it as well as beef mince and some lentils and herbs
Muller fruit corner for pudding
Water to Drink

Large lemon curd cupcake at movie time (plus a lick of the bowl each)

Ham roll with crisps and grapes, another lemon cupcake and a glass of milk

It's not that bad is it?

OTher than the two cupcakes it looks fine.

GirlWiththeMouseyhair it seems that your pediatrician did not make clear to you that those recommendations are for families where food allergies run in the family. For example, my family. My dd did have an allergic reaction to egg which was fed to her (unbeknownst to me) by dh before she was a year old. She ended up covered in hives and in the doctor's office. Egg white is more likely to cause a reaction than egg yolk...hence the difference in age recommendations. She is perfectly able to eat egg now, but your ability to handle certain foods is not fully developed before age 1. I don't know what else is on your list, but I did not give my dc's strawberries, kiwi, shellfish, molusks, honey or nuts before they were old enough to talk (age 2 to 3). There are people in my close family who are allergic to all of the above and current thought is that allergies are genetic. I'm sorry you are learning weird hangups about food in LA. I love the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables of all kinds at all times of the year at prices that I can afford (certainly not something I experienced when I lived in London).

Virgil I can only see good things. I think it is great that you bake with your kids. I think it is great they are getting plenty of fruit. I think it is great you are keeping an eye on the ingredients lists on processed foods like yoghurts so you know what is in them (and because the 'healthy' and 'organic' ones are often anything but). I doubt your children will become obese if they have two cupcakes in a day.

You could take any day of a child (or adult's diet) and pick it to pieces and say there isn't enough protein, complex carbohydrate etc etc. It doesn't matter. Over a week do you give your kids varied meals with plenty of veg and protein? Of course you do. Tell your DH to chill out.

Sofia I agree the variety and quality of fruit and veg is great (though not substantially cheaper than when I ordered veg boxes in London), though meat is a hell of a lot more expensive and you really need to be careful to make sure you're buying humanely raised animals not pumped full of hormones, which wasnt something i ever worried about In the uk due to the seeming transparency and hood food labelling. Due to my personal experience, I'd argue it's harder to know what you're eating here and more of an effort to ensure your children are getting the right stuff - took me weeks to realise DS' sudden addiction to bread was due to all the sugar and corn syrup in it! Maybe that's why there end up being so many hang ups over food.

To be fair there are no allergies in my not DH's family, hence maybe our more relaxed attitude to weaning our children. Both mine have had strawberries, kiwis, eggs, major proteins before 12months and honey and nuts after 12months, but I do appreciate we're lucky in this respect. So the advice in the uk is probably better because it is given on knowledge of family histories of allergies, rather than a blanket "one size fits all" ideology.
I agree that baking and eating cake with your children is one of life's simple pleasures.

Girl, you have probably figured it out by now, but you can pretty safely buy things at Trader Joe's without reading the label. Whole Foods too (but not in my budget). I don't bother with organic fruits and vegetables, and buy my fruit and veg at Top Value (have you discovered this store or any local hispanic store, yet?) so spend really much less than at the supermarkets and get much more freshly picked foods.

I think some of the food labeling issues are just what you are used to. I found the e numbers to be confusing when I first got to the UK, as I was used to scanning for specific names of things and knew what all the different versions were called. I had to relearn everything in terms of e's. I also found it very difficult to find things without MSG in England, while they were readily available here (this was almost 15 years ago, so things have changed a bit). Also, people in LA are much more aware of what they are eating than in most of the rest of the country. Kind of like the difference between (Hartlepool - where dh is from) and West London (where we lived in London).

Also, pediatricians vary here just like GP's do in the UK. Although the USA is more litigious so they are probably more cautious here. I had several incidents of appallingly poor medical care in the UK, that would have resulted in a lawsuit here and didn't even merit an apology there.

My children had:

raw quinoa and pumpkin seeds for breakfast (home grown organic, natch). rainwater to drink.

gojiberries for snack. (I know, I know, how naughty of me!)

uncooked organic wild rice and breastmilk yoghurt for lunch (my own milk, of course - I know there is some sugar in breastmilk so this was a real treat for them!). River water to drink.

Steamed seaweed and raw black garlic tangine for dinner. fennel seeds for pudding.

Is that ok?

This thread is properly, properly hilarious. There are women in the world who if they heard that their kids could have 3 meals a day wouldn't believe it. And some of you are actually criticising someone who feeds her kids weetabix and a sandwich? seriously? My god, you'd have a coronary if you came into my house some days.

OP that day's food sounds great, you sound lovely. I hope you're carrying on as you are and not listening to some of the cobblers on here. Can I have one of those lemony cupcakey things? they sound gogeous.

I'm assuming the 'proper' banana peeling post was a joke. Otherwise that woman really needs to get her shit in order.

For a second i thought your menu was serious, I was about to pee my pants.

Pumpkin seeds are really delicious though! :o

Sofia I really don't want to derail the thread but do take some of your points on board and agree with you. Except when it comes to healthcare in US.v.UK...that's a whole other thread subject and one I won't go into here because I'll just get really cross. No NHS bashing please.

"So the advice in the uk is probably better because it is given on knowledge of family histories of allergies"

Nobody really knows why some people are allergic and others aren't, but one thing we do know is that you don't inherit allergies.

I'm the first person in my family to have allergies. This is quite common - many people I know with allergies have no relatives with allergies.

Sorry that wasn't clear. I'm trying to say that "no history of allergies in family" doesn't mean that your children will not be allergic to various substances. While a certain level of predisposition is inherited, the allergy itself is not passed down the family tree like blue eyes, and it is very common for one severely allergic person to be the only one with allergies in his family.

Yeah but I'll leave the breastmilk yoghurt!

Very true Cote. I think that's why advice errs on the cautious side in the USA. I also found advice on what to eat/not eat while pregnant differed. In the UK I was told to limit my alcohol to 2 drinks a day, while in the usa my friends were told not to drink at all. In UK I was given advice about soft cheeses (not pasteurized) and peanuts, while in the USA my friends were advised to avoid sushi (and peanuts). There is definitely an inherited component to allergies, but as you said, just because you don't have any, doesn't mean your children won't. My ds has a rare condition caused by a mitochondrial genetic mutation. Both my mother and I have the same mutation, but neither of us (and as far as we know, no one else in her family) has the condition. It may start with a particular gene, but then other things modify it.

Girl, I agree to avoiding discussions about the NHS with you on this thread, because having a chronically ill child with a rare condition makes me hypersensitive to the nuances of the medical care he is getting.

I actually loe you whatinthewhatnow. I actually choked at 'otherwise that woman really needs to get her shit in order'.

We all base our opinions on healthcare based upon our personal experiences.

To be fair I think I probably do have a lax attitude towards allergies because there are none in either of our families, which I take on board is probably wrong. But then I do check my children's reactions after introductions of new foods.

I have just read this thread while ds has eaten a huge bowl of popcorn while watching puss in boots.

Marmite on toast
Milk
Banana

Ham sandwich
Strawberries
Pressed apple juice n water

BBQ meats, rolls n salad for tea :)