PLEASE educate me re. food for dd

[Mascaraohara]

I am so embarrassingly ignorant it is untrue.. I think I feed her relatively well but I know there's room for improvement and I think I'm probably giving her bad things without even realising. Please educate me.

I want us both to start eating better and healthier but I don't know where to start.

Warning, I am not a great cook and am single parent that works fulltime ..

so what dod you give her now?
and how old is she?

She's just turned 4. She eats pretty well and we probably eat out twice a week at weekends (I would like to cut this down).

In the mornings she has cornflakes/rice krispies/mini shreedies/cheerios and the like, semi-skimmed milk no sugar or toast with Olive spread and sometimes topped with marmite/jam/honey/marmalade etc she likes porridge in the winter but that's always out of a packet that oat-so-simple stuff

I'm terrible for giving her 'treats' though through the day at weekends and eating out etc

she eats fruit, fish and some meats, pretty good with veg but not much salad stuff. I'm terrible for buying packet food because it's quicker, I never read the ingredients.

Mostly during the week she eats at nursery and her childminders or my mum's. My mum is terrible and packs her full of crap. How do I stop this if I don't know what to recommend as an alternative?

I really am clueless. I really don't know where to start for either of us.

For treats, my 2 are dried-fruit queens - pineapple, banana, mango etc - no prep necessary, so excellent. (obv, they prefer choc and sweets but if I say they can't have those, they're quite happy with it). Also, maltloaf with butter.

breakfast sounds fine - we have weetabix and banana as well so that I can make sure that ds1 (4.5) gets some fruit in for the day as he'll only eat bananas.

Dinners usually along the spag bol / lasagne / meat, potatoes & veg line, although for quick teas it can be omelettes / pizza type things.

Does she eat pasta? if you need quick healthy teas then pasta sauces are quick to make - you can hide lots of veg in them and make loads in one go and freeze in pots.

If you give her treats and presuming crips and sweets why don't you give her a healthier version of the same thing. Eg crisps (and yes I know waayyy too much about these as I love them)Skips have no msg, colours, flavourings and are low in fat compared to other brands, or Organix crisps which are a similar thing.

If she likes sweets, I would try and switch to packs of dried fruit and just test different types until you find one she likes. Or again look on the back of packs for ones which are lower in fat, or sugar/calories, no artificial colours. I know Liquorise Allsorts arn't supposed to be too bad for you as sweets go so might be worth looking into.

Also try different types of fruit she might not normally have and do her a little plate with it all on?

tbh you know already what you should be doing - less packets, or at least ones you've read the back of, swap treats for healthy ones (or none) - and just need the famous MN kick up the arse .

Have you seen the Adsa 'Go Cook' stuff, which are kind of kits of fresh ingredients to make a meal with rather than a premade readymeal - might be a good way to start 'cooking' without too much effort / shopping, and might give you a feel for making a meal 'from scratch' as it were. And try jar sauces for pasta, curry etc - no shame in them if good quality and great for sneaking in veg.

Completely agree with the 'cook in bulk when you can bear it and whip out the freezer on the busy nights' plan - bolognese, chilli, soup, casseroles all good for this.
And roast chicken is a piece of piss (rub with butter/oil, S&P, shove cut lemon and cut onion inside, stick in oven) to do at the weekend and with only two of you will last a good long time in leftovers - inc cold chicken for sandwiches, on pasta with cheese, curry with aforementioned sauce etc.

good luck!

She has dried fruit for treats and the Jordans wholegrain bars as well as fruit when at home (I don't buy choclate or crisps)

But I buy those fuit flakes and bags of yogurt covered fruit etc, she loves raisins, dried blueberries and the like and I buy these thinking I'm being good but I don't know if they are good really are if they are secretly bad.

She's not allowed fizzy drinks and rarely has squash, only milk, water of fresh juice at home but does have , don't beat me, fruit shoots if we go out and her friends are having them.

I do need an MN kick up the arse!!! I don't understand what the labels are telling me apart from E numbers are bad, she picked up sweets the other day and said really loudly mummy have these got E numbers? I was really emabarrassed. Can you tell I desperately want to be one of you good guys but am just totally uneducated re. food.

She dosn't like 'pasta' but will eat spaghetti bolognase also when I say we eat out I do take her a vaariety of places like tapas bars, italian, asian etc so she gets a wide variety of styles/flavours but I have to admit it's only because I can't be bothered/am too tired/haven't got time after a fun filled day to cook..

..kick me.. hard... please... before it's too late!

i dotn think you soudn so bad

oh yogurts as well.. are they good or bad? she loves cruch corners and I don't know if these are good bad or ok. also those tesco kids pro-biotic yogurt drinks, I buy these thinking they are good??

Fish - is it MN making me paranoid then!! you all sound so good on here and I feel like I walk in the shadows

I don;t think you sound bad either. I was full-time working single mum until my eldest was 5 so know what's it's like to want a few shortcuts. Don't have crap in the house, I found easier. But Fruit Shoots when you're out and her friends are having them would be really hard to make a stance against. A few now and then isn't the end of the world. When she starts going to parties every week or so, it'sll be teh same there.

id say crunch corneers not necc
get some normal ones and limit to one aday

if devoted to crunch corners try normal yog with cornflakes. Or (real treat) plain yog with fruit/jam and cornflakes.

I think you sound good, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. What is it with Fruit Shoots anyway? Is it just the sweetners? I looked at the back of one the other day and they have no artificial colours etc.

Ah thanks guys you've made me feel so much better, sometimes I feel like I feed her the most terrible rubbish. Some of you guys on here are so good I am in awe!

Good idead with cornflakes and yogurt, think I'll give that a try as well.