What healthy swaps can I make to my daughters diet?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, I'm really trying to cut out as much chemicals in my daughters food as possible. She is a fussy eater so it's more tricky.
I've swaped Robinsons no added sugar squash for a compleatly natural squash. She's also drinking more milk and we're persevering with water. She has organic apple juce with water.
I've swaped walkers etc for Burts, kettle chips etc. Anything with all natural ingredients.
I'm not giving her anything with artificial sweetener either.
Is there anything else I should so? she used to like Super noodles, but I'm not giving them to her now, after reading the ingredients.
She likes fruit and carrot sticks. Is it best to buy organic?
I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to food and cooking, but please let me know if you have any ideas.

I heard Greg Wallace (Masterchef bloke) on radio yesterday saying that in his opinion it was better to have produce that had a short period between being picked and eaten than decide by whether it was organic etc. In season veg always taste better than hothoused or imported, maybe she'd try a wider variety if you went to a pick-your- own ? Then you can mix with natural yoghurt or make your own simple ice lollies by blending and freezing. You can always make your own version of things like supernoodles by adding a dash of soy or stock to plain ones you just soak in boiling water - call it the same and she would n't know !

If you want to avoid chemicals, best to avoid any processed foods.

So - fish instead of fish fingers, chicken instead of chicken nuggets - unless you're making your own, of course!

However, things like noodles are fine - just don't buy the ones with added flavour sachets - you can make your own flavoured noodles very easily.

The jury seems to be out on organic foods across the board, although if you can afford them, I would opt for those - especially if your aim is to avoid chemicals.

I would also try to avoid overly processed, refined carbohydrates, although your daughter may not like this! So, wholemeal rather than white bread, brown rice instead of white. If bread is an issue, try wholemeal pitta - in my house this is never an issue, whereas brown bread of any descriptor is always met with huge groans!

I try to avoid chemicals too. Always go for natural stuff like butter instead of marge (ds2 has a dairy allergy so I'll use Pure occasionally)
Cook from scratch as much as possible.
Oven chips are really easy to make at home.
Bake your own biscuits (I can recommend the Anzac and 321 ones from this site!) and cakes. It will be a nice activity to do with dd.

Remember frozen veg often have more vitamins than fresh (unless from your own garden), because they are frozen so quickly after picking and not left in a box to lose their vitamins.