Dear lentil-weavers......

[SauerKraut]

Can I just ask- what kind of meals do you give your kids? And how often do you give them whole grains? And what about red meat? And how much milk? I think I may be weaving a little too assiduously and possibly depriving mine of the right balance of nutrients.

I have successfully used part millet in porridge. With soya milk [defensive glare at Filly]

So long as I manage to serve fresh food made from good ingredients and keep a good variety going I think I am doing OK. Ds has a bizzare texture thing going and will only eat pureed vegetables.

Gillian Mckieth is not a qualified nutritionalist. Although do agree that eating fruit and veg and seeds is a good thing. I really don't like the woman as she calls herself doctor when she has no medical degree or phd.

Whole milk is for children under 2 - after that it has to be skimmed. I am trying to get my children to eat fish twice a week and red meat once a week, other meals are mainly veggie. I keep track of salt and bread, pasta and rice in our cupboards are all brown. I draw the line at wholemeal flour as I hate the taste of the cakes and pastry it makes. Food is supposed to be enjoyable and the odd bowl of coco pops is not going to lead to an early death.

i KNOW you can tick

but I am rather nervous about soy milk

agree almond milk + hot chocolate is very pleasant

millet is fine, I whizz it up in the blender to make a flour and use it in cakes and scones

accept that I am hardline though

moondog you're kidding right?? "Dr" Mckeith talks utter utter unscientific rubbish
e.g.
"In the past, she has informed us that a seed contains 'all of the energy necessary to make a fully grown plant', that 'chlorophyll is high in oxygen' which means eating green leaves will 'really oxygenate the blood', and that 'the colours of foods represent vibrational energies... foods which are orange in colour have similar vibrational energies and even similar nutrient make-up'"
ben goldacre in the guardian has much to say on the subject

Have to go and prepare my messy house for her party now, so thank you for all the advice, and I shall revisit this thread later. The books sound good- a visit to Amazon may be in order...

Hmmm,I really don't think her degree is phoney. Read a long interview with her in the Observer once.
She's not a total charlatan by any means.

Hot chocolate?

I do cocoa with water and some milk.

her degree is phony. Ben Goldacre managed to get the same qualification for his dead cat by post.
(that quote is from Observer btw)

Yes Harpsi,that seed stuff has been much quoted recently.
But come on she is advocating fresh unprocessed food.What's the problem?

Really good Sauerkraut - give yourself a pat on the back

Moondog, do you mean edamame? I love those.

And soya milk isn't as processed as a lot of things. I'm planning to get myself a make-your-own-soya-milk machine as soon as we get out of this stupid not-a-penny-to-spare stupid situation.

Yes Ticky.
There aren't any fresh ones where I live (and they are even more deliciously) but I notice that they are now being sold frozen by bird's Eye(?) and they are great.

Her degree is in psychology or something. Her nutritional credentials are store-bought.

Yes, she is mostly fighting the good fight, and often doesn't talk complete rubbish, but she has no grasp of science, and is quite dodgy, all in all.

I am not really so bothered by things being processed. I think its a good rule of thumb but...oh I dunno, we're designed to scrabble around for fruits and berries and the very occasional mammoth, so in comparison, industrial scale farming (I'd include even smallish organic farms in this, and def eg riverford) are really processing food.

soy milk...aaargh long guardian debate here. Put me off.

Have made soya milk though tick-even have recipe. You don't need a machine. Shall I try and dig out the recipe for you?

I'm a bit unsure about soya, isn't it grown using hormones? My son is allergic to milk protien and our dietician warned us not to use too much soya because of this. Anyone know more on this?

I too find it bizarre that people fell I am depriving my kids because I won't let them have (much) crap.
Gah,I've just put some vile Haribo thingies out on my garden wall for the birds (who will eat anything and even they are circling uneasily.)

Oh, mine only ever have whole grains. We do eat meat, but only a few times a week, at most. Lots of vegan meals - tofu is a nice protein source, and smoky tofu is quite child-friendly and easy to work with.

Moondog, you can get Realeat ones in Holland & Barrett - I think they have the ethical edge over Birds Eye
I would LOVE to try fresh ones!

Well yes,by definition everything is processed somewhat it is true.(Doesn't the law say that magic mushrooms are legal as long as they are not processed,but that even drying them entails processing.)

As I state quite often,good rule of thum is
'How much has this been fucked about with?'

If the answer is 'Not a lot' (a la Paul Daniels) I'll probably go for it.

i only give ds soya milk andf yogs etc because of his allergies. i have heard about the phytooestrogens but i would be stuck for yogs etc if he didnt have it. he doesnt have alot, mainly in porridge and soups as he is still breastfed.

sorry if this is a little hijack but while everyone is chatting could anyone advise on my diet for my ds? does it seem ok and any pointers as to what i should or shouldnt give at this age? thanks

SauerKraut, I admire your moral fibre
I can only tell you what I give mine or can get mine to eat!Ages 10,8 and 10 mths...
Rice milk/organic milk full fat
Organic red meat about twice a wk
Fish once a week.
Lots of soya products (dd2 dairy allergy so tey to cook inclusively but not too much for ds )
They LOVE veggie sausages inspired by school
Always have brown rice not white and they even prefer it now.
Make our own bread, never white (their choice in fact)
All home baking every day is our own hens eggs and organic everything else.
I make lots of soup out of chicken stock or veggies and lentils
We all love Beans!!
Every breakfast they all have a Rice milk smoothie made by dd2, she runs the smoothie kitchen and is trying to set one up at school!Even the baby will slurp it up.

The best I can manage really. Brought about by dd2's near fatal allergy to milk so we all had to change our diet to include her. So glad now.

Does this seem any use?

Oh really Ticky? I didn't know H&B sold frozen stuff.There's a shop in Llandudno where I'll be this afternoon so shall check it out.Thanks.

Filly, what I like about the machine is the fact that it can do it in about 15 seconds. But yes, I would be interested in the recipe

Vnmum,sounds like you are on the right track to me,and as you said as long as you are not bulking up with too much fibre,all should be well.

mrsnoah what happened to your son? mine has a severe milk allergy but I've always been told it is not life threatening although the first time he did have milk he swelled like violet whats her name in chalie and the chocolate factory