Reading food labels - fat, sugar, salt yum!

I've never been a great interpreter of food labels but I found this handy guide in a British book called Annabel Karmel's Complete Family Meal Planner which explains what they actually mean by low fat, low sugar and low salt. The recipes in this book were pretty lame (chicken rissoles shaped like teddy bears anyone??) but I think this will stick with me.

So looking at the per 100gm serving

low fat is 2gms or less

low sugar is 2gms or less

low sodium (salt) is .1gms or less

high fat is 20gms or more

high sugar is 10gms or more

high salt is .5gms or more

I thought I'd road test some things that Leo likes to eat to see how they stack up and it's an interesting result:

Sultana Bran Buds (aka cereal with tanis) - per 100gms

1.5 gms fat - tick

25.1 gms sugar - big cross eek

.13gms sodium -little tick

Cruskits - per 100gms

12.6gms fat - little cross

3.3gms sugar - little cross

.7gms sodium - cross

Mother Earth Baked Fruit Sticks - per 100gms

2.6gms fat - little tick

33.6gms sugar - big cross

.2gms sodium - little tick

Ok, I've got to hunt down some better snack foods...damn!

The holy grail - which nutrients toddlers need

After significant research, I think I've found the answers I was looking for on what nutrients toddlers (and grown ups) need. As it turns out, there were no real surprises and here is the list according to Antonia Kidman and her nutritionist lady friend (and verified by the CSIRO):
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Good fats (essential fatty acids)
- Vitamins A, B, C, D and E
- Iron
- Calcium
- Zinc
- Magnesium

That's it! I don't know what else I imagined there would be but I think I thought there would be something I hadn't heard of.

Even more useful Antonia and her buddy have listed lots of foods that contain each of these things. It was very exciting to realise that Leo eats something out of each group and amazingly you could actually cover all groups by eating the following foods:

- Oats
- Milk
- Tomatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Sesame seeds
- Potatoes
- Egg
- Peas

Obviously it is heaps better to eat the full range of fruits and vegies but I found making this list super reassuring as these are all things that it is totally easy to get Leo to eat. Hurrah! He's not going to get scurvy or gout or osteoporosis!

Unfortunately all my new found nutritional self-confidence was brought back down to earth when I read that the CSIRO suggests that kids should eat a vegetable from each of the five color groups (green, yellow, white, orange and red) every day. Hmmmm, this is going to take a bit more work...

Antonia feeds vegies to toddlers!

So I know I probably should have worked out the joy of libraries many years ago but I have only recently discovered the joy of borrowing cookbooks. What a boon! Considering I’m only ever taken with a cookbook for approximately 3 weeks, this seems to be an ideal, not to mention affordable, arrangement.

So my first selection has been “Feeding Fussy Kids” by Antonia Kidman and a lovely nutritionist (two thumbs up) and the CSIRO Wellbeing Plan for Kids (lots of general info but not so handy for recipes).

I think I am pretty innovative when it comes to hiding vegies but Antonia takes it to another level.* The best thing about this book is that it is genuinely aimed at toddlers. I’ve seen a lot of other cookbooks for littlies which are really about school age kids who might even consider eating a salad if pushed.

The best thing in Antonia’s book is the “vegie laden pasta sauce” – what a Nigella-style title! I’ve thrown a slightly adjusted recipe below – as well as being great on pasta with cheese it’s really good as a pizza topping, as a base for Bolognese sauce and I’ve even used it in a shepherd’s pie with great success.

There were also a lot of clever looking smoothies, many of which include some silken tofu. I haven’t tried any of these yet so I will reserve my judgement.

Eleanor’s vegie pasta sauce
- One tablespoon olive oil
- One small onion finely chopped
- Two cloves of garlic
- One teaspoon of dried rosemary
- One teaspoon of dried oregano
- One cup grated or finely diced pumpkin
- 700ml salt reduced pasta sauce
- 2 cups V8 juice
- Half a cup of red lentils
- Half a cup of water

Fry onion garlic and herbs in olive oil over low-medium heat until softened. Add the pumpkin and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add all other ingredients and increase the heat to high. When the sauce comes to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 mins.

If your little one is brave with green stuff, stir through a cup of chopped baby spinach at the end.

* Please note that I’m more than aware that Antonia probably didn’t actually contribute to the writing of this book but I like to imagine of her lying back on a white couch in her designer gear wondering how best to get nutrients to my child.

Welcome to crouching child!

Thanks for coming to check out Crouching Child Hidden Vegies. In summary it is a going to be a blog about all my research into children's nutrition that would otherwise go only into my head.

I am Eleanor, mother of one toddler, Leo, and I have been struck by the lack of really useful information about what a person needs in terms of nutrients to really grow and develop into a healthy, clever, active grown up. I am also a passionate cook and have some ideas to share about some of the things that have worked for me in making sure Leo gets a reasonable spread of different types of food. If he had his way, I reckon he would live on sultanas, cruskits and milk!

Gaz, Leo and I also love to go out and I'm keen to share my experiences of what does and doesn't work when heading out with babies and toddlers.

Despite my general view that there isn't enough advice about healthy eating for toddlers, I would like to recommend the following trusted sources if you are after something more definitive than my thoughts:

http://www.health.vic.gov.au/nutrition/child_nutrition/child_nutrition.htm

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Healthy_eating_for_kids?OpenDocument

Look out for future posts on the best restaurants and cafes in Melbourne for babies and toddlers, my research into how much milk and how many vegies toddlers need every day, and my links to the best recipe sites when cooking for little ones.

Enjoy!