ChopChop Magazine

My friend Katy and I met for dinner tonight and she asked me what my top five “must buy organic” items are. We both have toddlers and finding healthy foods that they will eat is not easy. My daughter used to eat anything, but not much of it. Lately, though, she’s becoming quite the picky eater. If it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup (corn sugar for those of you who were confused and needed the latest intelligence-insulting description from the FDA) in it she’s not very interested. Addictive much?!

Katy’s little man seems to have a dairy tooth instead of a sweet tooth and Katy isn’t sure if $7 cottage cheese is worth the investment.

So if I had to pick my top five organic items (and if my sweet, brilliant daughter ate everything I wanted her to) and everything else was “regular” or not organic they would be (in this order):

1. Meat

2. Dairy

3. Fruits

4. Vegetables

5. Processed foods

Yep, that’s broad and includes everything in the grocery store. Our family can’t always swing everything organic, but we do work our way down that list in that order as much as possible.

I’d love to say as far as quantity goes we each mostly veggies, then fruits, then whole grains, then dairy, then meat in that order with the largest quantity being veggies and the smallest being meat, but that’s not true at all.

The truth is we do the best we can on the budget we have. Every day is different. It’s a struggle mentally and emotionally to decide between organic and affordable. Organic doesn’t always win.

Damn you, Michael Pollen, and your guilt-inducing and alarming facts.

This spring I discovered an amazing magazine just for kids that’s all about healthy eating and activities. It’s a little advanced for my punkin’ but it will come in handy down the road. For those of you who have school-aged kids it’s worth checking out.

Have you seen this:

ChopChop Magazine: The fun cooking magazine for families

Puzzles inside ChopChop Magazine

Pictures like this one inside ChopChop show kids what various veggies look like. Gorgeous!

Pretty pictures, clear directions and fun recipes for kids make this a fabulous family magazine!

This magazine is so much fun. There are no ads, just tons of content. You can subscribe for $14.95/year by going to www.chopchopmag.com.

Even if your kids are too small to help much in the kitchen you should check this out. The recipes are great for us adults, too.