Just curious. Just it matter to you how healthy he/she eats? Would or do you only purchase organic items (since that's the way God made them)? Do you follow the food pyramid? :dunno:

I try to make their diets as balanced as possible encouraging fresh fruits and vegetables and limit sweets and junk food. I would buy organic if we could afford to.

I might buy organic if we could afford to.

I do my best to make sure Andie eats healthy, but we do McDonald's on average 2 - 3 times a month. Probably will be alot less now that school is starting.

She's not big into sweets, which is good. She rarely eats dessert, and for snacks I only keep healthy stuff around like string cheese, goldfish crackers, those yo-go things.....

She's not big into veggies, either, but I do buy that V8 Fusion stuff that has a serving of fruits AND veggies in one glass, so that makes me feel better.

I don't really follow the food pyramid, but try to keep it balanced in my mind....make sure she's got dairy each day, fruit each day, grain and protien, etc.....

Organic isn't that much more then conventional food. Our Grocery bill has increased very minimal now that I purchase almost all items organic... :dunno:

I might have to try it. I read that page you sent me about the foods to try to buy organic. At LEAST our fruits and milk I could do....see how much that changes things.

I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow, so I'll let you know what I find out.... B)

Here in Yewsten, organic is about 50% more than non-organic.

We thought we were doing a very good job feeding our girls healthy. Then my oldest came in with a cholesterol level of 217. My wife and I - our jaws hit the floor. We've been feeding them a small portion of meat, along with copious amounts of fresh fruits and veggies. The only breakdown was every Saturday we enjoyed a "big breakfast" consisting of eggs, sausage, bacon... :drool:

Well, this morning we had oatmeal for breakfast. We're still in shock and trying to figure out how we can afford to keep our family fed (not feeling hungry) and healthy. Those are the three keys: $$$ HEALTHY Not HUNGRY

Eggs, White meaty fish, oatmeal, beans, potatoes, beef, apples keep you fuller longer. Popcorn is a great cheap snack...

I've been adding FlaxSeed to my morning coffee. FlaxSeed can possibly lower cholesterol...

Amish around here produce plenty of organic food! All cheap! :nod: One time I went on a bike ride with my kids and an Amish lady was waiting for me at the end of her laneway to give me bag of fresh tomatoes. How good is that? B)

Depends on if your "conventional food" is all name brand or not. Store brands are tons less than organic and the grocery cost would sky rocket...

There's a big difference in price here too.

All those meats are also contributing to other health ailments. So, we're steering clear of them. (Here in Texas, it's illegal to say anything contrary to beef, so I'm not saying that the fat content in anything other than 95% lean is too high for us at the moment...)

Firday's dinner meal at our house:
8 oz Whole wheat spaghetti boiled with olive oil and herbs.
3 chicken tenderloins

Chop the chicken into 1/2" cubes. Sautee the chicken in olive oil with some garlic, finely chopped onion and one chopped anaheim (mild) pepper. Reduce heat during last half of cooking. Remove chicken, leaving the onion, garlic and pepper. Add about 1/2 cup milk and whisk in about 2 tbsp flour. Season to taste (I used season-all). Continue whisking until a nice sauce is ready. Put the spaghetti into a baking dish. Put the chicken over the noodles. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Pour the sauce over the top. Bake in 400deg for 10 minutes (to brown the top). Makes six servings.

Add to that, large salads for the adults and small salads for the kids with oil & vinegar dressing. Maybe Italian 'cuz it tastes better than plain. Dessert consists of a fruit of some sort.

After all that, I'm still hungry. If I go back and cook the rest of the noodles, I'm fine. My problem is carbs. My daughter's problem is cholesterol. It sucks.

Fish Oil capsules?

I buy store brands normally. The organic has increased my bill by a minimal amount. I've noticed most organic items are on sale or at least on sale more often. I guess they don't have the long shelf life that other food does :dunno:

Cool! My MIL/FIL are growing cherries, grapefruit, canteloupe, watermelon, tomatoes and cucumbers.

My parents are growing tomatoes, cucumber, muscat grapes, blueberries, lemons, kumquats and persimmons.

We're growing tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, apples (they all disappeared off the tree :nono: ) oranges, lemons, plums and nectarines. I guess in the long run we'd do pretty good with what we have :P

Our neighbor has organic mangoes.......gave us a bagfull the other day!! :thumbsup: