Nutritional Goals Revisited

Today I met with the dietitian (gotta love access to the experts!) to discuss her interpretation of our nutritional intake. Overall, she says we are doing "very, very well!" She is impressed with our food variety. I have to say that has come from my upbringing. We have always had a garden, always exposed them to new things and new recipes. I like to cook and don't mind the planning. Steve was not raised quite like that but came along over the years. He discovered beets and spinach after he married me. Two things he really likes! I have continued that philosophy and variety with my children from a very early age. I also don't cave. This is what we are eating.


What exactly did she notice?  We do have areas for improvement.

•  The entire family is not getting their required calcium rich dairy. We discussed shifting our nutritional goals to the focus on dairy from the NuVal scoring. We have learned so much from the NuVal scoring! But, we all need more milk. We also need to move to a lower fat milk. Last week we did move from 2% to skim but the kids really noticed. Not favorable! I think we will settle on 1%. She recommends Steve and I consume milk, in front of the kids, at least one time per day. If not, we both should be taking a calcium and vitamin D supplement. 
• Charley gets a fair amount of his dairy from lesser sources like cheese. No wonder he tends to be constipated. I think I will make more homemade yogurt and see if that will bring up his dairy. I know Alexis will eat it very readily and she too needs more milk as she approaches the teen years. Janet explained this age is when classically kids dairy intake really falls off and especially girls need it the most!
• We should change to unsweetened applesauce.
• She says potatoes and beans (including refried beans) and other starchy vegetables do count as vegetables. We had not been counting them! Which means, on some days we were doing even better getting in our 5 A-Day!
• Although I have been mixing white and whole wheat pasta for most dishes, we could do even better getting in whole grains with our pasta intake. Just make the entire switch!
• There are days when the kids juice intake is too high (both of the middle boys take a medicine in juice). These are empty calories. She suggests diluting the juice with water for this.
• We need to move from 3 fruits and 2 vegetables most days to 3 vegetables and 2 fruits.

Next time, I want to incorporate a tour of the store to learn more about things I tend to overlook. Like FROZEN bread (sprouted whole grains) in the Health Market section--better NuVals! I bet there are other hidden treasures within my local Hyvee!