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[Lee-Bee]

The big cook is a huge task for sure but I do not want to cook an additional meal daily on top of my family's dinner. Maybe because I cook everything from scratch its not like I ever just throw something in the oven from the freezer or a can so I just don't want to be bothered cooking more often than I need too. I am English so roasts and stews are also a regular meal item in my house too. I do a roast every cycle as its cheap to make it go a long way and that is the one meal that I usually have even more of so gets frozen for my meals too. I make curries, goulash and gumbo regularly as they are very popular once the kids pallets adapt. I think its great the approach you take with the veggies so the kids get exposed to all sorts of things. regular veg in our house are collards, swiss chard and spinach. I have a child with dairy allergies so I never cook with cheese now which sucks so I add collards into everything, and I mean everything, so they get more than enough daily calcium....they are actually a far superior source than dairy anyway. I bake loaves in bulk too and once cooled I slice and wrap individually in plastic wrap and just pull out what I need daily. My loaves are jam packed with whole grains, dietary fibre and fruit and veg. Having an egg allergy in the house also restricts my meals. Oh my goodness I can't believe the rapid increase of allergies and intolerances....did you know that allergies start in the gut? That is why it is SO important that we put good food into these precious children's bodies otherwise its going to keep getting worse.

I will look into collards. My 14 month old daughter is still dairy intolerant. When I use cheese I just divide up the meal for the daycare kids and then leave the dairy off ours but we pretty much do without dairy in the main meals for the most part. I still breastfeed to ensure she is meeting the protein/fats requirements. She is young enough that I can easily give her a different milk and yogurt than the others so the other kids get their dairy intake.

[bright sparks]

I will look into collards. My 14 month old daughter is still dairy intolerant. When I use cheese I just divide up the meal for the daycare kids and then leave the dairy off ours but we pretty much do without dairy in the main meals for the most part. I still breastfeed to ensure she is meeting the protein/fats requirements. She is young enough that I can easily give her a different milk and yogurt than the others so the other kids get their dairy intake.

Collards are super tasty and have more benefits than dairy not just calcium and all without the bad stuff.