|
Save up to 50% on Your Grocery Bill
I have discovered the secret
of saving money feeding babies, toddlers and
preschoolers. Well, I can’t take the credit
for it. My mom taught it to me many years
ago but I didn't put it into practice until
the first financial crisis we had when my
husband was laid off.
What I have been practicing
now for many years has now become one of the
new buzz phrases -- "portion control".
Usually when we think of portion control it
is in connection with dieters and not young
children or saving money.
Most American parents serve
themselves and their children huge portions
of food. Their families eat only part of it,
and then they discard the rest. Next time
you scrape those half eaten plates of food
into the trash, think about this: 30% to 50%
of the food and drinks we buy, whether we
eat at home or out, get thrown away. If you
don't believe it's true, observe your own
family this week. How many half full bowls
of soggy cereal do you throw away? What
about half empty glasses of juice, milk or
pop?
It is easy to forget that
children under the age of four have only
about a quarter of an adult's body weight.
Often, we feed them adult portions and when
we do give them smaller portions, each
portion is usually only reduced to about
half an adult portion. Do you use that large
serving spoon and dump a full spoon of food
on your child's plate? Say you give yourself
two spoons of green beans and your child
one-- That means that you have given
yourself about 24 green beans and your child
12 when in reality, that child needs only
about six.
When deciding how much food
to give your kids, start small and work your
way up. Remember, if they eat what is on
their plates you can always give them more.
|
