"If you are what you eat then I am a Sau-ci Shrimp Cocktail"

“If you are what you eat  then I am a Sau-ci Shrimp Cocktail”

I grew up in the era of Hamburger Helper . Hungry Man Jack dinners were a treat my sister and I would have when my mother went out.  I remember the frozen dinners going into the oven looking like a science project and coming out bubbling and smelling delicious. My favorite part was the apple crumble that beckoned and encouraged you to finish the turkey with gravy so you could eat the sweet loveliness. Another big treat was the Sau-ci  Shrimp Cocktails, miniature shrimp in cocktail sauce that came in their own glass jars which my mother then used for juice glasses. She still has them. I shudder to think how many preservatives there were in those little glass jars.

My mother, who was not an enthusiastic cook, often made recipes from the “I Hate to Cook Book,” like Hama-Lima supper and  Stayabed stew. Nary a fresh vegetable in sight. The recipes always called for canned veggies.  My mother used to bake chicken a lot. I remember loving that. She baked it flooded in butter. The crunchy skin was always the best part.

         This was not the era of health food.

We have come a long way since then. We have learned how much impact our diets have on our health. Good quality fruits and vegetables are available all year round and yet we are still not making good food choices.

All my research shows how important food is and how it is inexorably connected to how our immune system functions. Most significantly how the first 8 years of a persons life can determine their health for the rest of their lives. The food a child eats is what gives their little bodies the tools that they need to build their immune system. If they are served American standard kid fare they are not getting that. It is very simple. Give a child real whole foods and their bodies can do what they are meant to do. Build an efficient immune system.

Great. Now that we have determined that the big question is HOW?????

My future blogs called Tapp's Tips will address just this question. I will show the foods that are doing us harm and why. I will give the good store brands that are committed to producing less processed more healthy foods as well as recipes that even the picky little ones will eat.

I hope you tune in.