How I weaned my kids (and myself) off of boxed mac & cheese

 
One of my all-time favorite posts here was written last May when I confessed my family's various processed food addictions. Oh, the hilarious comments that poured forth with more confessions! Good times! We're all trying to feed our families healthy food, and yeah, convenience foods sure do come in handy. The big one for us was Annie's Mac & Cheese. I was feeding it to the kids once or thrice a week. Nights when I was too tired or unmotivated, or had prepared something like fish that I knew they wouldn't eat...you know the story. Well, something changed because I haven't bought any boxes of mac & cheese in 2010 yet. From what I can figure, there are four reasons:

1. Meal planning has changed everything. There isn't any indecision around dinner anymore. I've got a plan and I'm following through. No need for emergency rations.

2. I'm no longer dumbing-down dinner for my kids. I'm cooking meals to satisfy my husband and myself, and the kids had better hop on board or go without! I had this revelation when we were running the Meatless Supper Club. I wanted to cook so many of those delicious recipes, but feared the kids wouldn't like them. So what?? Who's in charge here?

3. My kids are now 8 and 5.5, and their palates are getting more sophisticated. Granted, I still have the PICKIEST EATER WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI, but he's trying new things and eating better.

4. Sometimes I let them help. I have to admit I don't love it because it gets me out of my groove (and yes, it is all about me), but they are far more likely to eat their dinner if they've had a hand in fixing it.

So I find myself passing by those colorful, bunny-adorned boxes in the pasta aisle, confident that I no longer need them in my pantry. Every once in awhile the kids ask for it, and sure, I'll probably buy it again someday. But it feels really good to have reduced my dependence on processed foods just a bit. Yep, chips in bags and soup in cans and fizzy drinks in plastic bottles still come into our house. All in good time.

Have you kicked any convenience food addictions lately?