So in a weak moment the other day I purchased 2 Gerber Graduates Meals, with a coupon, thinking maybe I should have something like this around just in case we need a super fast meal and truthfully I wanted to see what they tasted like. Last night we decided to give it a try, I had been super busy all day and since my husband wasn't eating with us, I was going to have a Kashi frozen meals so I thought J. might enjoy his little T.V. dinner. The main marketing behind these meals is that they are lower in sodium then adult frozen meals and developmentally appropriate (which I have discovered just means that they are bite sized), so with a bit of hesitation I followed the directions and heated it up a bit- Mashed potatoes, chicken and carrots. As we sat down to eat I tried not to whence at the smell. The first bite was immediately spit out accompanied by a face that basically said "are you trying to poison me?". So I moved on to the meat, I even sat in on the tray so that he could feed himself, again it went in the mouth only to come out again. The carrots went straight to the floor bypassing the mouth all together. Jasper did however love my Kashi meal, with all of its spice, whole grains and actual taste.
On further investigation this is what I have discovered about the Graduates meals: They are no lower in sodium then a good quality organic frozen meal actually on the contrary, my Kashi meal had less. It is just that the Graduates are a smaller portion so you think it has less but if you look at the serving size and actually do the math the Kashi meal beats it hands down. The Graduates meal had more saturated fats, less protein and fiber, more sodium and sugar. The moral of this story is of course that convenience comes with a price and just because it is marketed towards children does not mean they should eat it or will eat it. I will now come up with healthy quicker options when need be and stick to higher quality fast foods, the Kashi meals are cheaper by the ounce anyway.
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