New Michelle Blog: Filling 19 Hungry Bellies on a Road Trip

[takers401]

As a warning, do not watch Kid Farm episodes and then read anything by Michelle. Particularly the Parentables blog post where she talks about the snacks that the Duggars eat at home and on the road. OH MY GOSH! She sounds like an idiot! Normally I enjoy reading her commentary as it's another insight into the Duggar family but this one just came as as if she was completely unintelligent. What's with the protein love? I think there were four or five mentions of how much protein an item had. I understand you want protein to fill up, but really? Does protein warrant that many mentions in a three paragraph blog post?

[Deleted03]

As a warning, do not watch Kid Farm episodes and then read anything by Michelle. Particularly the Parentables blog post where she talks about the snacks that the Duggars eat at home and on the road. OH MY GOSH! She sounds like an idiot! Normally I enjoy reading her commentary as it's another insight into the Duggar family but this one just came as as if she was completely unintelligent. What's with the protein love? I think there were four or five mentions of how much protein an item had. I understand you want protein to fill up, but really? Does protein warrant that many mentions in a three paragraph blog post?

it's pregnancy deformation, after trying for so long to fight morning sickness with protein, maybe she imagines it also fights car sickness... ?

[Witsec6]

It sounds OK to me. I think she was mentioning protein because a lot of toddler snacks are pretty carb heavy (cheerios, goldfish, animal crackers). I might have added some cheddar cheese cut into squares or peanut butter crackers, but it all sounded like stuff my (poor) family ate all the time.

[xDreamerx]

I didn't a problem with the animal crackers, goldfish crackers and pretzels. I mean that's pretzels are pretty common snack food and the other two are things little kids like. Pickles and green beans spritzed in vinegar sound awful to me (I hate sour things) but they are at least a vegetable. I mean it could be worse. The bottom half of the article was the part I didn't like. She writes:

Sometimes we eat in the bus because we have a small area in there where we can cook, and it has a little microwave and a small counter space, but it's just really limited to what we consume in there. But we can do Ramen noodles in there. We usually open up some cans of corn and green beans, and then we always have a light fruit cocktail and pineapple.

We also enjoy Indonesian noodles, because our friends Jonathan and Jennifer stayed with us for quite a while, and they introduced us to the Indonesian Ramen-style noodles. And oh, my, that is, a huge favorite, and it's so easy, and it has six grams of protein. I have a little coffee machine that we take with us on the road, and you can just push the button for hot water, and each person gets a cup. We put the noodles in there and then pour the hot water in, and they're ready, just like that.

Ew. Ramen? I mean I'm in college and I don't even eat the stuff. I probably would if there was literally nothing left on earth, but it's just so salty and awful. I can't imagine it's very good for you. You can't make them real pasta or stop at a restaurant? I mean it's not like they would have to foot the bill and even if they did, they have money. Stop pretending you HAVE to eat this way for the sake of being economical. Buy used and save the difference died a long time ago and we all know it.

[takers401]

I don't understand why there's such a love for the Ramen noodles. Wouldn't a ham and cheese sandwich be better for everyone? Throw in some of those much-loved pickels, a bunch of grapes, and a cookie and it seems like you've got a better lunch than a bowl full of noodles. My daughter is only 5 months so maybe I have to have kids that are in the toddler eating stage to understand this.

[marmalade]

"light fruit cocktail and pineapple?" Ick, that crap out of a can is big-agriculture's dream; it's loaded with high fructose corn syrup. It's summertime! Stop by a roadstand and pick up something fresh, you doofii.

[Olivia]

Ew. Ramen? I mean I'm in college and I don't even eat the stuff. I probably would if there was literally nothing left on earth, but it's just so salty and awful. I can't imagine it's very good for you. You can't make them real pasta or stop at a restaurant? I mean it's not like they would have to foot the bill and even if they did, they have money. Stop pretending you HAVE to eat this way for the sake of being economical. Buy used and save the difference died a long time ago and we all know it.

Ha, I love Ramen. I ate a LOT of Ramen growing up, and in college it was one of my treats (I was an athlete and tried to eat healthy for the most part, but my god, did I love my Ramen after a long practice). My husband and I met in college when he was very, very broke -- I'd go over to his house and he'd make me Ramen as part of our dates. lol.

Now I try to avoid it, but I still crave it. I hope to keep my kids far, far away from that stuff. It's like crack in a bowl. I don't want them to crave it like I do!

[bananacat]

"light fruit cocktail and pineapple?" Ick, that crap out of a can is big-agriculture's dream; it's loaded with high fructose corn syrup. It's summertime! Stop by a roadstand and pick up something fresh, you doofii.

No, there's plenty of variety out there and fruit packed in 100% juice is big recently. Before then I used to buy the fruit packed in water.

[xDreamerx]

Yeah, you can get fruits without the syrups now. You just have to read the labels. I will say I can't fault them for that one. I do eat canned fruit and veggies sometimes, especially since I live in Canada. In the winter you just can't get certain fruit and if you can it's very expensive (like 8 dollars for a quart of strawberries) and getting things like peaches in the winter is kind of impossible. I know, there's like this big push to eat seasonally and locally but I like not having scurvy.

Plus, fruit cocktail in the syrup is awesome, with the little cherries. I mean I hate maraschino cherries on their own but in that stuff? Pure awesome. It reminds me of being a kid.

I get it, the Duggars don't seem to eat healthy at all so it's easy to snark on. I'm just one of those people who eats what I consider to be "normally". I'm not crunchy or insistent that everything I eat be good for me, so I don't really see how eating fruit cocktail is so bad.

[Annette]

I like ramen too, and I have plenty of money for groceries. Mmm, oriental flavor! I drain off the water once it's cooked, and I use the entire flavor packet. Now that's salty!

[desertvixen]

Ramen is reserved for the occasions when I just cannot work up any enthusiasm for my kitchen.

Seconding the love of the Oriental flavor - I like to put the noodles in the bowl, dump the flavor packet in there and pour in just enough water to make some broth. Yummy!

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I have a love for ramen too. I make a killer salad of shredded cabbage, ramen, chicken, green onion, and a dressing made of oil, vinegar and sugar, plus the chicken flavor packet from the ramen. Mmmmm. Tastes a lot like a deconstructed egg roll with sweet and sour.

And in the winter, sometimes nothing makes me happier than a cheap ramen cup 'o soup and a grilled cheese. And I can -and do- make many soups from scratch.

[Rosa]

You know, they do have room in that giant van bus thing to pack a cooler with actual food. Sandwiches, milk, juice, cheese, cut up veggies. It's not the lack of extra-healthy food that bugs me (what is a road trip for, except junk food?) and I'm a ramen lover too. But aren't they supposed to be FRUGAL? How the heck hard is it to pack lunch at home and take it along? Even 20 sandwiches don't take up a whole cooler.

[luckylibrarian]

I make a killer salad of shredded cabbage, ramen, chicken, green onion, and a dressing made of oil, vinegar and sugar, plus the chicken flavor packet from the ramen. Mmmmm. Tastes a lot like a deconstructed egg roll with sweet and sour.

I can haz recipe?

Oh, and that doesn't sound like enough calories for any of the Duggars, even the youngest ones. No wonder the girls stay skinny - they're living on a coffee-cup sized serving of Ramen and fruit cocktails.

[slickcat79]

You know, they do have room in that giant van bus thing to pack a cooler with actual food. Sandwiches, milk, juice, cheese, cut up veggies. It's not the lack of extra-healthy food that bugs me (what is a road trip for, except junk food?) and I'm a ramen lover too. But aren't they supposed to be FRUGAL? How the heck hard is it to pack lunch at home and take it along? Even 20 sandwiches don't take up a whole cooler.

I remember seeing a recent episode (or maybe it was a web clip) where Michelle was home with the little girls and she made them a snack of ramen noodles. She cooked them in a pot, so it wasn't like she was after quick microwave food...plus she had access to that whole huge pantry and they still got ramen. She made some comment then about how they have a bunch of protein, but I'm sure they don't have as much as a PB sandwich or chicken nuggets, which are super common kid food. It's possible that she didn't use all of the "seasoning" packets on it, which means it's not really less healthy than average pasta, but it's not any better either.

I've never understood the appeal of ramen...the combo of slimy and salty doesn't really do it for me. But I can particularly understand it in cases where people have no $$, no way of storing fresh/frozen things and limited means of cooking. I've also seen ways to improve ramen by adding chicken, veggies, etc. if you really like it and feel like experimenting. Plus I've seen recipes where you can use the dry noodles for toppings and such. When you have a pantry that's bigger than my bedroom full of food...I think you could do better. Even on the road, those RVs have a fridge and freezer; you wouldn't even need to pack a cooler.

[JenniferJuniper]

The title just made me LOL. "19" hungry bellies? She must be including Joshie's belly then.

I've been watching too much Kid Farm, I know, but I got an instant vision of Smuggar wearing a helmet.

[Saoirse]

Ha, I love Ramen. I ate a LOT of Ramen growing up, and in college it was one of my treats (I was an athlete and tried to eat healthy for the most part, but my god, did I love my Ramen after a long practice). My husband and I met in college when he was very, very broke -- I'd go over to his house and he'd make me Ramen as part of our dates. lol.

Now I try to avoid it, but I still crave it. I hope to keep my kids far, far away from that stuff. It's like crack in a bowl. I don't want them to crave it like I do!

I am guilty when it comes to ramen as well. When I was at school it was an easier lunch/dinner or snack, when I was in my twenties it was the best hangover cure ever (salt, salt, salt) and nowadays I buy more expensive, vegetarian ramen to justify having it once a week or so; but I do agree that the pre-packaged, full-of chemicals and junk ramen shouldn't be a staple of anyone's diet. No matter how delicious it is. It's pretty cheap to make at home, why don't they just do that? Then they could cut out the junk and add fresh veggies and/or meats.

[debrand]

Sometimes I get a craving for Ramen too. I try to add vegetables to it so that I don't feel so guilty.

My youngest daughter had a friend who liked to crunch up the raw ramen, add the seasoning pack and eat them like potato chips. Unfortunately, she taught my daughter to do the same thing. I don't usually buy Ramen because my daughter eats it raw. :shock:

[xDreamerx]

Sometimes I get a craving for Ramen too. I try to add vegetables to it so that I don't feel so guilty.

My youngest daughter had a friend who liked to crunch up the raw ramen, add the seasoning pack and eat them like potato chips. Unfortunately, she taught my daughter to do the same thing. I don't usually buy Ramen because my daughter eats it raw. :shock:

Don't worry. I went through a phase of doing the same thing in fifth grade when all my friends were doing it. I grew out of it soon.

[O Latin]

I like Ramen, too. I used to particularly love it in junior high and would sometimes make myself Ramen for breakfast. Other kids would bring it to school for lunch. They would crunch up the dry noodles in the package, sprinkle the topping on it, and eat it like that. Nowadays I don't eat it so much because, yeah, it's not very good for you.

Also, I was raised with the idea that desserts were not healthy, but everything that wasn't dessert was "healthy food" and you could eat as much healthy food as you wanted. I was probably an older teenager before I realized that "not a dessert" did not automatically equal "good for you." I don't know why my parents chose to teach us this view of food, but I know that ideas about food and nutrition have changed a lot in the last couple of decades and I wonder if the Duggars just haven't kept up with it.

As far as protein, if Michelle is still on Weight Watchers, their new system really pushes protein heavy foods, so it might be something that's on her mind.

I don't really care if they eat junk while their traveling. My favorite part of traveling is that it's the only time (aside from Thanksgiving and Christmas) I allow myself to indiscriminately eat whatever I want.

[marmalade]

No, there's plenty of variety out there and fruit packed in 100% juice is big recently. Before then I used to buy the fruit packed in water.

My bad. Shows y'all the last time I bought fruit in a can. :oops:

[Feberin]

I ate ramen in college and I have some in our cabinets because every once in a while I like to eat it. But my son has never eaten it and I don't plan to feed it to him anytime soon. With the fruit cocktails while you might be able to purchase the 100% juice ones we all know that the Duggars are buying the syrup ones in giant cans from Aldi's. Also while on vacation it's fine to ease up on the healthy eating the Duggars travel much more then a couple weeks. When you are spending months on the road then you need to make sure you can feed your kids healthy foods.

[Sunnichick31]

Yeah, you can get fruits without the syrups now. You just have to read the labels. I will say I can't fault them for that one. I do eat canned fruit and veggies sometimes, especially since I live in Canada. In the winter you just can't get certain fruit and if you can it's very expensive (like 8 dollars for a quart of strawberries) and getting things like peaches in the winter is kind of impossible. I know, there's like this big push to eat seasonally and locally but I like not having scurvy.

This!!!!!! It's like the people pushing for this kind of stuff thinks that everyone lives in a nice, warm climate year round. um, NO! I don't usually get too much snow where I live (well, we do, but the 50+ mile an hour wind pretty much blows it away) but it gets cold! It's usually below 20 degrees Farhenheit in the winter so nothing will grow. Even when it is warm, there's still stuff you can't get locally (oranges, lemons, basically any citrus fruits.) Anyway, that's my rant on not being able to eat locally.

[Jessica]

If Michelle is focused on protein she should be making them PB sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Ramen noodles have a WHOLE ENTIRE 6 GRAMS of protein? WW bread is usually 4-6 grams of protein per slice!

[Deleted03]

If Michelle is focused on protein she should be making them PB sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Ramen noodles have a WHOLE ENTIRE 6 GRAMS of protein? WW bread is usually 4-6 grams of protein per slice!

and then there's the PB.... that's protein! But maybe they are tired of eating cold stuff and need a hot meal. But they may be too cheap to look for restaurants without knowing if kids eat free.

I mean worst case by a frozen entrée... but that must be the thing: not wanting to stop during the trip.