This is the second post in a five-part series written by students in the University of Texas’ Nutrition Through the Life Cycle class. Denise Forsthuber is a second year International Relations and Global Studies major at UT. She is an avid traveler and interested in international diplomacy. Her article is about a revolutionary new use for NurturMe baby food.

Let’s face it: as college students “nutrition” isn’t always a part of our vocabulary, much less our diet.  I know people whose dinners consist of Ramen, Coke and Oreos, and that certainly isn’t the healthiest meal ever. I don’t always eat the most nutritious foods in the world either, but for the most part I do try. So when I heard of recipes for toddlers using NurturMe, the organic quick-dried baby food you just add to liquids to prepare, I was intrigued. It is marketed as baby food, but the company also advertises it as a nutritional booster for toddler’s foods. I could use some extra nutrition in my food, and the company’s suggestion got me thinking… Was NurturMe something I could incorporate into my own diet?

I figured it was. In reality, what was so different between a toddler and me? Other than a lot of age and schooling, somehow our diets remained pretty similar: simple. A toddler wouldn’t appreciate the full quality of Pizza alla napoletana.  To them it’s just a pizza, and on a practically nonexistent budget with a negative amount of free time, I can’t appreciate it either. So when I eat, I stick to no-hassle foods like sandwiches and macaroni and cheese like many busy families with picky eaters. The bread is whole grain, the turkey is low sodium, and the cheese on the sandwich is low fat, but the macaroni… not much I can do to make that healthy. Until now, that is, since I’ve found NurturMe.

Yes, NurturMe is designed for babies and toddlers, but there’s nothing wrong with eating like a toddler when it’s delicious. A packet of Scrumptious Squash mixed into my mac ‘n cheese, or Crunchy Carrots cooked into my chili not only have the ability to blend in and pretend like they’re not actually hiding in my food, but they magically make it more nutritious too. With one packet, I’ve added healthy carbohydrates, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, potassium, dietary fiber, and beneficial phytochemicals to my food while barely even trying.

NurturMe is revolutionary because I no longer have to spend time washing, peeling, cutting, and cooking when I want some vegetables. Now, I can just rip open a packet and make myself something that’ll be ready in minutes without the guilt of knowing I could be eating something better. Not only do I still get to eat the easy, delicious, and now nutritious foods I enjoy, but with all the prep-time I’m saving, I’m sure my grades will improve too!

NurturMe can literally bring benefits to the table, so there’s no reason for anyone not to try it, even college kids. Without Mom around we can eat whatever we want, and since vegetables usually aren’t at the top of the list, we might not get all the nutrients we need. But simply adding NurturMe fruits and vegetables is fast, it’s easy, it doesn’t ruin the flavor of the food you’ve added it to, and it’s healthy. Though we’ve been taught that a good diet can have a huge impact on performance, it takes baby steps to build up healthy eating habits on our own. That’s why I think during this learning process, baby food for baby steps might not be a bad idea.