This tip may bug some parents.
In a new essay for Insider, food writer Tiffany Leigh revealed that she feeds her 18-month-old daughter crickets as a source of protein — claiming it saves her hundreds on grocery bills.
The Toronto-based mom started to supplement her daughter’s more costly protein diet of beef, chicken, and pork with whole roasted crickets, cricket protein powder, and Cheeto-like cricket puff snacks.
She said she’s been able to cut down her grocery bill from $250 to $300 a week to between $150 and $200.
The Post reached out to Leigh for comment.
Crickets do contain quite a bit of protein, according to Heathline, which reports edible crickets can even have a higher protein count than goat, chicken, and pork.
The outlet also noted that cricket protein powder contains 65.5% protein.
In the essay, Leigh wrote that a “mere 2 tablespoons of cricket powder provides 100% of the daily protein needs of a baby, which for my 20 pound baby is nine to 14 grams a day, or 11 grams on average.”
Leigh explained that she has always been open to trying new things and doesn’t discriminate when it comes to bugs. She claims she’s eaten fried tarantula legs, ants, crickets, and even scorpion on a stick.
She wrote that when she traveled to places like Vietnam and Thailand, she admired how insects were added into classic dishes — and decided to do the same for her own child in a three-week experiment.
Eating insects certainly isn’t a new concept — in 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published a study that found consuming these critters could be a solution to climate change and world hunger, with the global population expected to balloon to 9 billion people by 2050.
Leigh noted her daughter doesn’t have any dietary restrictions or allergies (those allergic to crustaceans should be careful about consuming edible insects).
She recalls beginning this journey by giving her daughter the Cheeto-like puffs, which are made by a brand called Actually Foods. She reports her daughter loved them.
Next, she decided to feed her 18-month-old a whole roasted cricket, which she immediately spit out, shaking her head “no.”
Leigh claims when she blended up the crickets and put them into a pancake mix, her daughter didn’t seem to notice and even motioned for more.
“I ate some and could understand why — you couldn’t tell that crickets were in these fluffy cakes,” Leigh wrote. “The only difference was that they had a slightly nutty finish.”
At dinner time, she put the cricket protein powder into a macaroni and cheese mixture, which was also a huge hit.
Insects may also be a great source of vitamins and minerals, such as iron, zinc, and calcium, according to Everyday Health.
Leigh plans to continue giving her daughter other edible insects in her meals, like ants, grasshoppers, and worms.