Even with the availability of “organic” baby food in mainstream stores — you can usually find both Gerber Organic and Earth’s Best at Target and Babies ‘R Us — there was no question that I would make the little guy’s food at home. I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen since bringing the baby home, so I was even more excited about going back in there, even if it’s just to make simple baby food.

The first thing I needed to do was figure out how to make purees. While I do own a large Cuisinart food processor, I felt that unless I was making HUGE batches of food, the thing was too cumbersome to use and clean. I ended up picking up the BabySteps Electric Food Mill by KidCo. Originally, I thought about getting a Magic Bullet or even a Cuisinart Mini Food Processor, but I ended up going with the KidCo one because the plastics are BPA- and phthalate-free. (I’m not that gung-ho on the whole BPA thing, but I do like to be cautious. In my opinion, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so when there are suitable alternatives, I’ll go with the BPA-free stuff.)

Next, I needed instructions. I realize the idea of pureeing food seems simple enough, but I’m anal and since what I’m about to make is going into my kid’s mouth, I wanted to be sure I was doing things correctly. Through various journals and message boards, I found wholesomebabyfood.com — it’s a great site that’s chock full of recipes for baby, as well as other helpful information. (Best of all, it’s FREE!) Another source I looked at (which is NOT FREE) is Annabel Karmel’s book First Meals. The book is a nice addition to my cookbook collection and it has recipes and ideas for older kids, but for the sake of making baby food, it was a splurge and an unnecessary purchase — I just keep telling myself that I’ll continue to have use for it down the line when my kid is older.

The final piece was figuring out how to store the food. I’ve pretty much swapped all my plastic food containers with glass ones — the plastic ones now help keep the junk drawer organized — and I wasn’t sure what would hold up best in the freezer. The simplest way would be to use ice cube trays, but since we have none (our freezer has an ice cube maker), I decided to pick up a couple of these Jumbo Baby Cubes from One Step Ahead instead. Each cube holds about 2oz of food, has a tethered lid (a good thing because I always manage to loose lids), is freezer/microwave/dishwasher-safe, and is made out of BPA- and phthalate-free plastic (as researched by SafeMama).

After a quick trip to our local Trader Joe’s yesterday to pick up some organic pears, carrots, and sweet potatoes, I made my first batches of baby food. They turned out OK, though I think they could have steamed for a little longer (I used a regular stainless steel saucepan and a collapsable steamer basket I already had in my kitchen). We’re good for at least a week since I only give the baby solid food twice a day — fruit in the morning, and veggies at night. And even though I think my pureeing skills need some help, it’s so good to know that I know exactly what I’m putting into baby’s mouth and tummy.

Categories: baby, cooking, food, gear, ideas, shopping
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I couldn’t get away during the week to check out the farmers’ market, so I ended up going back to Irvine on Saturday. I hauled back a lot of fresh, yummy fruit, including ginormous strawberries, “fruit punch” pluots, and some lovely nectarines from the Sweet Tree Farms booth.

After a while, you start to get to know the regular vendors at the markets. For example, I love stopping by the Black Market Bakery’s booth, or the one who sells all the yummy flavored hummus, flatbread, and baklava. Sweet Tree Farms is one of the newer booths I’ve started to buy from regularly. The farm was founded in 2005 by Annie Florendo, and all their products are organically grown (they are in the process of being certified). I just love their fruits, and the fact that the farm’s owner is a woman is a plus.

Categories: food, shopping
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Today I stopped by the Orange Farmers’ Market for the first time. (I normally go to the one in Irvine by UCI since it’s on Saturdays and that used to be my only day off.) This is the one that is in The Village at Orange parking lot, right outside of Sears. Now that I stay at home with our son, I have a pick of farmers’ markets to go to throughout the week!

It still never ceases to amaze me how much more produce costs at grocery stores. For $6 at Ralph’s or Albertson’s, you can get a large clamshell of strawberries (that are most likely not organic and pesticide-free, plus they were probably shipped or trucked from out of state as well). For $6 at the farmers’ market, I got six small (pint sized?) crates of locally grown, pesticide-free strawberries, and they are deliciously sweet. There’s more than I can consume in a few days, so I gave our babysitter two of the crates, and I’m still left with what you see in the photo. Oh, and that bowl of nectarines cost me $5.

Categories: food, shopping
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I’m enjoying a few moments surfing online while E is napping.

Yesterday, I wrote a post on how buying less, not more is a key idea in living green (despite all the fancy new green products being marketed to consumers these days). Today, I encountered a few images from an ad campaign by UNICEF about child labor that anyone who wants to live a greener, more socially responsible lifestyle should think about. Here’s one of them:

Other than I simply don’t need any new clothes, there are a couple of other reasons why it’s easy to NOT go shopping:

1. Do I know how the stuff was made? Does the company who makes [insert article of clothing or accessory here] procure their materials responsibly and treat their workers fairly? I don’t care how good my ass will look in those jeans; I’d rather know that I’m not supporting a company who abuses children or who continually rapes the environment.

2. Price. There are things out there that are more socially and environmentally responsible. However, they are also usually at a premium. Some things, like fairly traded coffee, I’m more than willing to shell out extra dough because it’s worth it to give my support to those farmers. For other things like clothes and accessories, a “want” can easily become a “don’t need” when I see the price. Besides, I can put the money in more yummy coffee and tea instead!

View the other UNICEF ads here.

Categories: fashion, organizations, shopping, social responsibility
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The baby and I were at Babies R’ Us at the Irvine Marketplace the other day and I noticed they’ve dedicated a small product stand for “green” products near the checkout registers. Like a mosquito to a flame, I automatically walked over to ooh and aah at the stuff. Most of the stuff was organic cotton things, with mottos like “Green is the new black” and “It’s easy being green” (with Kermit the Frog’s mug) were emblazoned on the front of bibs and onesies. Cute, I thought, and took one of the Kermit bibs for Ethan.

I took a couple of steps away and realized something … while he goes through them like there’s no tomorrow, my son already has a ton of bibs which have been graciously donated by his cousin in New York. The bib ended back up on the stand because after the hype, I remembered something important: the rules of living green is REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE.

REDUCE:
As consumers, we are SO trained to buy what we want, not what we need. Again, while it wouldn’t hurt to have more bibs, Ethan certainly did not need any more.

REUSE:
Nearly ALL of Ethan’s bibs (as well as most of his clothes) are hand-me-downs. OK, so my son doesn’t have the latest and greatest, but for goodness’ sake, all he does is barf on them anyway. He’s a baby, not a fashion model. Besides, he has some spiffy outfits — just because they’re used doesn’t mean they’re ugly.

RECYCLE:
Well, this doesn’t really apply now, but it’s a safe bet that if we have any other kids, Ethan’s things will be handed down to him. If we have a girl, a lot of things are gender-neutral so they can still be handed-down, but if we can’t use them again, there are still plenty of options to prevent old baby clothes from ending up in landfill. Donating to other parents who need them, Goodwill, or the Salvation Army are just a few. Things that are too worn-out to resell can be made into rags or shredded into fibers to make new products.

So while it’s nice to see more organic products being sold in big chains such as BRU, it’s a shame that they’re not also promoting the three rules of green living. Buying new things just because they’re organic or even recycled doesn’t necessarily mean you’re making the greenest choice. Yes, organic material — especially those that have been fairly produced — is better than non-organic, but the first question should always be: is this really needed?

Categories: baby, environment, ideas, shopping
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I saw this mama advertise her ClothShoppe.com business on the LiveJournal cloth diapering group and I just HAD to check out her wares. Well, since I have this little obsession with cloth wipes, I couldn’t resist buying a couple of her wares. (She had skull wipes! I love skull wipes!) The wipes sound lovely, so I’ll post again after I receive the goods.

I was also considering her line of mama pads. I … don’t know if I’m ready to take the plunge in that department yet. I realize that even tampons without applicators still add to our planet’s waste pile, but it will take some more convincing before I embrace the mama cloth way.

Categories: cloth, shopping
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