Yoreganics Review and Giveaway: Ends 8/22

Yoreganics is a natural cleaning company with a spirit for the simple. This wonderful little company is run by a Kim, an interior design-go green momtrepeneur. And their products?

Soap Nuts
Soap Nuts are dried up fruit berries, as in from a tree. They suds naturally when agitated, and a pack of six little nuts can wash your laundry about four to six times before they become too thin to use. They are supposedly great for laundry of those with sensitive skin, specifically for those with eczema. Soap nuts are also anti-fungal and anti-microbial, and they are low-sudsing so they do well in HE (front loader) washing machines.

If you think it's crazy that "soap nuts" can clean your laundry, I'll push the limit-- these little dudes took on Gabriel's cloth diapers, and they looked and smelled beautiful when done. It was really satisfying to take out our little eco-effort diapers and know they were cleaned with something as natural as a nut.

There are a few things I question about soap nuts--- one: their origin. They come from India and Nepal. So I wonder, who collects these nuts? How are they treated? What are they paid? How are they shipped? Who are the distributors? Once wonderful companies like Yoreganics get these little nuts, is the carbon footprint already larger than your typical modern detergent? I know none of these answers. But I do know they are created naturally and used as is. That's impressive.

Stain Remover
An organic pocket-sized stain remover with a citrus scent. With my little stain-maker on the move, I need to throw this in my diaper bag.

Brightens & Whitens
An all-natural brightener and whitener without bleach or phosphates. It is supposed to remove pretty much any stain you can imagine.... sounds good to me!

Lip Balm
USDA certified organic, in flavor Simplemint
This is hands down my favorite lip balm, and that is saying a lot because I was a loyal lover of one particular lip balm before I tried this. It is tingly, smooth, minty, and simple. It has a really nice, subtle taste, too. You will love it.

Win your own Yoreganics Package!

Mandatory Entry:
Tell me, which Yoreganics product do you most want to try?

Extra Entries:
1. Follow the blog (see the right sidebar) and comment.

2. Follow @amomwriting and/or @yoreganics on twitter.com and comment.

3. Tweet:

Enter to win a @yoreganics laundry package on @amomwriting by 8/22 & return to simple, natural cleaning! http://amomwriting.blogspot.com

(You can tweet twice daily, and you can comment for every tweet.)

4. Head over to http://www.yoreganics.com and then comment on another product you would like to try or comment on something you learned.

A Mom Writing did not receive monetary compensation for this entry. These opinions are mine only.

Contest ends on 8/22/10 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Leave your e-mail for contact in case you win.
Winner will have 24 hours to respond before a second is chosen.

More from the baby news desk...

Every time I start to think facebook is pointless, someone shares something extremely interesting, and I am hooked on updates again.

Today, I was captivated by this Huffington Post article by John Robbins regarding Chinese babies growing breasts due to mistakenly high levels of estrogen in formula.

And don't point fingers at the formula-producers just yet. Supposedly, the most likely point for the hormones to have entered the picture was with the cows... as in excess estrogen via the bovine growth hormone.

I encourage you to read the article and read about other occurrences of hormones in milk and the issues involved. It left me unsettled.

But let's be proactive. Here's a relevant excerpt from the H.P. article regarding what to do about all of this:

What's a consumer to do?

If at all possible, breast-feed your babies, and support breast-feeding friendly workplaces and other environments. It's hard to overstate the health advantages of breast-feeding for both mother and baby. They are enormous, and particularly so today, when the possibility exists that commercially available infant formula could be contaminated with excess hormones.

If you are going to buy dairy products, try to get them from organic sources. Organic milk products by law can't be produced with bovine growth hormone (BGH). Or look for dairy products that specifically say they are produced without BGH (also called recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST). Starbucks only uses dairy products that have not been produced with the hormone. Ben & Jerry's ice cream likewise uses only milk and cream from dairy farms that have pledged not to use BGH.

If you're going to eat cheese, remember that American-made cheeses are likely to be contaminated with BGH and excess levels of IGF-1 unless they're organic or labeled BGH-free. Most cheeses that are imported from Europe are safe, though, since much of Europe has banned the hormone. (John Robbins, 2010)

Hmm... after my cheese-loving post yesterday, I'm left wondering if our VT cheese is organic and bgh-free. Time for more research!

Oh Joe and the O No! of Certified Organics.

I mention Trader Joe's often. Our family shops there weekly-- just as we also make a weekly or biweekly stop for a few items at Whole Foods (for Gabe's organic produce I can't find elsewhere, local cheese, and Nature's Rancher Chicken) and local farm stands (for as much of our produce as possible).

But the bulk of our packaged, frozen, dairy, and protein products all come from our weekly stop at Trader Joe's. Because of this, it obviously irked me when I saw a blog post referring to a May article in Sustainable Industries questioning Trader Joe's seemingly eco-friendly practices.

I came across the blog post because I had deliberately googled Trader Joe's organic practices. The more I read, the more I realize that the organic label is not necessarily the best promise on how sustainable a farm is. And since I fed Gabriel his first organic plain whole milk yogurt from Trader Joe's this morning, I thought, hmmm... I really should know where this milk originated.

And this article points out the problem with Trader Joe's. They do not disclose who their feeder farms are-- so they literally will not tell you where my baby's yogurt originated. And because they do not offer disclosure, it leads consumers to wonder if the low prices at Trader Joe's are actually due to their selling mostly Trader Joe's label products (cutting out the middle man and a lot of distributor mileage) or because their products are organic at a cost.

This brings up some issues with the organic "label," which I have not really discussed on my blog prior to now. Organic food is optimum when taking into consideration it is better to consume foods without pesticides, grass-fed meats, etc. But just because a farm is certified organic does not mean its practices are totally sustainable. For instance, and this is per my watching of the film No Impact Man (I'll post more fully on this later) last night, an organic farm might keep to organic standards, but they might not treat their cows as nicely as the non-certified farm down the street. And that non-certified farm may only not be certified because it costs so much money to go through the certification process OR because they do treat their sick cows with antibiotics as needed whereas certified organic dairy farms cannot treat their cows with antibiotics ever.

But let's remember that the certified organic label is helpful and an honorable thing for a farm, and it is a clear indication to a consumer that a product does meet a certain standard. There are lobbyists trying to extinguish or lax the standards for the organic label, and that prospect is much scarier than the current pitfalls in organic certification. Many organic advocates want more stringent standards. You can go here for more information on organic certification.

When Trader Joe's will not disclose the farms used for their organic food, the question is raised: Are the locales a secret for the sake of competition (and that's almost fair-- Trader Joe's sure does have the best prices for the coolest food around. Why jeopardize losing customers by telling other companies where to go get the same product base?) or for the sake of keeping secrets from their eco-minded consumers? "No comment," is never a good answer.

While reading these articles will not deter me from shopping at Trader Joe's, it is going to again ramp up my efforts to purchase more local food. When it's local, you can go step onto that farm and see things for yourself. There is full disclosure because there are no closed doors. As a journalist, I see transparency as required, so why shouldn't I expect that of my food?

In any case, we'll be taking our first trip to a new(er) local farm market this Saturday, and it will be the opening of our more official dedication to local food. And that will be including our protein and dairy and whatever else we eat. It's time to take our food revolution to the next level-- local.

Naturally Vanilla Patriot Cake.

Happy Belated Fourth of July!

And with that in mind, here's my recipe for the absolutely delicious flag cake above. Yes, a cake with berries. I know with my berry obsession you are all very surprised.

Ingredients

Cake
2 boxes baked Trader Joe's All Natural Vanilla Cake in a 13 x 9 pan, cooled

Filling
1 10-16 oz. bag Trader Joe's Very Cherry Berry Mix, defrosted
1/4 c. water
2 tbsp. sugar
2-3 tbsp. flour


Whipped Cream
2.5 c. Heavy Cream
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla

Toppings
Whole Lotta Strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
Plenty o' blueberries, preferably organic

Directions

1. Once the cake is baked, start working on the filling. Pour the thawed berries into a large sauce pan, add sugar, add water, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, let the berries cook for about ten minutes. I was inspired to make my own filling after reading this raspberry filling recipe.

2. Pour hot berry mixture into food processor and pulse until it turns into a puree.

3. Push puree through sieve to rid the berries of seeds.

4. Pour the puree back into the sauce pan and begin heating again. Add flour to thicken. Once heated and thicker (filling should not slip through fork), pour into bowl and set aside.

5. While the filling cools, slowly release cake from 13 x 9 pan in order to slice it. Cut it in half. Then, turn knife sideways and slice cake in half so that filling can be placed between layers.

6. Return the bottom layer of the sliced cake to the pan, and spread the filling. Once the filling is spread, place the top layer of the cake back into the pan.

7. Place cake in refrigerator and covered until a few hours before serving. When it is within a few hours to serve, it is time to make the homemade whipped cream and decorating.


8. Make the homemade whipped cream. In order for cream to whip as nicely as possible, chill the bowl and mixing utensils for about twenty minutes before making the whipped cream.

9. While my sugar to cream ratio is less different from Paula's, I used Ms. Deen's directions here. Pour 2.5 c. heavy cream into chilled bowl. Start mixing on low speed with hand mixer. Slowly add 1/4 c. sugar and 1 tbsp. vanilla. As cream thickens, raise the speed of the mixer. Keep mixing until the cream is fairly thick, but be careful not to go too far or you will get butter.


10. Spread whipped cream over cake. You will have extra whipped cream to put on the side with fresh berries.
11. Decorate the cake with the berries.


12. Chill, slice, and serve. It's light and rich at the same time, so be ready for a serious treat.

My Not So Green Thumb

When my husband and I got married in May of 2008, my bouquet was simply gorgeous. I had a small bridezilla moment (f.y.i. my only bridezilla moment-- I am proud I was a flexible bride) when I was told lilacs were not available at the end of May because they bloomed early in the 2008 year. As you can see, the bouquet was gorgeous despite the lack of my favorite flower (and I know I definitely need to write a post about our wedding sooner or later.)

What was particularly special about my bouquet? It had ivy in it. My Mom was super sweet, and she rooted the ivy after the wedding, nestling it happily in a planter. My husband and I joked the ivy was our "love fern" (alla How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days). Well, the ivy lasted just over ten days. I seriously killed it despite my earnest attempts at reviving our little ailing ivy.



And I'm at it again. My parents gave me a gorgeous planter full of luscious plants and flowers for Mother's Day, and it is slowly dying. In the case of these plants, I at least am aware it is a case of over-watering-- some of the leaves turned yellow and browned after a cycle of watering every three days.

I'm also attempting to raise an organic bell pepper plant; I purchased it at our local organic farm. I sort of feel awful about losing it, as if I adopted a puppy and then had no idea how to care for it. It seems to be doing all right, but I definitely need to get reading on how to turn it into a thriving plant.























I know that in the modern world, I do not need to be a gardener or farmer, but I would sort of like to be one. It'd be nice to know that I could, you know, keep the green things I love alive.

My birthday was on June 13, and all I asked for from my husband was a set of herbs to grow and tend. We are yet to go select them because I have been reluctant to kill more plants.

Any suggestions on plant care? My father-in-law told me I need to be especially careful of how wet the dirt feels before watering them, but other than that I have no idea where I am going with this. I have a pretty singing voice; maybe I should sing to them... (Gabe has quickly gotten tired of my Twinkle Twinkle Little Star routine-- he now prefers Daddy putting him to bed. I found out his Dad sings him Ben Folds "Narcolepsy" as a lullaby. Well, I guess we know which parent is cooler now, don't we?).

Milk for Mama.

I've always liked milk. I like it skim, whole, as ice cream, half and half, chocolate, soy, strawberry, almond, in my coffee, in my chai tea, you name it. I'm a milk-loving girl, and so far, my bones seem to be strong so I will stick with the mentality that milk does a body good.

There's a lot of controversy over whether milk should be consumed pasteurized (or not), and I am starting to research that topic, but I'm a newbie to that debate so my opinions on that are far from worth reading.

What IS worth your reading or seeing or really TASTING is the smoothie I made for myself this afternoon.


Firstly, I used nonfat REAL frozen yogurt (made from all natural cows) alla Trader Joe's. This is not your typical "frozen yogurt." It is tangy, tart, and tantalizing-- so much so that it is kind of hard to eat without fruit.

The yogurt was awesome with strawberries last week, but I decided to shake things up (and literally put Gabe in his crib with music and toys, the door shut while I blended to avoid his fearful screams of blender use) by mixing the yogurt with some frozen organic wild blueberries and an organic banana.

It was AWESOME. So fresh and energizing. It was just what the doctor ordered after working the early part of the day and heading into Gabriel's bewitching hour.

The recipe?
Well, I didn't measure, but...

A little less than 3/4 c. frozen yogurt?
About 1/2 c. frozen organic wild blueberries?
1 banana. I know this.

It made the amount I have in the glass, minus a bite. *Wink.*

Bon Appe-yogurt!

Juice Boxes: Friend or Foe?

My husband and I inherited a red 1996 Thunderbird a few years ago, and my husband loves it. We bought a second car when I started working part-time because the amount of driving I would have to do in the morning would have been insane with one vehicle. Well, our precious little T-Bird decided to you know, um, die, last week so we are a one car household for a week or so. (We are so, so, so lucky that we are getting another car for a very minimal cost. Family is amazing.)

In any case, if I am driving, I am either listening to NPR or a random mix CD we burned for our drive to Shenandoah. I just love NPR. It's bursting with such interesting, diverse stories. And I cannot lie-- sometimes my most peaceful moment of the day is as I drive a snoozing Gabriel home from work, listening to All Things Considered, Fresh Air, you-name-it.

ANYWAY, in the annoying suburban traffic to and from dropping my husband off at the train and to and from work, babysitter, pediatrician, who-knows-what today, I listened to NPR as usual.


And then comes this story. About JUICE. About LEAD. ABOUT KIDDIE JUICE WITH LEAD IN IT. I wrote all that obnoxiously bigger because it is totally fine to start reading this entry from this point (especially if you are bored by my droning on an on about our family car issues and my potential unhealthy love of driving while listening to NPR.)

What's in my juice?

I write about making homemade babyfood all of the time. And when I hear stories like this, I am so glad I am trying to keep my kiddo on unprocessed, organic food made from scratch. Sure, I have given him organic banana puffs to help him learn the pincer grasp, and yes, we buy Earth's Best baby cereal because I just am not up for grinding oatmeal myself (who knows? maybe now that I wrote this I will feel challenged to try it), but most everything he eats is organic and made by Mommy.

But no matter how glad I am that most of what he eats right now is homemade organics, I know that as he gets older it will not only become easier to feed him processed food, but it is going to get more difficult to intercept the processed food from reaching him. And let it be known that the lead-contaminated juice mentioned in the NPR story was not just conventional juice-- some of it was organic. Organic food does not prevent all hell from breaking loose. (I do think homemade whole food has a lot to do with preventing bad food from getting into a child's diet, though.)

I started joking around that I wanted to get a juicer (I've wanted one for me for a long time) for the baby --so that he could have juice fresh from fruit without any added sugar-- just a little while ago. I say I joked about wanting it because when the words came out of my mouth to my husband, I thought, "Is this healthy or is this overprotective?"

And now I hear this story about LEAD in KIDDIE JUICE, and I think to myself, "NO! I am not being overprotective! Manufactured foods are RIDICULOUS."

I am sure there is more to come on this story, and I will keep on reading and educating myself, but suffice it to say, my husband stopped laughing about me asking for a juicer tonight.

We Flew Over to the Organic Farmstand.

Is there anything better than a pay-as-you-go farmstand?

We stopped by a local organic farm this afternoon for a fresh treat or two, and we decided to grab a little box o' peas. The box was $2.00. Not a bad deal for the freshest, sweetest eat-'em-like-you-see-'em little peas I ever tried. I cannot wait to cook some and mush them up for Gabriel!




We'll be visiting this farm quite a few times over the summer and fall so stay tuned for more fresh, local, organic produce posts!

Jam Berry, Blam Berry, I'm Making Baby Berry...

I would start off writing a bit about my almost terrifying love for berries, but that is honestly a post of its own so I will just get straight to the blueberries at hand. And they aren't for me. They're for Gabriel.

Before I get to the good stuff, I just want to note that the blanket statement "Your baby cannot have berries" until the age of one is not totally true. While doctors recommend for babies not to consume strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries prior to age one, many studies show that blueberries and cranberries are low allergen foods that babies could consume prior to age one. Read more about this here and here. And always ask your doc if you have questions, concerns, or doubts about your baby's readiness for berries.

Remember, you can store baby food in the freezer for just over three months with no worries. That means that you can make and freeze your fresh, in season food for baby even before baby would be ready to consume it. Make it when it is best, and serve it when it is best for baby.

I've already explained your basic fruit/veggie puree for baby, but when you make a fruit or veggie with skins (such as green beans, peas, or blueberries), you have to take extra care to break down the food and extricate the skins from the puree. Otherwise, they can deceivingly sneak into your little one's mouth and lead to choking. So I figured I would make some blueberries and share the journey with you all.

Blueberries for my Blueberry

1. Get yourself blueberries. You need a bit to make an ice cube tray full of berries. They tend to liquify and cook down even before they get strained so about 24 oz. of frozen will get you your 16 oz. in the ice cube tray. I went with organic frozen because the organic fresh would have cost us more than I was willing to pay. These bags, I am almost sure, were less than $2 each.

2. Steam your berries with the standard baby food arrangement of water, steamer basket, food.

3. Steam until warm, tender, and juicy.

4. Then, blend! I always use an oven mitt and/or kitchen towel to cover the blender with my hand while I blend hot things because I had a not-so-fun experience making butternut squash soup a few years ago.

5. Once blended, pull out that strainer (fine metal) to get those skins out of there.

6. When you are done straining, you should have a sort of lumpy blueberry goo in your strainer.

7. Pour the non-goo into your ice cube tray, freeze, and package as you see fit! Get ready for baby to try.

Enjoy!

Zen and the Art of Homemade Green Beans

My husband had a grad class tonight, and I was in the mood for green beans so I decided to take a Mommy-Baby food adventure and cook up some organic greenies for Gabe and myself.

Sidenote: A bag of organic green beans at Trader Joe's is about $1.29 max.

I just made a small amount-- enough for a Mommy serving and four "baby's first" servings. But I will never waste my time making a small batch of baby green beans again. Because of the skins on green beans, you have to push the blended beans through a mesh strainer. It was pretty time-consuming-- next time, I'm doing a big batch and knocking out the mess in one shot.

I was a little daring (for some, not for others) this evening, though. Gabe was HATING his pureed green beans-- spitting them out and crying horribly-- so I thought to myself as I eyed my plate, "What would he think of my green beans?"

I sliced a bean in half, used my knife to swipe out the beans (choking hazards) within, and handed him some real cooked string beans.

Instantly the crying ends--Instantly he starts grabbing beans. Yum. Yum. Yum.

What struck me here was that after nomming and sucking on his green beans as I ate mine, he then gobbled down his ounce of green beans and an ounce of apples with a grin on his face. I wonder if finger-fooding it up allowed him to explore the taste before the puree overpowered his mouth? Maybe he liked having some control (alla baby led solids which I will definitely be writing more on later)? Whatever it was, it changed the entire mood of dinnertime, and it was awesome.

**I will note that finger foods are not generally recommended until about 8 months of age or when baby has mastered the pincer (pointer finger - thumb) grasp. Gabe is pretty close to having the pincer down, and he has all four of his front teeth now. He creepishly crawls and he's figuring out how to cruise. He is developing quickly, and it just feels right to let him carefully explore some finger foods at almost seven months. I think it's important to listen to your baby and medical recommendations when it comes to food timing guidelines, and letting G try real green beans was my choice for him today. Please don't think I'm pushing early finger foods across the board.**

"A Carrot Saved is a Carrot Earned."

Homemade Baby Food is an educated penny-pinching parent move.

When it comes to feeding your baby, homemade organics make your baby and your bank account just a little more green.

Really?

Sure. 'Green' choices are about living a healthy, socially-responsible life, but they also make a bank account a little more comfortable, too. As a young family with extreme student loan pressure, we just wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise. And, oh yeah, with Gabe being an exclusively breastfed baby, we were used to paying nothing for his food, so that whole pay-for-your-kid-to-eat thing is new.

So let's get out that calculator.

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Today we went shopping for Gabe's next few food adventures. Let it be known that Gabriel LOVES food shopping. He loved helping us pick the peaches (he's a fan of feeling textiles and textures), he enjoyed flirting with any and everyone, and he's currently crushing on Grocery Store Overhead Lighting.

Carrots, Bananas, and Peaches -- oh my.
And he'll be getting Whole Grain cereal (barley/spelt) sometime soon, too.

1 lb. Organic Carrots: $.99
1.05 lb. Organic Bananas: $.83
1.13 lb. Organic Peaches: $2.81

I have found that it takes just about 1 lb. of a produce item to make 1 full ice cube tray of food + 1 warm 2 oz. serving ready to serve to baby. That is approximately 18 oz. of babyfood from every pound, considering that the ice cube tray is 16 one oz. cubes. So let's do some math here.

If you make the food--

Let's look at the cheaper side of homemades-- the carrots...
For $.99, you are getting 18 oz. of food. In other words, for homemade organic carrots, you are paying less than 6 cents per ounce.

Let's look at the more expensive side of homemades-- the peaches...
For $2.81, you are getting 18 oz. of food. In other words, for homemade peaches, you are paying less than 16 cents per ounce.


If you purchased the food--

Let's look at the cheaper side of packaged-- conventional food...

Gerber 2nd Foods Carrots - 7 oz., 8 pack, 16 servings $12.99 (target.com)
-Each container is 7 oz. x 8 = 56 oz.
You are paying just over 23 cents per ounce.

Beech-Nut Stage 2 Tender Sweet Carrots, 48 oz. case $15.48 (buythecase.com)
You are paying just over 32 cents per ounce.

Let's look at the more expensive side of packaged-- organic food...

Gerber Tender Harvest Organic Carrots 2 pk Case of 8 $12.99 (diapers.com)
-Each container is 2.5 oz. of carrots. That's 5 oz. per pack x 8 packs = 40 oz.
You are paying more than 33 cents per ounce.

Earth's Best Baby Foods First Carrots 2.5 oz. (Pack of 24) $21.50 (amazon.com)
-That's 60 oz. of food.
You are paying almost 36 cents per ounce.

...and as baby eats chunkier, heartier meals, the packaged food prices just go up from there, whereas with homemades you can just mix, match, and thicken.

Whether you are spending 6 or 16 cents per ounce, you are always saving, even if you buy the least expensive bulk cases of packaged food, almost 10 cents per ounce. This might sound trivial, but if your baby eats 2 oz. of food per meal, you are saving almost 20 cents per meal.

For us, with Gabe eating 1 small bowl of cereal for breakfast and one 2 oz. bowl of homemade per day, we save $1.40 per week. When he graduates to two larger meals per day (8 oz. food/day), you save $.80 per day and $5.60 per week if you are comparing homemade organics to the cheapest packaged option. Add those weeks up, and you've got yourself a bit of green. To some, $5.60 per week may be nothing, but to our family, that is a worthy savings.

But then when you compare the homemade organics to the packaged organics, you are really saving money. For the expensive end of homemades, you spend 16 cents per ounce, whereas with the higher end packaged you spend 36 cents per ounce. That is a 20 cents per ounce difference, adding up to at least a savings of $11.20 per week. How 'bout them apples?

And with homemades, you are giving your child fresh food that YOU processed with the most important ingredient in any recipe out there, right? L-O-V-E.

oooo

So-- homemade baby food parents, the next time someone looks at you like you are a hippie-hearted, highfalutin, nose-in-the-air health food snot, just smile and say, "Actually, homemade organics are just plain cheaper," and shrug. With homemade food, you're doing your baby and your wallet good!


and please, please, please know there is no judgment here if you do feed your baby packaged or conventional food-- if your baby is happy and healthy, that is ALL that matters. -<3-

The Homemade Babyfood Play by Play

Gabriel has now tried rice cereal, avocado, pears, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes. And today we made the first batch o' apples for him to try later this week. Here's the play by play...

Babe Gabe's First Apples

3 Organic Golden Delicious Apples (OR Roma, Braeburn, Red Delicious)
3/4 cup water (approximate)
Small Pot
Steamer basket
Blender

1. Pare apples and chop into small cubes. Perfect, equal-sized cubes are not necessary.

2. Pour 3/4 cup water into small pot and place steaming basket in pot. The water need not overflow much into the basket. Adjust amount of water as needed.

3. Place apples into steaming basket and turn range heat to med-high.
4. Let apples steam/ cook in boiling water until very tender and can be mashed easily with fork.

5. Scoop steamed and tender apples and pour into blender.

6. Add small amount of leftover water from steaming (You can use breast milk to thin baby food, but this water retains some of the apple nutrients lost while cooking. I used breast milk to thin sweet potatoes and avocados, but not the apples).

7. Blend until smooth, adding more leftover water to adjust desired consistency as needed (the older the baby, the more textured and chunky it can be).



8. Pour into ice cube tray (3 apples makes just about 1 full tray), cool, and freeze in tray.


9. When frozen, pop out frozen cubes and store in desired container (Right now, we are storing food in breast milk sanitized freezer bags, and the dates on these bags are not the dates he tried these foods-- we do follow the 4 day rule).

To thaw (quickly):
Take out 1-2 cubes depending on desired serving and place in baby's bowl (Right now, we just use one cube). Heat water in tea kettle and pour into ceramic bowl. Place baby's bowl in ceramic bowl and allow hot water to melt cube. Turn cube over and break in half as thawing to speed process.

Great Resources for Homemade Baby Food Recipes
http://www.nurturebaby.com
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Yummi Bears Organics Review & Giveaway (Closes 4/9)

Take.your.vitamins.

Never was that so impressed to me as when I got pregnant with Gabe. Nutrition matters. And whether your bean is in the womb or on the soccer field, it's a huge responsibility making sure he or she is getting all the nutrients needed to grow up healthy and strong.

So, you look into vitamins, and most of the vits for the kiddies are full of high fructose corn syrup. For the mommies who remain unconvinced by the commercials claiming hfcs "is just like sugar," for the mommies who want their children to eat organic, non-GMO foods, and for the mommies who have little ones with nut allergies, celiac-disease, or other common intolerances, Yummi Bears Organics are a great nutritional option.

Because they are deceivingly delicious. I sampled the Multivitamin, Immunity Shield, and Bone Builder varieties. My husband tried them, a handful of my little cousins tried them, and so did many other grown-up family members. The taste test results were truly positive.

My husband and I could tell immediately which fruit was used to flavor which vitamins. How often does something apple or strawberry-flavored truly taste like apples or strawberries?

When my reluctant-to-try-new-foods 5-year-old cousin (who has celiac disease) was handed a Yummi Bears Organics, my aunt said, "It's like a gummy bear." The response after trying? "Mom, this IS a gummy bear." Duh, Mom, right? Well, these bears aren't of the candy variety, cuz. But the joke is not on my cousin, because Yummi Bears Organics are doing much more for her budding body than candy.

I'm not advocating this, but I love that you could tell your kids they're "allowed" to have three or six bears (serving depends on the variety) as a treat, and they'd be getting vitamins without ever knowing the difference.

They've got lots of nutrients, but not so much of the fake stuff. Their flavoring and coloring are from vegetable juices, such as black carrots, rather than dyes like Red No. 5. They're also pectin-based rather than gelatin, making them vegetarian-friendly. And when it comes to Genetically-Modified Ingredients, they're made with tapioca syrup-- escaping any suspicion of iffy so-called non-GMO corn syrups.

Did everybody like them? Nope. I have to be honest! My 8-year-old not-so-sweet-toothed cousin was not a fan. "They're too sweet," he remarked. So, if you've got a kid who would rather eat the apples and loads o' spinach to get their vitamins, stick with the produce.

And that sweet sweetness is the only real complaint I have about Yummi Bears Organics and every other gummi vitamin out there-- When the first ingredient is listed as something sugar-related (in YBO case, organic evaporated cane juice), as a parent, you think, what am I really feeding my kid here?

But when you look at the overall nutrition, the sugar doesn't seem too frightening when you consider the nutritional gains. Out of 3 Multivitamins, you're getting 4 g sugar and 20 calories, but you're also getting 100% or more daily value of Vitamin A, B6, B12, and Folic Acid, as well as 50% or more daily value of Vitamins C and D3. The Multivitamin is not a good source of Calcium or Iron, but that's why Yummi Bears offers a plethora of vitamin types. Many of them are safe to mix and match.

So, overall?
Organic, non-GMO, non-allergen vitamins with authentic fruit flavor. As an all-about-natural Mommy, I'd definitely give these a shot if I were you.

You can give them a try!
Win Yummi Bears Organics on A Mom Writing!

The Mandatory Entry

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Comment: Which one would you like your little one(s) to try?

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Make sure to include your e-mail address in your mandatory entry (if it is not in your profile) so that I have a means of contacting you if you win! The winner will be chosen by random.org on Friday, April 9, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EST. I will then notify the winner by e-mail; the winner has 48 hours to respond before another winner is picked. Thank you to Yummi Bears Organics for this opportunity!

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Organic, Local, and Free Range, Oh My!

Going... going... going... GONE!

That GONE! would be us, heading out the door of ye olde typical foodstore and into the world of organic, local, free range food. Actually, we are not quite gone yet, because it just is not so easy to figure out how to manage that sort of diet on the type of budget us young parents (one working full-time and going to grad school, the other about to start a 10-hour per week position, both with a yacht and a train and an airbus, or maybe two, of student loans) to manage. But we are going to manage it. And I am going to keep updating on the blog just how we manage to do it. Will I be a tipster, much? You betcha.

There's just no reason to allow your baby to eat this food, even through my breast milk. And it surely is not helping me or my husband eating food like this, either. Let's be clear here, though-- I do not judge anyone who does not eat organic because it IS going to be a hard monetary transition with a lot of calculation, strategy, and planning. Maybe after switching to cloth diapers, I feel like I can research and figure out something a little more complicated than fluffy baby butts, but I feel prepared to make this move. Maybe watching Food Inc. (WATCH THIS MOVIE!) went to my head, but I just don't think this switch is going to hurt anyone, other than hmm... McIdon'tcarewhatIfeedyouIjustwantmoney. And maybe, just maybe, having worked at a Whole Foods in high school somehow rooted a respect and aspiration for eating organic, though my neurotic and ignorant little high school self never would have expected to write this post in the future.

Okay, Sharkie, here's the deal:

Ammonia, Pesticide, GMO-Free: Eating ORGANIC and GMO-free

I am seriously freaked out at the thought of eating chemicals. When you're little, you don't intellectually digest what you are eating. Now, I do. And when thinking about my baby consuming insecticides, rodenticides, herbicides, fungicides, and antimicrobials (ya know like bleach, chlorine dioxide, yum, yum, yummy stuff like that), I really do feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. I understand why and how the process of modern food production and distribution includes such chemicals, and though there are not many studies proving that regular old produce is extremely harmful, I feel a lot better removing my family from the production lines of e.coli-infested spinach. There are certain foods that have less crap on them (Here is a Shopper's Guide to Pesticides from the Environmental Working Group), especially thicker-skinned produce like avocados, so I am sure when cost comes to shove, we may still purchase some conventional produce.

I also feel there is just something to be said for produce as it was meant to be grown, produce as it was meant to be sized, chicken as it was meant to be fed, etc. etc. etc. And how I want to say something for that natural food, is to just plain eat it.

I also understand why genetically-modified organisms exist (it makes a lot of the ins and outs of food production easier and cheaper), but I do not want to eat them anymore. There's more to my rejection of GMO, and I will not even go into the politics of it right now, though. To be honest, eating GMO-free (Here is a GMO-free shopping guide.) is not going to be easy, because these products are in so much of everything. But we are going to try!

*The Eco-Friendly Family Blog wrote a great little post about eating organic which included both of the helpful links included in the section above. Read the post here.*

These Farms Exist: Eating LOCAL

No, maybe you have not heard of them, but they are there. At least in Southern New Jersey they are. In fact, I found two local organic farms (amidst many regular old farms) within 40 minutes of our home. One of them even sells meat-- though I am not sure of the logistics of the meat purchasing yet (we don't have the storage capacity or the money to invest in, um, an entire cow right now). I honestly cannot WAIT to get there. If you live in Jersey, please go here to find a farm near you.

Why is local so great?
Well, first of all, local is local. That produce and food was grown and raised right where or near you bought it. LESS pollution from distribution.
Secondly, when you buy local, you are purchasing something from a business in your economical area. Supporting your local farmers is one way to help them in this economy, and in return, you are helping yourself by circulating your cash into your community.
Thirdly, I am hoping that because this food is coming pretty much from the source, it will be less expensive than the produce and meat at a place like Whole Foods, where distribution costs are part of the price. A price comparison remains to be seen, but essentially, this should wind up being true.

To be fair, the drawbacks?
You have to eat what is in season. I.E. No fresh tomatoes in February. If we want to keep eating the recipes we eat now, we would have to buy most produce at stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in off-season time.

Cheese and Crackers: Eating FREE RANGE
Frankly, I just can't handle the way most companies and large meat farms handle their animals. I love animals, and it pains me to read, watch, whatever, the conditions these animals live in while being raised, and I cannot handle the process used to slaughter animals.

am I not a vegetarian? Well, I tried it once in college, and I kept getting sick because I was not the best at managing my vitamins and protein. What I learned from that unsuccessful run is that I am not really against eating meat or animal products, but I am against how these products are provided to us. Because humans are naturally carnivorous. And humans need, in some sense of that word, meat.

I have no problem eating, say, some ham that came from a pair of pigs named Cheese and Crackers who were raised living in a healthy, happy environment on a farm in Vermont (I never ate these pigs, but they did exist at the Weston Priory when I was a little girl, and if my parents told me the truth, the monks ate them at some point). The other reason why I would not even consider going vegetarian or vegan at this point is that my husband is not getting on that wagon, nor would I put my children on that wagon, and I am not planning on maneuvering duo meal planning. It's not realistic.

So we go free range, eating animals that roamed around in a field and saw light while they were raised. We eat animals that were not so stuffed and fattened in small quarters that they could not walk while they were raised. Essentially, I hope we'll be eating animals like Cheese and Crackers.

--

To be clear, this shift is going to be quite the process and we are in-
PHASE ONE: RESEARCH, EDUCATION, and FIRST PURCHASES.

Come on now and take a ride with us.
And please, wish us luck!