Green Options

Open any pregnancy or baby book, and you’ll find that list: the baby essentials, the things you absolutely cannot live without.  While many accessories are easily recognized as frivolous, certain items are truly indispensable: the basic necessities for life with a baby.

Or are they?

In this weekly series, we’ll be looking at several baby essentials that really aren’t.  They may be useful in certain situations, but if money or space is tight, or if you’re just looking to simplify and reduce consumerism and waste, here’s how to get along just fine without these so-called “essentials.“

In Part 1, we questioned the crib.   Part 2 bemoaned the bucket.  Part 3 scrutinized the stroller.  Part 4 ditched the diapers.  Part 5 scrubbed the tub.  Part 6 busted the brain boosters.  This week, we banish the baby food!

When I found out I was pregnant with my first child, there was really no question in my mind that I’d be making baby food. Ensuring a healthy diet and knowing that my son would be getting the necessary nutrients were my determining factors. I also wanted to be in charge of what was going into my son’s system and wanted to be able to offer him a wide palate of foods.

I knew this couldn’t be done if I bought food from a jar at the grocery store. How often do you see eggplant, collard greens, and zucchini purees at the grocery store? Unless it’s an organic gourmet baby food line such as Yummy Spoonfuls it’s highly unlikely you’ll find less common veggies and even fruit.

To be in control of my son’s first start with solids I knew I’d have to make his baby food from scratch. If making his own food meant being aware of the ingredients, then I was willing to take that plunge and go for it. I’d much rather know what was going into my son’s food then always worry and have to read each and every label. With all the preservatives, chemical, added sugar, salt and starch it made absolute sense to avoid those factors and just make it.

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Many of us grow our own food and simply mush, blend or puree food for our littlest ones.  However, there are those times when you are out and about with baby at meal time.  That’s when its really nice to have a baby food you know is organic, natural and safe for your little one.  When purchasing baby foods, we like Earth’s Best.

Earth’s Best has introduced “Celebrate the Firsts“, a program for parents to gain access to discounts and rewards.  To help get the word out, they are offering one of our readers a gift pack of Earth’s Best Baby Products.

Remember my baby food review wherein I assured y’all that I would never eat it? Well, for this one I did. Plum Organics has a new line of quick frozen food for kids.

I couldn’t help it. You see there was this box of TV dinner looking things. They’re frozen meals that look an awful lot like a Lean Cuisine (with some important differences I’ll get to soon), so I thought that I’d rather not give it to the kids straight away. I thought I’d try it myself.

Honestly, I do not like frozen, prepackaged food. I don’t trust it and I don’t want to eat it. I certainly don’t want to put most of what’s in the freezer section into my kids.

I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like real food.

Hah! Another completely misleading title from me. I refuse to eat this because it’s baby food and, frankly, my kids are bigger and I’ve done my time. If you’ve got a baby though, you’ve got to get some of this goo food for him/her.

My neighbor has an infant who is just adding solids (squishy ones) to her diet. Like many other really great parents my neighbor wants to feed her daughter good organic foods. She loves the idea of making it herself and freezing it all into little cubes a la Martha Stewart.

But she’s too farking tired.

In any event, the UPS guy came and brought her this.

We are really, really, really trying to make most of our baby’s solid food instead of buying it in tiny glass jars. But apparently you’re not supposed to make your own carrots or spinach because of some issue with nitrate levels, and he really likes carrots and spinach, so we are generating a number of jars around here.

The lids don’t fit properly once they’re opened, which is a shame, or I could use them to store the food we’re making. The necks are smaller than the jars, which makes it annoying to feed him out of them, or I could use them as dishes. (Might do that anyway, actually, since we tossed out all the plastic in the kitchen a while back thanks to reports about safety issues on our sister blog Eco Child’s Play.)

While I investigate other brands in hopes of better reusability, what the heck can I do with all these bitty jars?

Parents are often looking for a healthy alternative to the standard, sugary, preservative-filled birthday cake for their baby’s introduction to the wonderful traditions of birthdays. We’ve heard from parents looking for ways to buy an egg-free cake, to those seeking recipes for “healthy” cakes, or even whether to make/buy two cakes (one for Baby, one for adults). To answer the last question first – there is no reason to create extra work for yourself, make or buy one cake, relax and congratulate yourself for making it through the first year! Most people will be gracious guests and enjoy whatever is served. And let’s not lose sight of the real reason for the birthday cake - THE PHOTO. We do it all for the precious scrapbook shot of your cake-faced little one delighting in being the life of the party!

Here are some ideas that keep the tradition of the birthday cake treat, but add some healthy twists (you can use these ideas for any age!):

Egg-free: If your baby has not been introduced to whole eggs by their first birthday, this is probably not the occasion to give them a try. Many egg substitutes contain eggs, so to be safe, look for cake and frosting mixes labeled “vegan” which are free of all animal products. You’ll need to go to a health food store to find these products. Or jump on the Internet, Vegan Baker is one company that offers cake and frosting mixes. If baking is not for you, many urban cities also have vegan bakeries too – check the Yellow Pages or ask someone at a vegetarian restaurant.