Making Baby Food

What a wonderful and loving concept. Unfortunately, my sweet, adorable baby, does not realize this.

Because I am nursing, I have become very aware of what has been going into my sweet angel's body. Non-manufactured, all natural, good old-fashioned milk. By the time the day came to introduce solids, I had transformed into a bit of a tree-hugging, preservative hating, organic food loving, freak (when it came to her. I still had no qualms cruising through the drive-through of Chick-Fil-A for myself). Of COURSE I would make my own baby food. How could I put anything else into my precious gem's body?

I was gifted a baby food maker for Christmas and so my quest to make all natural food began. At first it was smooth sailing. I purchased only organic fruits and veggies and pureed them into delicious meals for my hungry tot. She gobbled them down with no hesitation. UNTIL I ventured into the GREEN territory. That is when she decided to go on strike.

It began with peas. Since they weren't in season I guiltily bought the non-organic FROZEN ones. How could I??? Grown with pesticides AND not fresh. I felt like a failure, but ah well, I tried it anyway. I am not sure which it was. That these peas were grown pest free, or that they were a green vegetable, but whatever the case, they were rejected. This is when I had my first experience with wasting time and money. I had not only taken the time to steam and puree the peas, but I had created baby-sized portions by freezing them in an ice cube tray and storing them in a freezer bag. How easy it was supposed to be. Take out a cube, defrost it in the baby food maker (because the microwave depletes the vitamins!) and serve it up to the hungry little mouth. But when the mouth tastes the vitamin packed spoonful, gags and then refuses to open again, you begin wondering if it was really that easy. As easy as buying a jar of peas at the grocery store? Not really.

Well, MAYBE I could BUY some baby food, just for when we went out to dinner. HA! Buying baby food was so EASY and it was a bit addicting. I could just take a jar out of the pantry, open it up and poof, dinner was ready. And if she didn't like it, I had only wasted 50 cents and about 3 seconds. Not to mention the millions of coupons I HAD to use that the grocery store check out kept printing out! Oh yeah, and when I checked the label, guess what ingredients went into that JUNK! Veggies and water...and if you buy the ORGANIC baby food it was ORGANIC veggies and water.

And so I have returned to my old self again. As long as it is healthy and not going to harm her, I think I might buy baby food now, but still make it SOME of the time, just to feel like a good mom.