Improving my diet, one BPA free meal at a time

This is the next post in our new series on Feeding our Family. If there is a specific idea or post topic you would like to read about as part of this series, e-mail us at dupagemamas(at)gmail(dot)com.

When it comes to feeding my family healthy-not-harmful food, I've long since decided that "perfect" isn't going to be my goal. Instead, I'm shooting for marks like "improvement" or "better." When I shoot for perfection I realize it doesn't exist, so I fail and get discouraged and end up doing less. When I shoot for taking baby steps towards improving I succeed and get excited and end up making real progress.

So, I'm always looking for rules of thumb or tips I can follow. I recently came across the three tips that EWG suggests for feeding your family. They suggest you limit your exposure to foods with pesticides, foods with BPA, and foods with growth hormones.

Ok, that sounds about right. But how?

Avoiding pesticides typically means buying organic, which I find is often easier said than done. The single most helpful "hint" I've found is this document, which lists the "Dirty Dozen" - the 12 items of produce that carry the most harmful pesticide residue - and the "Clean 15". So if you can only afford to buy some organic foods, this list will help you know what to prioritize and when its ok to buy conventionally grown foods.

Then there's the little matter of BPA. The main place where this nasty chemical will show up in our diet is in certain kinds of plastics and basically all canned products. The way to avoid it is to be sure that the plastics you use for storing water and food are BPA free. The worst plastic for BPA is the kind with a #7 recycle label, while those with a #1, 2, 4, or 5 do not have BPA. As for canned goods, by fresh or frozen instead of canned whenever possible. That goes for veggies, fruit, soup, pasta, beans...if it comes in a can, it has BPA.

As for growth hormones? These may be showing up in your non-organic meat and dairy, but cannot be used in meat and dairy that is labelled as organic. I personally haven't made this leap yet, and its a costly one.

So here are the rules of thumb for healthier eating:

• buy organic produce, at least when shopping for "the Dirty Dozen"
• avoid using #7 plastics for food or water and stick to #1, 2, 4, or 5
• avoid canned goods when possible
• consider buying organic meat and dairy

This isn't going to make my family's diet perfect, and I won't be following this perfectly either. But these tips have helped me improve our diet. One step at a time.

Do you have any rules of thumb or quick tips for improving your family's diet? Please share! You can leave them here in the comments or, better yet, write your own musings on feeding your family and we will post it as part of our series.

Read more...

Orange

We've been talking about feeding your family around here lately. But what about when the "family" is a seven month old?

As soon as he could hold his head up, my baby B howled with frustration at meal times because he wasn't getting any. As soon as he could move his hands he did his best to remedy that by swiping at our foods. As soon as the Pediatrician gave me the go ahead, I started him on solid foods.

Its been confusing though. Some days he'll gobble up the whole jar and start howling each time I take the spoon back to refill because it is now six inches away from his mouth and that is just Too Far. Other times when offered food he'll turn his head to the right and begin crying bitterly each time the spoon comes near, with a distinct tone of "you have got to be kidding me."

(Just for the record, I told my husband before B was born that this child would be more compliant but a horrible sleeper and a picky eater. No word yet on compliance but otherwise I'm 2 for 2).

In my sleep deprived state it took me until this week to recognize the pattern. He loves peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash. He screams with personal offense about anything and everything else.

Orange. I guess his favorite color is Orange.

My feeding-your-child philosophy has always been: Offer what is being served. If child does not want it, he can have a no-thank you helping. If that's all he wants, fine, he won't starve. If he's hungry enough he'll eat it. Under no circumstances will a separate meal be prepared. Avoid power struggles and slippery-slopes.

This is a seven month old though. Power struggles are still in the future, but the slippery slopes begin now. So I'm baffled - do I buy mostly Orange Stuff because he's a baby and needs to eat? (He is, after all, still a very little Bee). Or do I continue to buy and toss Other Colored Foods? (But what is the point of buying food I know will only go in the garbage?) Or, do I mix a variety of foods into a still-predominantly-orange blend resulting in a more balanced diet but not teaching him how to eat (and enjoy!) what is being served?

In the meantime, all our rags, bibs, and increasingly, clothes, are permanently stained Orange.

Read more...

Feeding our Family: Toddler Lunches

This is the next post in our new series on Feeding our Family. If there is a specific idea or post topic you would like to read about as part of this series, e-mail us at dupagemamas(at)gmail(dot)com.

One of the hardest things for me about the daily grind of motherhood is feeding little people. It has always been a challenge for me to make sure my boys are getting a good mix of all the necessary food groups and nutrients. Lunches are particularly hard for me. The flow of the day rarely seems to lend itself to laid back lunch prep and drama free meal-time. Either we are on the go or nap time can't come fast enough. All this has led me to do some research on different lunch ideas that are quick and healthy or can be made ahead of time and frozen for easy heat-up. I like to mix it up and not feed the same ol' lunches all the time- you know, the PBJ and chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese and ... I worry that I am not giving them enough veges or calcium or grain or protein. There is so much to think about on top of making sure that they will actually eat what I manage to get in front of them.
So, for any of you who find themselves in the same boat as me, here are some websites and healthy lunch ideas I found to get you out of the lunch-time rut too.

Egg "McMuffins"- fried egg on a buttered english muffin, maybe with some ham for a little extra protein
Scrambled eggs with some grated cheese (My 3yr old LOVES this for any meal and I feel good 'cuz he is getting good protein)
Fruit and vege and cheese plates- raw veges or slightly steamed to make them easier to crunch
Cheese Quesadillas
Mini-pizzas on pita bread or bagels
Soup- chicken noodle, tomato, beef barley (We love the boxed versions from WholeFoods or TraderJoes- quick and healthy)
Pasta- plain or with a little butter or parm. cheese
Baked mac-n-cheese- you can cut this into squares and freeze them for quick re-heating
Turkey/Cheese roll-ups (or any lunch meat- nitrate free is best)
Ravioli- canned or frozen or homemade and pre-frozen if you are super ambitious
Bread or crackers with Hummus spread (we love this too! Good source or grain if you use wheat bread and a good protein source too)
Grilled cheese with ham or even a little tomato slice added in for some extra nutrients
Mini Meatloaf made in muffin tins-also can be made and frozen
Ramen noodles- only use a portion of the seasoning mix and remove some of the broth so it is a little less messy
Peanut butter and jelly in an ice-cream cone- a little twist on a classic, good for a quick snack too
Fruit Smoothies- add a little wheat germ or soy protein powder in there and they will never know. You can also juice some veges (in a juicer) and add that in too.

Here is a fun, toddler-friendly recipe to try: Put a stick of string cheese in a buttered hotdog bun. Microwave for 45secs. Serve with a bit of marinara sauce for dipping.

Some helpful websites:
Wholesome Toddler Foods
Healthy Toddler Lunches

Since I am all about moms helping other moms, I must give a shout out to my bloggy friend Terra who does such a good job being creative in how she feeds her family (and from who I got a lot of these ideas!).

Do you have any recipe ideas or helpful resources that we all could use to help us on this journey of feeding our family? Please share! You can leave them here in the comments or, better yet, write your own musings on feeding your family and we will post it as part of our series. Thanks Y'all!! (I met Paula Dean at BlogHer this past weekend... so maybe that has me inspired to cook.. and say y'all!)

**P.S.~ The new look of DupageMamas debuts THIS WEEK!! HOORAY!! I can't wait to show you!! **

Read more...

Sweeter Than Honey

FEEDING OUR FAMILY:
This is the beginning of a series of posts about Feeding Our Family. For the next few weeks, we will have at least one post each week which focuses on all the different aspects of this topic and how we can help each other in this often daunting task of making sure our families eat healthy, well-rounded, on-time meals. If you have an idea for a post on this topic, please e-mail us at dupagemamas(at)gmail(dot)com. We would love to hear from you! Stay tuned for some really great discussion about how we can better Feed Our Family.

In this quest to be smart and healthy in how I feed my family, I am always on the look out for places that help me on this path. And while I always want to serve the best to my family, I don't always feel like cooking that food in my own kitchen. That is when it is super nice to have someone else who is cooking the healthy, organic food that should fill my boys' tummies.

Honey is an amazing restaurant in downtown Glen Ellyn, in the western suburbs. They call themselves a "modern comfort cafe" and that pretty much says it all. Except I might add "yummy," and "delicious" and "soul-satisfying" to the list of descriptors. It is comfort food in the true sense that it is warm and flavor-ful. But beyond that, it is comfort food because I know that what my family and I are eating is good for us and good for the earth. Their produce is all organic, their meat is free range/grass-fed and often local. Even the wine and beer and coffee are organic. They bake most of their own bread and sweets every morning and make all their own sauces and salad dressings from scratch.

While these things are great and certainly key, I think the thing I like most about Honey is the atmosphere. It is laid back and friendly. It is the type of neighborhood place where people could sit with a cup of free-trade coffee and chat about the local happenings. I don't know if people actually do that, but you could. It is comfortable that way. It brings healthy, organic food down to an approachable level and makes it available for everyone. The prices are pretty reasonable for what you are getting. They cost more than a breakfast at your run-of-the-mill pancake house, but you are getting so much more for your money. When your options include Filet Mignon Benedict and Triple Chocolate French Toast, you know you have found a gem. For lunch and dinner, they have everything from yummy meatloaf and pot pie (see, comfort food!) to sandwiches to just about everything in between. They even have something called "Truffle Mac-N-Cheese" made with white truffle oil. Modern comfort cafe, indeed!

There is a "Little Honey's" menu for the kiddos with organic chicken nuggets or mac-n-cheese or organic PBJ. Even if you don't come for a meal, you gotta come for the dessert. For dessert, try the "cupcake of the day." You can't go wrong with that.

Honey offers delicious food that you know is good for your body. Sitting there eating yummy food in a laid back neighborhood cafe... comfortable!


Honey
499 N. Main St.
Glen Ellyn, IL
630-469-0000
www.honeycafe.net
Mon-Sat 9a-9p
Sun 9a-3p

Originally posted by Farrah at Chicagonista.

Read more...