the art of feeding

We had a play date this morning with a beautiful friend and her son. Her and I are a lot a like in our unique ways. One of the things we were talking about was food, the expense of organic the conundrum of having to shop on a budget knowing what we want to feed our families and what is within our means. It made me wonder.....is this something that my daughters will deal with as Mom's (assuming they too will some day be Momma's)?

I prefer to buy and eat organic. If I had an unlimited budget I would likely buy everything we put into our mouths organic. I know how important it is right now to vote with our dollars. I know what goes into growing our food, ethical treatment of animals raised for food and the bi-products of all of these things. It's sad that currently we have to feel guilty feeding our kids anything that's labeled as food. Seriously! In a perfect world if it's sold at a grocery store it should be safe, healthy (to a certain degree) and I shouldn't have to wonder what it's going to do to my or my families bodies after years of eating it. If it's sold as food, it should in fact be food. We pick and choose right now what we're wiling to take a risk on and eat of that which are conventional foods having a handful of things I only buy organic (eggs, chicken, milk & some fruits). Other things I buy conventional that are supposed to be generally safe with little or no chemical pesticides used and some things I skip all together because I can't afford to buy organic but refuse to buy conventional. I try to educate myself on reading labels and knowing exactly what it is in that long ingredient list on some processed foods. Mostly we try to cook whole foods knowing that making it at home from scratch is always the best way to eat but I'm just as guilty as alot of Mom's pulling that blue box of mac n cheese off the shelf and no amount of organic milk or butter will make up for everything else that's in there!

I wonder if by the time my girls are women if enough of us will be fed up with what's happening to our food that we can evoke change.....or if it's going to be another broken mess we will leave for future generations to try and sort out. I hope it's the first.

The Sweet Things....

We're extremely happy and blessed to live very close to Nana and Papa (my parents). The girls have a close relationship with them and I love that Rasa and Adia get to be surrounded by people who love them on a regular basis. The girls are always over the moon when they see them and even though it's almost everyday it's like it's been weeks or months even! My Dad's been over all week because of the remodel I've been talking about (thanks Dad!). The girls have been distracting him while he's been working so hard to get things done for us.

Yesterday Papa was here all morning and then took a lunch break and had to come back. When he did he walked through the door smiling and held up a small white bakery sack saying, "I couldn't resist". Inside were two little cupcakes, decorated to the hilt. A special treat for his little sweeties.

To say they enjoyed them is an understatement!
















Thank you Papa!

The art of feeding

Our lunch today was tasty and all three of us gobbled it up!

I've said before how sad I was to have to start feeding the girls solids months ago. Not because I wasn't excited about them having new foods and trying different things but because breastfeeding was SO easy that I wasn't looking forward to the extra work! I didn't have to pack anything, never had to worry if they were getting enough and knew that all the nutrients and vitamins were packed in there. They were growing beautifully and obviously were getting everything they needed (delicious chunky thighs and round bellies were proof of that!). They are still breastfed but only a few times a day now.

Initially we introduced solids around 6 months with just rice cereal and oatmeal. The girls weren't that receptive and our Pediatrician said they were growing and gaining weight well and that I could put them off for a while. At 9 months we started feeding them more solids and worked our way up to 3 meals a day of mostly fruit, cereal and pureed veggies. I was always adding spices into the fruits and vegetables because I had read that it helps expand babies palates and makes them less picky later. So far this has proven to be true! The girls love curry, cinnamon and nutmeg. They eat a huge variety of flavors and textures. Whatever is on my plate is what they eat. Their favorites include hummus, banana avocado "pudding", tofu with bananas, pizza (go figure!) and black bean burritos.

Feeding the girls vegetarian is challenging because I need to make sure they're getting everything they need to grow. I know it's the best and healthiest option for them and it's not less challenging for parents who feed meat to make sure their little ones are getting everything they need. Making sure they're eating the right combination of foods to get complete proteins and good fats can be daunting for me at times. Rasa is starting to exert her independence and will throw food instead of eat it or turn her head away from the spoon one minute and gobble up the next one. Adia is funny because even when she takes a bite of something she clearly doesn't like she continues to eat it bite after bite! I've got a pretty relaxed approach to it all assuming that if they're hungry they will eat and that they know much better than I do when they're not hungry anymore. It's worked out well this far as neither girls ever get sick and both are perfect for weight. I remind myself that like everything else it will get easier and my list of essential combinations will become like second nature to me.