Make your own baby food! (Who, me?)

Our family officially became members of the Willy Street Co-op today. For the cost of $15 a year we got a coupon book filled with more than our fair share of free products, a 10% discount on items at the store, and a pack of coupons and a newsletter with more information about green living each month. Now, I know this sounds crazy, but up until Nadia was born our family was about as green as a pre-packaged bag of iceberg lettuce. For being a "hippie" in a handful of other ways this was one leap I had yet to make.

I purchased two kinds of squash for the first time in my life. I bought a rubber-banded bunch of organic carrots with the green sprouts still on the tops. I scooped my own navy beans, bulgur (I want to call it "vulgar", parsley flakes and garlic powder into bags for weighing at checkout. I even got the only kind of toilet paper in the store; Green Forest paper is made without chlorine and from recycled materials. Wow. This was a big day. Truly earthy people are laughing at me right now at these futile attempts at being "green."

I was energized by this new family decision. Instead of sitting at the computer for hours or watching tv, I decided to jump right into making our newfound goodies into baby food for Nadia. I had attempted making food before when she first started solid foods at six months. Her first meal was avocados, which looked really silly but she seemed to love the texture. The second meal was sweet potatos, her all time favorite. Making entire meals for her, or preparing enough to last more than a few days seemed daunting to me and I've since gone the way of the Gerber...

With a little help from Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, tonight I was able to make enough Food Cubes to last Nadia for at least ten days. I created an ice cube tray's worth of broccoli (high in calcium, vitamins A & C), a tray's worth of sweet potato (high in magnesium & potassium), three jars of carrots (mega-high in vitamin A), and three jars of green beans (full of vitamin K and iron). This endeavor took only an hour and a half and cost our family $6.52. If I bought Gerber food in packs of two at Walmart, used a pack a day for ten days, it would cost us $13.90. This only includes the pack of veggies or fruit and does not add in the new "porridge" Nadia starts tomorrow which is similar to rice cereal. Don't ask me what a box of that costs or how long it lasts!

I'm proud of my energy on this. I feel like buying organic or in bulk or grocery shopping at the co-op from local farmers are things I can do to support our community and my family. Yes, I will still shop at Walmart. Yes, we are still using disposable diapers. Yes, I've decided to pick and choose my own battles.