Make your own organic baby food

I made a lot of my son's baby food myself. It is quite simple really. I bought the organic fruit or veggies (if you can't find the right stuff in season, use frozen...it works just as well). All you need is a steamer, some ice cube trays, and something to blend with. I used my Magic Bullet...it worked really well! I just cut whatever I was making into small pieces (less than an inch big) and then put it in the steamer until it was really soft. Obviously not all foods need to be steamed (berries for example). Then you blend it up and make sure their are no chunks left. If you need more liquid to make it blend then add the water from the steamer. This will give you back any lost vitamins. Next just pour the mix into the ice cube trays and freeze. Once they are frozen I took them out of the trays and put them in freezer bags to store them. These little cubes of food stay good in the freezer for about a month. I found that 3 cubes was about the same as a jar of food. Try mixing 2 or 3 different kinds together for variety. My son's favorite was apples and blueberries. I found it to be fun making his food, plus I knew exactly what he was eating!

Grocery Outlet

Have a Grocery Outlet by your house? Check out their organic food selection. I often times find organic granola bars and cereal as well as tomato sauce and soups.

Produce Sticker

What to know what the little sticker on your produce means?

A four digit code means its conventionally grown with pesticides. (3456)

A five digit code starting with a "9" means it is organically grown. (93456)

A five digit code starting with an "8" means it is genetically engineered. (83456)

Look before you buy!

Book Suggestion

I'm currently reading The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. It was suggested to me by several different people when I talked to them about organic eating. It isn't a book about organic eating or living, but rather the evolution of different plants, the apple, the tulip, cannibus, and the potato. It is a very interesting book so far. The reason it was brought up when talking about organic eating is that I've been told that after reading the section on potatoes that I will never want to eat a non-organic potato again. I will keep you posted as to whether or not this is true....although I'm sure it probably is! Anyway, I'm really enjoying the book and learning a lot, so check it out!

Natural Cleaners

Do you ever get tired of having to reach for chemicals to clean your countertops or to clean spills on the carpets? Often times the "natural" cleaning products in the store are either incredibly expensive or not as natural as they'd like you to think once you read the ingredients. Well I came across an article online about how to make your own natural cleaners. I've heard before that a lot of "make it yourself" cleaners work just as well if not better than the chemicals. Maybe try it for yourself!

http://lifestyle.msn.com/green/articlebhg.aspx?cp-documentid=247980

Have you tried any of these? Give me a review!

Beer!!!

Like beer and want to stay organic? Is you live in the Northwest this is the event for you! An organic beer festival in Portland, OR on June 27-29, 2008.

http://www.naobf.org/

Looks like fun and it's for a good cause!

Baby Bottles

I read about the following after my son was already done drinking out of bottles....but you can bet I will not be using the same bottles with my next baby...

http://www.chej.org/BPA_Website.htm

Oregon Tilth

Every been shopping for Organic foods and wondered what it meant to be certified organic by Oregon Tilth. Well, check out their website and find out for yourself!

http://www.tilth.org/

Top 5 List

Here are my top five ways to go organic on a budget:

1. Shop the ads.
I usually buy the produce that is on sale for the week at the store. If I have time and extra gas sometimes I will go to a second store to see if different produce is on sale there.

2. Shop Costco.
Every time I go to Costco there are more organic items there. My families favorites are the Kirkland brand oatmeal, the Amy's Soups, and the Organic Tree Top applesauce.

3. Use Coupons.
When my son started eating solid foods my favorite baby food to buy him was the Earths Best baby food. Often times shopping sales and using coupons I was able to get it for cheaper than the non-organic jars. Try www.earthsbest.com for coupons.

4. Buy Store Brand.
The new trend among the large chain grocery stores is to carry a store brand organic line. I do most of my shopping at Safeway and they have a large selection of store brand organic items.

5. Grow your own food.
Last year was my first year with my organic garden and I loved it. I definately plan on doing it again. Grow all the vegetables you like and you'll be eating fresh organic produce all summer long!

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog about organic living. In the past year, mostly because of the birth of my son, I have become very interested in learning how I can live life more naturally and organically. It is very important to me that I give my son the best start I can in life and that includes feeding him as many organic foods as possible, using organic and natural products in our day to day life, and recycling. I'm quite new to this and am learning as I go. I plan to post on here about new things I learn. I know that if I had endless amounts of money that my life would be 100% organic, but unfortunately, like most people, our family is on a budget. I work hard to find affordable organic foods and products and do the little things like keep an organic garden in the backyard and bring reusable bags to the grocery store. I hope that if you are reading my blog you find out some new and useful information about how to change your life!