Shopping in a Time Warp

I walk into the grocery store and (this has happened at a couple of different places) it’s like stepping into 1995. Back when nothing was bad for you and the more complex the scent the better - You know, before organic and natural foods/items became popular. The food selection is not what I left in North Carolina. I never realized how fortunate I was to be able to choose what brand of whole wheat bread I wanted to buy. Here there are 15 different varieties of white bread and maybe 2 of wheat bread – and only one whole wheat bread. Organic dairy? Forget about it. Unscented wipes? I don’t think so. Why wouldn’t you want your baby to smell like a fresh spring morning?

There are a few “organic/green” health stores in town, but they are more like health convenience stores – a little bit of everything, but no good variety of anything. I was able to pick up a bottle of mosquito replant that didn’t have the warning “hazardous to humans” listed on the back. We won’t talk about how much it cost.

Tropical fruit on the other hand is in abundance! Yay for mangos, bananas, pineapples, star fruit and papayas!!! These are not purchased in the grocery store, but directly from farmers along the side of the road. We’ve also driven by a free range grass fed cattle pasture and are determined to find out where those cows end up… hopefully in my freezer ;)

Home Made vs Store Bland

I decided long before the baby was born that along with breastfeeding, I would make her first foods myself. It was partly because of the nutrition but mostly because of the cost. It wasn’t difficult; we mashed up bananas and avocados and even blended our own oatmeal. Baby was eating everything under the sun having a ball. I only ran into trouble when we traveled and needed to keep the food fresh. So, on a recent trip to Jamaica that was going to last about a week I decided to buy jars of Gerber Organics and Earth's Best baby food.
Everything tasted the same. The pasta primavera, chicken and stars, and spring vegetables – no matter what she was eating it all tasted like salt and mush. No garlic, no thyme, no ginger or cinnamon – no flavor! I feel sorry for the poor babies that have to face jars of store bought baby food everyday. No one should go so far through life without any thing interesting to eat.



My favorite baby food websites are:

http://wholesomebabyfood.com/

http://weelicious.com/

Enjoy Tasty the Tasty Food :)