Healthy Baby, Mommy, & Daddy

One minute you're feeding your baby what you know is the healthiest for him, and the next you're reading articles how everything you've thought is no longer recommended. There are changes to what babies should eat, drink, watch, and play with constantly. Don't these researchers know they're making it hard for us mommies!

Based on tradition, rice cereal should be a baby's first solid. When David was ready for solids I read blogs and articles about if rice cereal really is a good first food. Of course everyone has their own opinion, and after my own research I felt that rice cereal wasn't necessary for David but instead a tasty avocado. Recently I read an article discussing the top topics that pediatricians read in 2011 regarding changes and the #1 topic is whether rice cereal is necessary...check out the site http://www.drgreene.com/blog/2011/12/09/what-your-pediatrician-reading.

Then I hear about the breaking news of unhealthy levels of arsenic being found in apple juice and rice. David doesn't drink apple juice or eat rice so I have nothing to worry about. But this brought on an interesting point...who knows what other foods have toxins in it. We don't know what the hell the government is doing and unfortunately we won't know. The current recommendation regarding the unhealthy arsenic level in rice is to purchase organic. Since day 1 of David eating solids, I've been buying only organic for him. Some say it's not necessary, especially for certain foods. But after these recent articles I am happy that I've always been buying organic for David because who knows what the next food is that is going to have toxins in it.

These articles got me thinking about not only David's health but Gene's and my health as well. David needs a healthy mommy and daddy so I decided that we need to be eating organic as a family. I've always purchased certain organic food, such as diary. But nowadays I feel like you can't trust diary, meats, produce...nothing. So I guess our grocery shopping is going to be more expensive now, but at least our health is prioritized.

Kale Chips...Yum

Once David was reaching 4 months I knew that starting solids was days away. I spent days doing my research as to whether he was ready for solids or if I should wait. When I finally made the decision that he was ready the next decision was what should be his first solid food. Should I take the traditional route of rice cereal or should it be a fruit or veggie? Once again I spent days doing my research and then I finally made my decision of introducing David to avocados first.

After spending so much time on deciding what should be David's first food I came to realize that it wasn't as important what his first food was but what his entire diet was going to consist of. I want David to enjoy eating fruits and veggies and not be craving chips on a daily basis. The only way to have him enjoy healthy food is to grow up knowing what a healthy diet consists of. This realization brings me to do research on everyday healthy snacks, salads, entrees, etc.

This is when I came across kale chips. I read on someone's blog about them last night, so today I went to the supermarket to purchase kale. I drizzled some EVOO with some salt and into the oven pieces of kale went. Ten mintues later I was trying kale chips. And to my surprise they were very good. So simple yet such a good snack. I wanted to eat the entire cookie tray of kale chips.

I know that David is still young to be enjoying kale chips but now I know of an easy and healthy snack that he can be introduced to later on. And for now, Gene and I will be enjoying them :)