My mother-in-law was up reading Consumer Reports articles in the middle of the night and came across one that she thought I needed to read. (Praise the Lord for her and her thoughtfulness!) The article she sent me detailed how Consumer Reports had tested a wide variety of jarred baby foods, baby meal pouches, package baby snacks, etc. and discovered that about two-thirds (68 percent) of the store-bought baby food sampled had worrisome levels of at least one heavy metal–even the organic products!

Imagine my horror: My infant son had just had a jar of store-bought, organic green beans a few nights before.

Fortunately, though, there is something that we can do about this problem. We can prepare food for our babies.

Yes, I know that the task sounds daunting. All we need are 30-hour days and a couple energy drinks, right? Wrong! We are able to do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Philippians 4:11-13) AND my easy, 4-step action plan 🙂

1. Explore wholesome, new food options for our kiddos (and ourselves). This is a great opportunity to try new cookbooks and food blogs for ideas that bring your smallest team members into the general family meal fold. Some of my favorites are: Weelicious; Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, & the cookbook, Feeding the Whole Family (which includes suggestions on every recipe page about how to feed your smallest diners).
2. Cook for our babies in batches twice-a-week. Sometime, twice-a-week, we need to make time to prepare baby purees or specialized foods for our kiddos. Then, we just pack up our goodies in portion-sized containers for refrigeration (or pack them away in freezer bags/freezer-safe cubes for longer shelf life) and whip them out as necessary throughout the week.
3. Pack baggies/cups of age-appropriate, alternative snacks IN ADVANCE for munching on-the-go. Packing in advance makes our new goodies just as convenient as our old, toxic standbys. Try 4-oz. cups filled with: Puffins (Toasted O’s, etc.) cereal, mini muffins, broken up baked apple chips/sticks, baked banana chips, peanut butter sandwich crackers, grape halves, and broken up “vegan white cheddar” Hippies (my toddler’s present obsession).
4. Keep easy alternative meals in the pantry/fridge on standby. If your little one boycotts dinner (it happens to the best of us), then have easy standbys on hand instead of a packaged baby entree. Think peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (or PBJ tortilla roll-ups); spinach & mozzarella quesadillas; grilled cheese; and the like.

So let’s pray and get cooking!

What are your thoughts/reactions? Share your feedback in the comments section below!