How's That Burger, Ev?

It's been a food revolution in our house since the first of the year. John and I are trying to live a more healthful lifestyle, and with that comes diet changes. Of course this was all fueled by my desire to feed Zachy the most wholesome, nutritious way possible. Which got me thinking about what Evan eats. And ultimately what we grown-ups eat as well. My father-in-law has a girlfriend we really like, and she has become a vegetarian. Hearing the impact this has had on her also served as inspiration. Although John and I are too carnivorous to take that plunge just yet, we have decided to skip the red meat as much as possible. And so I--dunh dunh duuuuuunh--bought ground turkey instead of ground beef at the grocery store.

So tonight, John and I worked together to prepare a meal of which I was rather proud. I took the ground turkey and mushed it up with some diced onion, garlic, and a little pepper and made turkey burgers. Served on whole wheat buns, of course. For side dishes, we had fresh corn and fresh green beans. I was amazed at myself. It was all delicious, though the beans.....Well, the beans had a different texture than the sodium-laden, butter-drenched canned ones I normally eat. I liked them, but it will take some getting used to. The burgers were actually really good. Yay, us!

So I hand Evan his plate, fully expecting a meltdown. The brown-ness of the wheat bun alone was enough to induce panic in my eldest child. I mean, we feed him wheat bread, but have to buy the white wheat to trick him. This bun was unabashedly wholesome-looking. And he has been in fear of the ground turkey since I bought it. And then the beans? O.M.G. But I was pleasantly surprised. He picked up the burger and took a bite. Ha. Hahahahaha. It went like this:
"How's that burger, Ev?"
"MMMMMMMM. It's gooooo-ood!"
"Well guess what! It's turkey!"

He started crying. He actually started crying. Suddenly the "Gooooooo-ood" burger was disgusting, vile, the nastiest thing I could possibly have given him to eat. He gagged himself. He started to throw a tantrum. And when I calmly told him that he didn't have to eat it, but that it was dinner for the night and I would not be cooking anything else, I thought he was going to die. Bu then something happened once John and I made it a non-issue. We looked away, and he cleaned his plate. And then asked for seconds. Hmmmmm.

So while all of our palates will have to adjust to the changes we have made, it is now something I think we can do.

Move Over, Gerber!

I don't know why I did this. But I was toying with the idea of making Zach's baby food for his big start on solids, but hadn't made up my mind. Well, I was doing some volunteer work and part of my project I am working on is to organize their donations they receive from outside. I was sorting through their supply of baby food, organizing it into stages, type, expiration date and more. And I was absolutely appalled in a way I never was when Evan was a baby. That stuff has a shelf life of about 100 years. Which really made me question what it is that they put in there that we are giving our children to consume at a stage when their digestive systems are at their most vulnerable. Gross. Then there was the actual food. I actually found one called "Country Breakfast": pureed ham and eggs and hashbrowns. Seriously. Let's just start them out from birth with diabetes and high cholesterol and hypertension. Then maybe they can have their first blocked coronary artery before high school. So that sealed the deal for me. I'm a smart person. I can do this, right?

My first step was to find containers. I managed to find some BPA-free containers for the bargain price of $8 for 24. They're freezer safe, microwave safe, and dishwasher safe. Score! Next came the food. Wholesome and pure was the goal. So I stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies of every color of the rainbow. The exception was squash because (A) I couldn't find a fresh squash and
(B) I don't think I would know what the hell to do with one if I did. So for that first food, I bought frozen. To reap the health benefits of this project, I needed to cook them in the healthiest way possible to both preserve the nutrients and minimize the use of fats and oils, as well as salt and sugar. I chose to steam and boil. No additives whatsoever.

The first batch I made was the squash and carrots. I steamed the carrots for what seemed like forever after I spent all of that time peeling and slicing them. My fingernails were stained orange for 2 days afterwards. The first batch was actually pretty comical. I didn't want to cook the carrots long enough that I allowed all of the nutrients to escape, but they needed to be soft enough to be able to puree them. So I cooked them, again, for what seemed like forever, then dumped them into a mixing bowl with a touch of purified water to keep them moist. The plan was to first coarsely chop them using an attachment on my hand mixer. (I don't have a food processor because I have never had the need, but if this works out, I may need to invest in one!) Then I planned to put them in the blender to puree them from there. Well they were still too firm, and as soom as the blades from my mixer touched them, sliced carrots started flying and zinging through the air, ricocheting off of my cabinets and just about every other surface in my kitchen. I ended up finishing up by boiling them to get them to a softer consistency, and from there, the process went smoothly. The squash? Well the squash was a piece of cake and went directly from stove-top to blender with no problems and pureed like a dream.

So at the end of my little misadventure, my counter was covered with small containers of homemade baby food for Zach, cooling so I could then freeze them. John looked quite impressed that his non-domesticated wife was capable of doing this, and I was pretty pleased with myself and thought this surely should warrant my nomoination for Mommy of the Year. I figure if I do a little at a time, by the time Zach starts solids at the planned age of 6 months, I will have a pretty nice supply. And I read that they are good in the freezer for about 4 months, so I have plenty of time. Later this week, I have 2 subsequent days off and plan to tackle bananas.

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