The Koala Mom » baby food http://koalamom.com Embracing Natural Living and Parenting Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:32:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Preservative Nation http://koalamom.com/74/preservative_nation/ http://koalamom.com/74/preservative_nation/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:02:15 +0000 Olivia http://koalamom.com/?p=74 As you may know, I recently had a son in February, 2009. Right now, at 6 months, he is transitioning in to starting solid foods in addition to breastfeeding. Last night, I attempted a “real” solid of sweet potatoes mixed with breast milk. I LOVE sweet potatoes! However, the experience was so new to him that he seemed to not feel the same way about sweet potatoes that I do!

I bought a small organic sweet potato for him and baked it in the oven with ours. I let it cool and then poured some pumped breast milk in with it so the consistency would be soft and mushy. I have only given Joel rice cereal and bananas mixed with breast milk so this new food was very different for him. He just let the sweet potatoes sit in his mouth and made a silly little grimace with his face. Then he would cough and try to get the mixture out of his mouth.

I only gave him tiny spoonfuls so I didn’t understand why it was so hard for him to eat it. My husband, Jeremy, reminded me he probably has not got the hang of swallowing the strange stuff in his mouth yet..

Duh! He is used to just sucking in mommy’s milk and drinking without having to put in extra work that is required with solids.

So I’ll try again soon.

This story may even be familiar to those of you who have older children who are not enjoying the new foods you put on their plate.

They may think broccoli is the nastiest thing ever or that green beans are really just meant to give to the dog sitting under the dinner table. Whatever your situation may be, a lot of kids have trouble eating foods that are fresh and great for their health.

Our nation is constantly bombarded with refined processed foods, sugar and white flour products. Packaged foods are full of salt, MSG, and high fructose corn syrup.

Right now I am learning that my 6 month old’s food preferences are already beginning. Therefore I am starting on fresh, raw foods and not buying processed baby foods in the jar.

Lets learn more about some ingredients in processed foods:

  • Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): Many of us have heard of MSG. Many Asian restaurants add this substance to enhance flavor. It can be found in packaged seasonings, salad dressings, and canned soups. MSG psychologically makes the consumer want more and more of the food containing the substance and the Food Industry knows that. Otherwise bland foods are given the additive so they will taste better.
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