One reason I avoid pesticides

This is a National Atmospheric Deposition map showing the amount of atmospheric nitrate deposited in rain and snowfall. Nitrate is an ion that occurs in nature, but is now dominated by industrial emissions. Central Ohio has the highest nitrate deposition in the country. Other industrial contaminants are also higher in this state. (We are east of industrial places like Gary, Indiana). It is difficult to determine the point source of environmental cancers, because it is often a combination of bads that stress our bodies. I may not be able to control the rainfall in Columbus, but I can choose what my family eats.

Carrot, Potato, Lentil Soup

Thought I 'd post another easy bean(lentil) meal. It has been sweaty hot in Columbus, Ohio. Alex and I have been moving around between libraries and playgroups. We only go out in the cooler mornings, so that our black dog Loki won't die on our walks. Soup is a nice winter meal, but it is especially nice on these really hot days because it doesn't require a lot of tending and stovetop heat is much more forgiving than the oven.

Alex loves carrots and potatoes of every sort.

This meal is easy and can be fed to both adults and infants. It is also inexpensive and serves a family of 3-4 for 2 meals and freezes well.

In large pan:

Saute on medium heat until onions and potatoes have browned (about 10 min):

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion or 6 scallions (I use only the white bottom and save the greens for a soup garnish)
2 medium potatoes* (I used 1 sweet potato and 1 red potato- I don't peel, but I take off anything that looks too gritty or knobby)
3 carrots* (I pop the tops off and scrub, but don't peel)
1 apple or pear* (I take some of the skin off and remove the core and stem)

Add:

4 cup of chicken of vegetable stock (low sodium preferred for infants)
1 cup of uncooked lentils (you can substitute 2 cans of pinto beans)

Cook on low heat 30-45 minutes until lentils have softened.

Allow to cool on stove top for 30 minutes and then run the entire batch through the blender.


For the adult version, I garnish with scallions, dill, and/or chives. You can use other herbs if you have an herb garden, but this is what we had on hand. If you like a little heat add a pinch of red pepper.

For the infant version, I pour 1/4 cup of blended soup into his serving dish and add 1 scoop of formula (or breast milk), ~2 tablespoons of water, and 2 tablespoons of rice cereal. Alex prefers the soup when it is sweetened by the formula. Some babies will eat the soup without these modifications.

*Root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes are especially good to buy organic because they scavenge pesticides from the soil. Apples and pears are also good to buy organic (or wash thoroughly and remove their skin) because they are heavily sprayed by pesticides.

Tomorrow, I will post the recipe for cornbread and cornbread teething cookies that I serve with this tomorrow. You can also serve this on a hearty grain like bulgur or brown rice or with toast/crackers.

If I can't eat it, I don't feed it to my baby

Jarred baby food: Gagggggg!!! I can almost tell what the original food was. Perhaps if I had been there at the start of production, when the sweet potatoes still had their gnarly skin. But I've tasted dabs of this and glops of that. In that mire, whatever happened removed whatever taste was supposed to be there.

Also, I don't have a lot of time. Next month, I return part time to my postdoc as an environmental geochemist. I write and rewrite science articles during my baby's naptimes.

AND NOW this blog: There is a lack of resources for people who want to eat healthy and feed their babies good meals at the same time.

Meals described here will be:

1) core ingredients for baby meals will be based on what the adults are eating

2) organic- no pesticides. Our children cannot afford to be exposed to them, environmental pollutants stick around for a while. Why willingly put them in our bodies;

3) easy/fast to prepare

4) ingredients may be substituted (to improve meal cost/ or work with seasonal ingredients, or help those that live in the boonies far, far, away from city shopping)

My next post will be a recipe.