Making the Switch to Natural Peanut Butter

You might have been brainwashed by commercials as a child to believe that your mother only loved you if she bought you Jif...or Skippy if she could sneak it in a sandwich without your knowing.  I was raised on Jif and I still think it's delicious.  I read the label once and switched to Jif 50%.  Even though it had less fat it was still chalk full of sugar and fat. 

We got hooked on natural peanut butter when we were visiting family for 10 days.  It was all they had.  It only takes about 4 days to develop the taste buds for natural peanut butter.  It has a more satisifying texture and you can't eat lots and lots more of it b/c it lacks extra oil that don't reside in normal peanuts. 

Things to watch for as you try to switch.
Unsalted:  this will be a hard first try and perhaps too much of a leap if your coming off of a national brand.
No-stir:  this is code for--has an added type of oil to keep it from separating--caution!  It will probably be palm oil and as tropical and exotic as it sounds, it's not a great oil for your body so try to avoid it.
Weird brand names:  you will just have to get used to this.  Look at the back, chances are, the natural peanut butter is made/distributed by Smuckers!  They have their name all over the back of supermarket peanut butters.  This is not bad, we prefer Laura Sartor's brand which is a Smucker affiliate.
Additional compulsions:  to make the switch, you might want to mix things in to the peanut butter like honey, sugar, salt, chocolate, ground beef, etc.  While these aren't all bad, try hard to take it plain until you get used to it.
Organic: Shop around for this type of natural peanut butter for a good price if this is of value to you.
Self Serve: This is a good way to experiment with different types if you can find one of these machines at a grocery store.  Try a tiny bit of each one before you buy any. 

Take it to the next level:  Try out other nut butters like almond and cashew.  They are great compliments to apples, toast, sandwiches etc.

What's your favorite kind of peanut butter?

Greenbaby series 3 of 5 - Cloth or Disposable Diapers?

If you are aiming to be green, using cloth diapers instead of disposables may seem like a no brainer. I don't believe, however, that the choice is that black and white. With disposables, you have to consider land fill waste, and chemical/gas use in manufacturing, shipping, and the associated packaging. With cloth diapers the main consideration is water use for washing, and some possible chemical use for cleaning. While water use may not seem to outweigh the factors involved with disposables, I have actually read research stating that, depending on where you live, it does. If you live in a place where land fill space is plentiful, but water resources are scarce, it was recommended that one use disposables. And vice versa. Using a cloth diaper service can reduce water/energy use for cleaning because they are able to be more efficient with washing large numbers of diapers at once. The drawback is that, most of the time, they will use some kind of bleach agent to disinfect between multiple customers, whereas at home you can use natural cleaners. Cloth diaper services are also considerably more expensive than washing your own.

There are some other good alternatives on the market today. My favorite is gbaby diapers (stands for green baby diapers) at http://www.gdiapers.com/gdiapers101 . They have reusable cotton covers with plastic free, biodegradable inserts. You can toss, flush, or compost the inserts. You get the best of both worlds - no washing, and no land fill waste. The only problem, for me, is the cost. It costs about $75 a month to diaper your baby in gbaby versus about $35 a month to use disposables. For someone like me, with two in diapers, I just can't swing $150 a month for diapers. So, as you can see, there are many factors to consider when deciding on diapering practices and the same choice isn't going to be best for everyone. We need to look at our own circumstances and make the best choice we can!

 

OrganicAngel's Two Cents:  Reading Laura's post got me thinking so I researched at home diaper services an found this one that services the Northern Colorado area.  I recommend you peruse this site to learn a lot if you are interested in going green for your babies.  This service is eco friendly and provides good info.  They also say that cloth diapered babies potty train more quickly than disposable users! 

http://www.ecobabydiaperservice.com/index.asp

Green Baby Series 2 of 5 - Food Mill vs Store Bought Baby Food

It is very easy to make your own baby food and only a little more time consuming, and doesn't really require any special equipment. You basically just steam or boil fruits and veggies for babies and then blend them with a little water to a smooth consistency. Preparing fresh fruits and veggies preserves many of the vitamins and antioxidants that are lost in the processing of jarred food. As they grow and can handle more variety, a food mill is invaluable.

You can pick one up for about $12 and start grinding up whatever you are having for your meals.

Not only is this healthier for babies because they are getting fresher, more whole foods without many additives and preservatives, and the flavors are more true to the real thing. Acquiring a taste for natural, whole food sets them up for better eating habits as toddlers. For example, if a baby is used to jarred peaches and then fruit cups, when you finally slice a real peach for them to eat they won't only be taken by surprise, but will probably prefer the sweeter, canned version.

When a baby really gets going on solids, they may start going through two or three jars of food per meal, or about 8 - 10 a day. Those little glass jars add up fast as far as waste is concerned, not to mention the carbon footprint required to manufacture and ship them. Shopping what's local, in season, (and on sale!) at your grocery store or farmer's market is definitely a more environmentally friendly choice. It will also lead you to try different things, expanding your baby's repertoire and often making them more open to accepting a variety of fruits and veggies and trying new things as toddlers. The environmental advantages, plus the health benefits, of feeding your baby and toddler natural, whole foods definitely makes it an important part of a "greener" lifestyle!

 

OrganicAngel's Two Cents:  Let's compare what we just learned to this boutique, organic baby food I just found online.  You get only 3.5 ounces of mashed fruits in this pouch for $1.79!  You could buy 2.5 POUNDS of organic bananas for the same price with none of the waste.  (we'll talk about composting those peels later)!

Whole Foods or Whole Paycheck- a study.

Whole Foods is a chain grocery store that focuses on providing the least processed, most flavorful foods without preservatives or artificialness.  We have a Whole Foods in my town and most of my friends say, "I love, love, love Whole Foods but it costs SO much, I just can't shop there for everything."  I decided to do a quick comparative study based on my weekly shopping list.  My shopping list varies each week (obviously) but I thought this week had a nice smattering of products.  All products were priced at King Soopers and Whole Foods and all products in both stores are organic.  If identical items couldn't be found, I compared name brand to name brand or store brand to store brand.

So, as you can see here, Whole Foods cost $1.28 more overall.  This is about 21 cents extra per item that I bought.  Some might argue that your extra 21 cents buys you the "experience" of going to Whole Foods.  This is similar to the difference between WalMart and Target.  At Target, you pay for the experience-wider aisles, brighter/cleaner stores etc.  I'd say that we can chalk this up to how much you value the experience of grocery shopping.  I find Whole Foods to be extremely crowded but I do like wandering in the bakery area for the experience.  Also, the bag they gave us at Whole Foods broke before we got out of the store...punishment for not bringing our own!

Apples, apples everywhere

Today I "put up" my supply of organic apples.  If you know what "put up" means: you win!  This is an old school term that means to make a lot of one thing at a time and then can or freeze it to eat later.  I started with my apple peeler/corer/slicer from Pampered Chef or my "apple lathe" as my husband calls it.  You can peel/core and slice a dozen apples in about 10 minutes or less.  I like to do as many apples as possible at one time (up to 4 dozen if you're feeling crazy).

You can purchase an apple lathe like this at amazon.com for about $20.  If you want to go more green with this, don't peel the apples, just slice/dice them into 1/2 inch pieces.  The skins give the filling a nice color.

Organic Apple Filling
1 Dozen Organic Apples (mixed variety is the most fun)
1/2 C Organic Sugar
1 Tbsp Organic Cinnamon
1/3 C Water

Peel/core and slice your apples and put them all in a large pot with the water, sugar and cinnamon.  Boil and stir them a couple times on low for about 10 minutes or until they smell really good.  Spoon them into freezer baggies, push out the air and freeze for up to a year.

Uses:
When you crave appley goodness, lay a bag or 2 out the day of or in the fridge the night before.  I use them in pies and for apple crisp.  You can also add blueberries or fresh peaches to the apples right before baking for an even more delicious dessert!

Pondering and Biting My Nails

Am I really doing this?  This seems like a terrible way to start winter!  I can't even use up the modest amount of organic vegetables that we impulse purchased last Saturday at a farmer's market we weren't supposed to be at!  I'm pretty sure that they only allowed us IN TO the farmer's market b/c we looked like newbies.  We didn't even bring our own shopping bags with us and both felt terrible as we walked out clutching not one but two plastic bags.  Can they make those white, plastic bags any more conspicuous?  Note to self: start a company that makes plastic shopping bags that look like reusable ones.  Wait, that defeats the purpose of my newfound purpose.  Note to self: cancel previous note to self....it's immoral or unethical or genius or all three.  If you are an entrepreneur reading this, you can take the idea but I hope you wake up in the middle of the night with bad dreams about what you are doing to humanity and animality.  Note to self: load a dictionary before writing the next post.

So, this was the kickoff of my attempt to go green.  I realize that I haven't provided you with any useful information but just wait, I'm just getting started!