Photo by Piovasco

Today we got the opportunity to visit the farm to pick strawberries out in the field. The field trip (forgive the pun) showed the kids exactly where their food grows. The experience was educational and tons of fun! There’s nothing quite like setting loose a 10-month-old in a row of strawberries and watching her pick her own berry and pop it in her mouth! When she tired of that activity and needed to reconnect with me, I didn’t have to head back to the car, I just sat right down in the field and nursed her. It felt great to be cuddling my baby in the sunshine. As far as I know, no one paid us any mind, they were all so busy picking strawberries.

We came home with over 10 pounds of organic strawberries for $10.75! I nursed my little one to sleep for her nap and had a chance to process all the strawberries. The perfect ones went into the refrigerator, the ones that got a little bruised in transit got frozen whole, and the ones on their last legs got pureed and frozen.

Our u-pick adventure was unique and memorable, and I credit nursing for making it easy and enjoyable too!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

When my baby was ready for solid foods, I learned even more about nutrition. I naturally gravitated away from jarred baby food because I found it easier and more appetizing to offer her freshly-prepared whole foods. She would eat bits of mashed banana or avocado. When she could pick foods up by herself, she enjoyed eating small pieces of steamed broccoli. After a wide variety of foods had been safely introduced, she graduated to eating everything the rest of the family ate.

My husband enjoyed the changes we were making in our diets. Once he realized that he felt better and better with each change, he whole-heartedly supported my efforts. He discovered that organic foods often taste better than their conventionally-grown counterparts, and we chose organic options whenever we could afford them (but particularly for the milk, meat, and those fruits and vegetables on the top 10 lists for pesticides). We joked about Operation EMV, also known as Operation Eat More Vegetables!

Recently I discovered the existence of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm that delivers locally-grown, fresh-picked organic produce. Each week over the summer I received another box of goodies. I was happy to be getting organic foods, and I enjoyed trying a wider variety of fruit and vegetables. When I tried a new recipe for creamed summer squash, my four-year-old commented, “This is so yummy. It must be the patty pans!” I had to laugh because just a week before that I hadn’t even known what a patty pan was!

Has your diet changed since you became pregnant or started nursing? Do you choose organic options for some foods?

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3