More Fruits and Veggies (for all of us)!

So, the food count for the baby is now: apples, pears, peaches, prunes, oatmeal, rice, squash, carrots and peas.  Of those, he has definitely shown a preference for the veggies, but, as a surprise twist, enjoyed the heck out of the prunes!  (My sister has started calling him a "little old man".)  Last night was our first go round with peas, and as par for the veggie course, he loved them!  I did not have a chance to make them myself yet, as we were eating out last night, but we did experiment with a new baby food brand: Nurture Me.  These are basically packets of freeze dried (?) fruits and vegetables that can be reconstituted with the liquid of your choice (mine was plain old tap water).  The nice things about this brand are: they are very portable, you can add liquid to make the consistency you prefer, and the peas were a gorgeous, bright green color.  (Which my mother said looked weird.  I asked her if she had ever seen an actual pea before - you know, of the not-canned variety.  I am pretty sure she refrained from calling me a smart-ass only because my older children were hanging around.)  Anyway, it was interesting mixing the peas up and I really liked that they maintained that verdant hue, rather than dulling to the standard (canned) olive green of oxidized/overcooked green vegetables.  The baby agreed with me and scarfed his oatmeal-pea gruel down.  After he finished eating (probably should have been before, but what are you going to do?), I tasted the peas.  They had a wonderful, fresh flavor.....but a really weird, chalky texture.  My sister, who also braved the baby food taste test, said that they reminded her of peas that had been left in the freezer for too long.  I agree - it is probably the effect of the processing, plus the starchiness of the peas themselves.  No matter, as I plan to make my own batch tomorrow - have to finish the other half of the packet first today. 

So, as the post title indicates, we are all enjoying more fresh produce.  A friend of mine is currently training a group of us in CrossFit workouts and is doing a cleanse-type diet called Whole30.  I read through all of the nutritional information (which was a lot and very comprehensive) and ultimately decided that the whole Whole30 was not for me, based on the fact that I am still breastfeeding and plan to continue to do so until the baby is at least a year old.  Anyway, the basic tenets of this diet are eating whole foods, specifically fruits, vegetables and clean meats (with which, I am totally on board).  They eschew eating grains, legumes and dairy products for various reasons.  (Side note: I have actually given up dairy to see if that helps with the baby's health issues - he has reflux and eczema.  It is a bit of an experiment, but it is a place to start.)  I decided that my take-away from the Whole30 would be to introduce more fruits and vegetables into our diet, and, if possible, to substitute them for certain white potato and grain based side dishes, upon which I have come to rely.  Hence, when I made Shepherd's Pie last night for my family (and extended family of my mother, sister and aunt), I used grass-fed, organic ground beef, organic carrots, organic spinach, onions, garlic, tomato paste and.......wait for it......instead of topping it with mashed potatoes, I used cooked, mashed cauliflower!  It was a hit!  Everyone ate it, including my two daughters, and my aunt thought that the topping was actually potatoes for half the meal!   Anyway, I consider it to be a win - it was homey, delicious and very satisfying!