Observations on the Journey...

…from baby food to “the good stuff!” (Yes, that’s a weighty title, but I think it’s a pretty momentous event!)

As the girls continue to add more and more “big people food” to their diets, I’ve had a few revelations along the way…

1) I have a new perspective on the price of produce. Once upon a time, I would never have considered buying avocados at $1 EACH! But, as the girls can split an avocado and have it count as one vegetable serving each, that’s equal to the price of a package of processed green beans. $3.48 for a package of strawberries??? Bring it on! From that, the girls can eat four or five fruit servings apiece, which makes that much more economical than Grandma Gerber’s finest. Just don’t tell the Produce Manufacturer’s Association…they’ll realize they can partner with the Baby Food Maker’s Association to fix the prices.

2) At last I’m reclaiming some space in my pantry. Our house is no mansion, but it’s quite comfortable for a family of four…with the exception of the pantry, which was surely designed with a take-out-lovin’ family in mind. For the past six months, I had to devote an entire shelf of my precious few to the baby food we needed for just a week. And that meant everything else had to be condensed. Let’s just say that resulted in one memorable avalanche involving a very large canister of oatmeal, an opened box of macaroni, and this short momma reaching for an elusive roll of paper towels.

3) For the newly unearthed pantry space, I have lost a couple of shelves in my refrigerator. I try to cook a number of dishes ahead of time to have on hand for two or three days. This makes for an excessively full refrigerator about every third day. My husband almost landed in the doghouse last week for an unplanned trip to Sam’s that yielded an impulse purchase of an 18-count carton of eggs. Yes, we use a lot of eggs, and I guess that was thoughtful of him on some level…but doesn’t he realize that two 12-count cartons will stack on top of each other, while the 18-count carton consumes a third of the bottom shelf of the ‘fridge? Hello???

4) I need more Tupperware for said made-ahead dishes. I’ve actually decided I need a Tupperware make-over. (Do they have a show on TLC for that???) Not only do I need more storage for the girls’ food, but I would like for the storage containers to be uniform so they fit in the refrigerator as efficiently as possible. My tawdry collection of plastic containers that dates back to The Single Life ain’t cutting it. Hey…maybe I can apply some savings from my fresh produce purchases to the Tupperware fund!

5) I love ramekins. Huh??? I only have a handful of ramekins, that until recently I used only when I wanted to pretend I was hosting a cooking show. (And yes, I sometimes wear an apron to act out my fantasies…but I digress.) I’ve found ramekins are perfect to serve the girls their food. Pier 1, here I come!

From this in-depth analysis, one might think I have too much time on my hands. That’s far from the case. It’s just that it takes a lot more time to cook than it did to open those little plastic packages, so I have plenty of time in front of the stove to ponder the meaning of life, love, and feeding babies.