Die Red Dye 40

I'll be the first to admit I can get a little crunchy but Motherhood has taken it to a whole new level.  I wasn't always this crazy.  (I think!)  When I was newly pregnant with Cooper, I couldn't get enough sour worms.  Kyle would say to me, "I'm going to kindly ask that you stop eating those" in the nicest way possible.  This would usually result in me throwing something at him but it got me thinking about all of the crap I was consuming.  And not just in the junk food, in the "healthy" stuff too.

I don't take it to the extreme, but I do what I can.  We eat organic fruits and veggies (mostly), hormone free meat (when at home), wild caught fish (sorry CCA!) and try to stay away from processed foods.  This is a handy little cheat sheet that I keep in my wallet so I know when its worth the extra $ to go organic. The Dirty Dozen  My family makes fun of me but I've spied a copy or two in their wallets too!

We do it mostly for the Cooper man.  Don't get me wrong, dude has eaten a french fry and chowed down on some Blue Bell (like any good Texan should)!  I fully expect for him to drink a Coke one day and eat so much Halloween candy he makes himself sick but I'd like take this blip in time when I have full control over his diet to give him a good foundation.

Cooper loves berries.  "Baaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeesssssss" as he calls them.  He requests them when he's hurt and when he doesn't like his dinner.  And you should see the way the little stinker asks for them with his cocked head, sweet smile and twinkling eyes.  I swear his eyelashes grow an inch when he's working me over!

The other day I went to the store to get him some berry popsicles for a little summer treat.  I started reading labels in search of some that were "all fruit".  Big mistake.  Meltdown in aisle 12!  Yes there were many that contained "all natural fruit" but even the most trusted brands had Red Dye 40 and xanthan gum.  What the heck is xanthan gum and why should my sweet baby boy with his shiny little eyes ingest it?

So, I did what any gal would do...called my mom!  She reminded me that when we were little she used to make us our own popsicles out of fruit juice.  Aha!  Taking it old school!

I found these little popsicle molds on diapers.com and went to work!  One bag of frozen organic blueberries, about 2 cups of pear juice and about 1 cup of water in the blender and voila!  Homemade pops with nothing but the good stuff!

My little guinea pig enjoying his "baaaaiiiieeeeeee" (aka berry) treat!  Such a hit!