This month, we are honored to have Kris Bordessa as our guess teacher on Rootsy. She is an avid gardener, chicken wrangler, and creator of Attainable Sustainable. She has been writing for magazines and publishing books for a decade and a half. Her current all-encompassing project is a book for National Geographic; if you’re looking for a guide to simple living, watch bookshelves in early 2019.
She lives on the Island of Hawai’i with her immediate family.While this is great as you might imagine, she cannot grow zucchini or tomatoes there (who knew?).
What is Your eBook Contribution to Rootsy?
In DIY BABY FOOD: HOMEMADE AND HEALTHY, I aim to show parents that there are perfectly good alternatives to itty-bitty jars of baby food. Those alternatives will save parents money and allow them to opt for healthier ingredients – and making baby food at home not hard to do.
What Aspects of DIY Food and Other Areas of Homesteading are You Most Passionate?
Here’s the deal. I’m an advocate of home cooking and using real food. But even people who cook from scratch are being sold on the idea that they have to buy certain ingredients to get started. Even Betty Crocker’s recipes often start with a “cheat” these days. Taco seasoning? Flavor packets? You can make them at home.
So many of the pantry staples available on store shelves can be made at home with better ingredients. If I was going to start with one item? It would be salad dressing. It’s so easy to make at home, it’s expensive to buy, and store-bought dressings come in plastic bottles. A family that eats lots of salads might toss a bottle or two a week into the trash!
I love the idea of people growing some of their own food, but realize that it’s just not doable for a lot of people. In many areas, there are other options for bringing food consumption closer to home, though. Farmers markets, CSA (community supported agriculture) programs, and summertime U-Pick operations support a localized food system.
What Was Your Inspiration or Push For This Lifestyle?
As with many parents, my push for cleaner eating came courtesy of my kids. Namely, my second son who, it turns out, had terrible reactions to a number of food additives. In trying to figure out what was triggering the reactions, I started reading labels. That’ll scare anyone into making some changes!
How Did You Pick Up Your Cooking From Scratch Skills?
My mom cooked from scratch, so I picked it up from her. Of course, I was a child of the 70s which meant that she also embraced some of the convenience foods available to her at the time. Homemade apple pie with Grandma’s crust was common during harvest season, but I was nearly 30 before I realized that pudding could be made without a box.
What’s Your Best Advice For New Parents Making Baby Food?
I think it’s the same whether you’re cooking for one baby or an entire family: Keep it simple, make it easy. Don’t make a special trip to the store for plums when you have carrots in the fridge. (Unless you’re making that trip to the store as a chance to get out and take a moment to yourself!) Make more than you need and freeze some; you’ll be ahead of the game. And cut yourself some slack. These are long-term lifestyle changes that won’t happen in a day. The first step, though, is awareness and wanting to shift the way you do things in your household, both for your family and to be a bit gentler on the earth.
What One Piece of Advice On Baby Food Making/Cooking From Scratch Pursuits Would Be?
Don’t buy the idea that babies need prepared baby food. What did parents do before shelf stable baby food was available? They kept their babies fed and healthy without those little jars. Those jars are purely for convenience. And yes, there’s a time and place for convenience, and some days you just don’t have it in you to do anything more than open a jar. But that’s not a mandatory part of feeding your baby, as advertisers would like you to believe.
Be Sure to Find Kris At Her Website Attainable Sustainable And Social Media Channels: Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Pinterest
