Chichi Baby Food, Reviewed

Canned baby food is so passe. Frozen baby food is the the new It Girl on the scene. Supposedly, frozen baby food is better because it's less processed and preservative-laden, more nutritious and wholesome and maybe even better-tasting, too. You're supposed to think frozen peas - yum! - vs. canned peas - yuck!

You don't have to believe the hype. I've read the labels on both frozen and canned baby food, and they're all pretty innocuous-looking to me. Plus, frozen is more expensive and takes up more space - and resources; for all the eco-chic of some frozen brands, I would like to point out that glass jars are recyclable and can be stored without use of electricity to run that freezer. The green choice, if you're not making your own (and I'm doing that too, but convenience is convenience), is clearly canned.

Canned is also more portable than frozen. Much easier to stuff a spoon and a jar in the diaper bag and go, without having to worry about defrosting, knocking open a plastic lid, and so on.

Still, I admit to a weakness for the frozen stuff. It's fun. It looks more appetizing, on the whole. And freezing does preserve texture better for my chunk-loving babies. And maybe it preserves nutrients better, too, who knows.

So I went a little nuts and bought a range of frozen baby foods to try out on the twins. I thought I'd share the results of my taste test with you all.

First up, the Dr. Sears-approved HappyBaby Food. This stuff comes in little plastic ice cube trays, one cube per serving, twelve cubes to a pack. Each package has two different flavors with cutesy names like "Yes Peas & Thank-You Carrots" or "Sweeter Potatoes & Purer Pear." The ice-cube motif is cute and the portion sizing is perfect.

Verdict? Well, Dr. Sears may approve, but my babies don't. The one-ingredient purees were OK, but, well, I could make them myself, and do, so why pay the money?

Everything else I tried flunked so completely that most of it ended up down the garbage disposal. The babies just didn't seem to like the taste or texture, and I must admit, I found it rather bland myself. (I notice that the advertising copy uses the word 'mild' a lot. Mild = blah. Babies like flavor, too!) The Baby Dhal was a minor success, at least, but that's another thing I could just as well make myself - and they absolutely hated the counterpart in the package, 'Mama Grain.'

HappyBaby likes to dose its chunkier foods with hippie grains like quinoa and amaranth and such. They are not alone in this, as we'll see later, but it annoys me. I want to feed my babies a variety of foods, but I also want to remain in the realm of things I might normally eat once in a while, too. And I have never eaten quinoa or amaranth outside of a vegan potluck, thank you.

So, HappyBaby may have Dr. Sears' approval, and it may be 'healthy,' but it fails the taste test. Thumbs down.

(One exception: my babies adore both halves of the "Grrreat Greans & Easygoing Greens" package. They won't touch greens that I prepare myself. I am so excited that they're not only eating, but begging for, green veggies that I think this one has found a spot in my overcrowded freezer for now.)

Next contestant: Plum Organics.

I love the name of this company. 'Plum' sounds so posh and yet not at all decadent. You're indulging your baby, but with something wholesome. Perfect. Sold.

Well, I may be sold, but my babies weren't so thrilled.

I tried two varieties: Harvest Vegetables with Turkey, and Red Lentil Vegetables.

Plum Organics packages their food in little plastic bins. Recyclable, of course, and easy to defrost. I'd say that each bin contains about two servings worth of food, which in theory makes it perfect for my twins. In practice, though...

The turkey was a dud. They didn't hate it, but they didn't particularly like it either. Could it be that my ladies are budding vegetarians? Remember how much they liked the greens...

The Red Lentil Vegetables were a moderate success. Red lentils are the main ingredient in HappyBaby's Baby Dhal, too, so I am sensing a pattern here. My babies are health food junkies: they like lentils and greens, but not meat. OK! But only if it tastes good (and doesn't have quinoa) - they are gourmet health food junkies. Figures.

I might try Plum again if I see a package of one of their other flavors - Banana Peach Rice Pudding, maybe, or Mango Muesli, or of course! Super Greens. But I'm in no rush, because there are better (and more moderately prices) alternatives out there.

Like Tasty Baby.

Again, I skipped the first level of their products, the one-ingredient purees. I can do that myself.

And I also skipped the flavors that incorporated 'quinoa pasta' (i.e., all 'Stage 3' foods). I have never eaten quinoa pasta in my life and I don't plan to start. So why inflict it upon my children?

That left me with the 'Stage 2' Flavors, like "Bangoes" (mangoes and banana) or "Sweetie Pie" (sweet potatoes and apples with cinnamon).

Oh, baby.

These were so good I almost didn't share. I am not kidding. A container of this stuff would make a great breakfast or snack.

Normally, I'd question the size of these containers. They're a little larger than Plum's, and hold what I would usually consider a bit more than two servings of food. If it wasn't for the fact that my babies practically inhale anything from Tasty Baby that I provide them. Leftovers are not a problem here. Which makes Tasty Baby cost-effective, too!

Thus, in our taste test sweepstakes, the clear winner is Tasty Baby. So tasty, in fact, that it just might be worth joining the frozen-baby-food trendwagon.

Two other upscale baby foods deserve a short mention here:

The first is World Baby Foods. These aren't frozen; they come in the old-fashioned glass jar, which, as I have noted, is fine for certain kinds of foods anyway. And I love these foods.

Flavors include Sweetie Tahiti, which includes bananas, coconut, apples, pear, and rice. This one was a big hit at our house. The other winner? Baby Dal - you might notice a trend here? Apparently, my babies love lentils. Also turmeric and cumin. I confess I haven't mustered the gumption to try Baby Borscht, just because beets are so staining and feeding babies is so messy. But I can't wait to test-drive some of the other flavors.

I love this food in part because it's not afraid of seasoning. Que Pasa Calabasa has a dash of chili; Lullabye Thai has ginger and cardamom. Forget 'mild'! "Mild' is the culinary equivalent of talking down to your kids. Don't dial down the taste or dumb down your food.

Final mention goes to Little Bug Foods, a company that's local to me here in Oakland, California. They even have a stand at one of the neighborhood farmer's markets here, but you can also find them in some grocery stores around here.

Little Bug doesn't just walk the walk. Their packaging is extra-eco-friendly and their produce is all local and seasonal - what they're selling in any given month depends on the harvest. I admit to thinking "why does seasonal matter quite so much when it's frozen?" but I guess that just means I'm not hardcore.

That's fine, because the food is delicious. We tried the kiwi-apple puree, and it was a hit - not as popular as Tasty Baby's 'Bangoes,' but a close runner-up. Carrots and brown rice were also accepted, and considering I've had problems feeding them straight-up carrots that I made myself, I was impressed. I might not sneak it into my own lunch box, but it's not bland, boring, or excessively hippified. The flavors do tend toward the one-ingredient purees that I try to avoid, just because I always feel like I could do it myself for less cost, but that's my own hang-up and besides, there are exceptions.

Little Bug is strictly a Northern California phenomenon, but if you're in the area, they're worth checking out.

Cool and Geeky Gender-Neutral Item of the Month

Geeky fun shouldn't be reserved for the boys. I am constantly angered when I find monsters, spaceships, and dinosaurs classified in the "boy's" section of stores. Dinosaurs were my absolute favorite as a kid. And sabre-toothed tigers. Rocket ships may not have been my thing, but planets! Absolutely.

So I am always delighted when I find ungendered clothing and toys with geeky undertones. Sure, I can always cross the invisible gender line and buy whatever I feel like for my girls, but what a relief it is when I find a vendor who seems to understand, like I do, that the appeal of bugs and frogs and things transcends all gender divisions.

This week: Alphabet T-shirts!



My favorite from ABCD Tees is the jellyfish pictured here. Runner-up: the seahorse. (Yes, I had an aquarium as a child, how did you guess?) But they also have crabs, katydids, dragonflies...and newts! Awesome. If you prefer something a little more mainstream, zoologically speaking, there's also elephants, rhinos, and alligators.

The realistic dictionary-art style of the images is what makes these t-shirts extra-geeky for me. They might not be the most stylish, but that doesn't make them any less cute.

First Things First: Why Binary Star?

Well, what else would an avid reader of science fiction
call a blog about parenting twins?

Twin girls, to be exact -- almost exactly nine months
old.

I'm not a traditional fan; I'm not a traditional mom.
I'm sureit will all become clear sooner than later if
you stick around.

And in the meantime, there will be cute baby pictures
and notes on fun gear and bleary-eyed tales of how
I've been chasing the girls down all day long. Plus
tips on how to dress your kid like a space alien.
Maybe. And not just for Halloween.

Welcome, and enjoy!