I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. We had a nice relaxing day which ended with a meal I did not cook. But now it’s Monday.

I didn’t post a meal plan last week because my husband was out of town and my daughter was sick. I made the easy chicken noodle soup again and still can’t believe how quickly this meal comes together (especially when I cheat with store-bought rotisserie chicken).

I also discovered an amazing recipe for restaurant-style salsa on Pioneer Women. She does a fantastic job with her recipes – great pictures, instructions and humor. I made the salsa for a family get together and everyone loved it! I plan to make it every couple of weeks and keep it in the fridge.

This week I have a couple of new items to try including Pesto Parm Chicken and Red Beans and Brown Rice for Wednesday, the long slow cooker day. I haven’t found a red beans and rice recipe I love yet so let’s hope this one is a keeper.

For more meal plans go to Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week

Monday: Have it Your Way Tacos

Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Parm with Couscous and Vegetable Stir fry and Bread

Wednesday: Red Beans and Brown Rice served with a salad and fruit

Thursday: Leftovers/potluck

Friday: Baked Salmon Topped with Veggies, mac and cheese, green salad and fruit.

Challenges
A post on Simple Bites — Stocking Your Pantry for Success — got me thinking about my biggest meal-planning challenge.

Right now, I pick items for the week and make one big shopping trip (Sunday) followed by a little one later in the week (Friday). The Friday trip is supposed to be spent at the farmer’s market getting mostly perishable items like fruits & veggies. But lately I end up running low on something else like soap or cereal, and that makes me choose the grocery store instead.

We do stock up on certain items like paper towels, spices and toilet paper but I haven’t been keeping the rest of my pantry full of items I use on a regular basis (broth, beans, pasta, canned tomatoes etc).

So I’ve decided to have a monthly shopping trip dedicated to buying adequate amounts of the nonperishable items I use most often.

Maybe I’ll even have inventory day and get up at 5 in the morning like they to in restaurants. Just writing that makes me realize it’s a bad idea.

I’m hoping this decreases my weekly trips to the grocery store allowing me more time to go to the Farmer’s Market to get fresh and local produce.

I’m curious, does anyone else shop this way? Am I a late bloomer?

News
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its 2010 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 for Produce. For those not familiar, the EWG routinely tests produce for pesticide residues so consumers can decide when it’s worth it to buy organic.

The produce with the highest level of pesticides (dirty dozen) are celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, kale, cherries, potatoes, grapes (imported) and spinach.

The produce with the lowest levels of pesticides (Clean 15) include onions, avocado, pineapple, mangos, eggplant, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, mangos, kiwi, sweet peas, asparagus, cabbage and sweet corn.

Well that’s it for now. Have a great week and let me know how you are doing!

Every time I cruise by the dairy isle of the grocery store my eyes fixate on the high price of organic milk. As a mom always trying to keep the food bill down, I keep asking myself if it’s really worth it to buy organic. So I did what I always do when faced with such a question: I put my research hat on.

But this one isn’t so easy. There aren’t studies showing that kids or adults who drink organic milk are better off than those who don’t. Instead, there are many theories as to why organic might be better. So I take what little is out there and build my case.

What you get with organic
In order for milk to be labeled as USDA Certified Organic, the cows producing the milk cannot be treated with antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones and their diet must be free of pesticides. So when you buy organic milk, you know that the milk is free of these additives.

Does this make organic milk better?
According to the National Dairy Council’s website,there is no difference between regular milk and organic in terms of quality, safety and nutrition. All milk is tested for antibiotics and is discarded if traces our found. They also state that extensive studies have found no difference between cows treated with rBST (Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin) and those without. And they say tests conclude that milk has the lowest levels of pesticides of all agriculture products.

According to the Organic Center, more sensitive government testing completed in 2004 demonstrates that milk contains more pesticides than previously thought (an average of 2.8 per sample). The good news is the amount of chemicals found was still far below safety levels. But because milk plays such a key role in the diet of growing children whose nervous and immune systems are still developing, there’s the unanswered question of the potential long-term effects.

There has also been speculation (and specific theories as to why that I won’t go into here) about the harmful effects of treating cows with rBST to help boost their milk supply. Even though research to support this is lacking, some conventional milk products have stopped using it (you’ve probably seen the label “milk from cows not treated with rBST”) and countries like Canada and the European Union have banned use of the hormone in dairy farming.

Is all organic milk created equal?
While everyone is focused on the use of antibiotics and hormones on cows, the most important factor nutritionally may be the diet of the cows. Cows fed (outdoors) diets of natural grass and clover (called “pasture feeding”) are superior nutritionally to cows fed (indoors) of grain, soy and other ingredients. A 2008 study published in Journal of the Study of Food and Agriculturefound that “pasture-fed” cows had lower levels of saturated fat and higher levels of monounsaturated fat, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and certain antioxidants. Preliminary evidence shows that CLA may have anti-cancer effects.

While most organic cows are more likely to have been pasture-fed, this may not always be the case. According to The Cornucopia Institute, a national organic watchdog representing family farmers, some of the large companies producing organic milk may not be following through with pasture feeding due to the sheer number of cows they have. The USDA requirements say that cows that produce organic milk should have “access to pasture” but that doesn’t always mean they get it.

In order to helps consumers get the most bang for the organic buck, The Cornucopia Institute rated dairy farmers on various criteria. Check it out.

My Conclusion
I take a conservative stance when it comes to feeding my children, which is why I choose to buy organic milk for my daughter – and will do the same when my son drinks milk after turning one. As for me and my husband who drink fat-free milk, sometimes I buy organic and sometimes I don’t. I have started looking for milk that comes from “pasture-fed” cows. I think this is especially important for babies and toddlers who are drinking whole and reduced fat milk.

I wish there was more data on this subject but I still feel good about my choice. Let other parents know what you have decided.

Subscribe to Raise Healthy Eaters to get more on smart shopping for your family.

Reference and Resources
National Dairy Council

Butler G, Nielson JH, Slots T, Seal C, Eyre MD, Sanderson R, Leifer C. Fatty acid and fat-soluble antioxidant concentrations in milk from hi- and low-input conventional and organic systems: seasonal variation. J Sci Food Agric. 2008; 88:1431-44.

USDA Certified Organic

Cornucopia Institute Organic Milk Score Card

Organic Center Q&A

WebMD article

In these tough economic times, many of us are looking for ways to cut spending. My family has already made sacrifices for me to stay at home but there was one aspect of our budget we hadn’t touched: our grocery bill. I admit to being oblivious to the price of food – and because I was buying mostly organic produce and dairy products – our monthly food bills kept gaining momentum.

I originally decided to buy organic fruits and vegetables because there are questions about the effects of pesticides on babies’ and children’s growing immune and nervous systems. And compared to other food products, fresh fruits and vegetables contain much of the pesticides people consume.

But as I did more research, I found smarter, more cost effective ways to shop for organic produce.

Not all produce is created equal. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), some conventional produce contains higher levels of pesticides and chemical residues than others. This list shows you when produce is worth the price of organic and when you might want to consider going conventional. 

In general, produce with thick skins that are only eaten after peeling, like avocados, tends to be lower in chemicals than produce with thinner skins. The top 5 offenders are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery and nectarines while the “cleanest” produce includes onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples and mangos.

According to the EWG, people who eat 12 of the most contaminated fruits and vegetables end up consuming 10 different pesticides daily, on average, compared to just under 2 in the 15 least-contaminated produce items.

Try out Your Local Farmers’ Market. Finding the right Farmers’ Market is like winning the food lottery. You save money as well as getting to know your local farmers. And even though not all the farmers have certified organic produce, most farm without the use pesticides. All you have to do is ask.

Another perk is the Farmers’ Market is an ideal outing for kids. It gets them outside and involved in choosing—and tasting—produce. Here are lists of Farmers’ Markets in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Get Organic Deals. If you look for deals, you will find them. Stores like Whole Foods are offering coupons on their organic produce. Take advantage of companies helping you save money!

And stores like Trader Joes always offer lower prices. Try some of their frozen organic fruits and veggies at reduced prices.

We’ll talk much more about buying organic in the coming weeks. The next blog post on buying organic will discuss the pros and cons of buying organic dairy and meat products. And if you haven’t already, Subscribe to Raise Healthy Eaters by email or our RSS feed on the homepage.