Local, Fresh and Organic...Kauai Part 2

Living Foods Market in Kukui'ula Village

 Everywhere you turn on Kauai, you will hit some good local food. I had a couple of favourite places to shop for local food during my visit...

 Living Foods Market, in the posh Kukui'ula Village in Poipu is just over a year old. The Market is owned by San Francisco transplant, chef Jim Moffat who also owns Bar Acuda in Hanalei.


The Market is pricey (even for Hawaii) and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for general shopping unless you need to slim down an overstuffed wallet. There healthy packaged staples at a better price. The Nut Thins I purchased there were $3 more a box than the grocery store in Lihue. 

What you do come here for is the gorgeous cafe (get Jim Moffat's cuisine on the cheap!) and for the local produce. 

As I mentioned in my previous post, grocery stores typically don't have any local produce. Not so here - they proudly display a Kaua'i Grown sign in their small produce case. 


I also picked up some incredibly delicious local honeycomb....

And some yummy tropical granola. The store also had locally baked gluten free bread!

In terms of organic shops, there are tons on the island, particularly in Kapa'a but my favourite by far was Healthy Hut in the north shore town of Kilauea. As someone who has been shopping in health food stores since before quinoa was a household word, I really appreciated the honest, friendly vibe at Healthy Hut. They have plenty of local and organic products for such a jewel box sized location and it was there that I found the BEST BABYFOOD EVER!!

Best.Babyfood.Ever.Seriously!!

I make my own baby food at home, believing that I don't serve myself canned food everyday, so why would I feed my baby canned? However, given that it was my first time traveling with E I decided to leave the mini food processor at home and give prepared food a go. 

Surprisingly, given the number of organic food shops on Kaua'i, finding organic baby food is difficult. There was one dusty jar at Long's Drugs; ditto at Vim & Vigor in Lihue, niente at Papaya's in Kapa'a and EXPIRED food at Hoku. So thank you, Healthy Hut! They had a great selection of Plum Organics food. 

Why do I love them so much? I love the blends, they don't shy away from good stuff like spinach and broccoli. The packaging is ingenious; just squeeze directly from the package onto the spoon when you are on the go. They taste delicious (I won't feed E anything I wouldn't eat myself) and they are clean, simple and organic. Now I just have to get these to Vancouver! I will be adding Plum to my Healthy Grocery List for sure.

Luscious Links

http://livingfoodskauai.com/

http://www.healthyhutkauai.com/

http://www.plumorganics.com/index.php

Aloha!

Desiree

PS...as always, the companies don't know I was featuring them...no paid ads here!

Eat...and teach your kids to eat well

As my little one turned six months old last week (don't even get me started on how quickly the time has gone) thoughts have turned to feeding baby. When it came to planning his introduction to solid foods, I chose not to feed him the ubiquitous white rice cereal. 


Why? A few reasons:


1. Aside from the iron that is added to it, plain rice cereal doesn't have a lot going for it, nutritionally speaking.
2. Since it will take a while for a new eater to eat substantial amounts, breast milk is still supplying 99% of his energy. I wanted to focus on nutrient dense foods instead of caloric filler.
3. During this phase of learning to eat and accept new foods, I wanted the foods I introduce to be preparation for the foods we are going to eat as a family, namely fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. 


So far he has eaten a variety of organic produce: carrots, acorn squash, garnet yams and avocado. The only food that got an amusing reaction was the avocado (kind of like a pucker and a shudder!) but after each squirm he still opened his mouth, eager for the next bite. I have been doing veggies before I go for fruits, with the idea that giving sweets first might make a child less willing to accept the more complex flavours of veggies.


Before I go any further, a disclaimer: while I am a dietitian, I am no expert on infant nutrition. I am speaking in this post from my own opinions and experience. 


In my work I often get questions from moms about how to get their kids to eat more vegetables. The question I always ask is, "have you fed your child vegetables from the very start?" The answer is usually "no". As parents, we tend to project our ideas about food onto our children such as "there is no way little Sally will like broccoli...". You want to know a secret? You teach your child what to like and dislike! It is all about what your child is accustomed to eating. How can you expect your child to want to eat vegetables if they were introduced to sweet, bland foods? Or worse, if you don't eat many vegetables yourself?  Consider your baby's first foods an opportunity to introduce them to the healthiest way of eating possible. It might even rub off on the entire family...


A couple of links you might find interesting:


I came across the White Out campaign today, spearheaded by Dr Alan Greene, a pediatrician. He is hoping to convince parents to substitute white rice cereal for whole grain rice cereal. This is a small step in the right direction of breaking our culture's obsession with super processed carbs. You can learn more about the campaign at WhiteOut Now! | DrGreene.com

For those of you in the greater Vancouver area looking to learn more about feeding your baby, check out Vitamin K Nutrition by a colleague, Kristen Yarker Edgar RD who teaches classes on feeding your baby so that you can have yourself a champion eater!


In good health,
Desiree