Added Sugars (and an easy stock recipe)

I have been shopping for peanut butter for 45 minutes. I’m standing in the natural foods aisle balancing a 20lb baby on my hip and staring at a wall full of jars. I ran in for one jar of peanut butter and some chicken stock. Two items. My arm is starting to throb and I am no closer to picking one than I was when I came in. I had thought it would take 10 minutes tops. Now I'm thinking I may never get out.

Along with the baby I am juggling 3 different jars of peanut butter. I am intently reading each label and every few minutes an explosion of exclamations pours from my mouth. If you are hoping to be left alone at the grocery store this is a good move to try. People give you a wide berth when you talk to the groceries. In my case this is not an intentional move; by this point I actually am a crazy person. We have decided that it's time for C, at 7 months old, to try peanut butter for the first time. Our pediatrician recommends giving kiddos potential allergens early to avoid food allergies later in life. I have Celiac disease (an allergy to gluten, primarily found in wheat and barley) and would love to avoid any other allergies in our house hold. Research I have done on Celiac backs up our pediatrician's claims and recommends introducing potential allergens (including gluten) while you are still breastfeeding. I will do anything to feel like I have some control over C developing food allergies.To be honest I’ve heard mixed reviews about the effectiveness of this method for avoiding allergies, but we’re giving it a shot. I don't know how I would cut out nuts or dairy along with gluten, our pantry would be bare. I would also love for him to experience real croissants. They just can't be replicated without gluten.

Connor contemplates the peanut butter too

Due to my obsession with Trader Joe's almond butter, I can’t remember the last time I bought peanut butter. I had a fantasy of just waltzing into the store grabbing a jar of organic mashed up peanuts and being on my way. Woops. There are probably 50 different options for peanut butter in this store. All different types and brands. Creamy, chunky, salted, mixed, separated, with chocolate, with jelly (in one jar!). The only jar I have found so far that is just peanuts isn’t organic. Seriously, there is only one jar that has JUST peanuts listed as an ingredient in the whole store. I know, I read them ALL. Some ingredients lists are so long that my eyes had glazed over by the time I reached the end.

I’m wracking my brain, which is worse for a baby, pesticides or sodium? My instincts say pesticides, but didn’t I just read something about sodium killing babies? I’m pretty sure the headline was something like, ‘If you give your babies salt they will die.' Peanuts grow underground right? So the pesticide doesn’t go right on them. Ah, but maybe it’s concentrated in them because they're in the root. My brain won’t stop running in circles.

I notice a jar that proudly proclaims that it is organic and unsalted. DONE. AWESOME, I’m good to go. Oh wait, that one has sugar in it! In fact that seems to be the trade off. Take out the salt, add sugar. God forbid we actually TASTE the peanuts. I finally land on a jar of salted organic peanut butter. Gah I give up. On to the chicken stock.

It is next to the boxes of stock that I begin to wonder if I am going to go insane and end up wandering these aisles forever, muttering about food additives. I am aware that it is best to avoid packaged food all together, but it’s not like I was shopping for neon pink coconut cake balls. I thought peanut butter and chicken stock were a pretty safe bet. You may be laughing hysterically into you locally sourced, organic, fair trade coffee right now. Perhaps you would have known what a lost cause this mission was. All I knew was that nearly every baby food recipe I had called for chicken stock and not one of them mentioned that shopping for it would cause you to spiral into an existential crisis. EVERY box I picked up had sugar in it. Seriously. This is chicken stock. I’m not against sugar. I hope my son will love chocolate cake as much as I do. How else will we bond? But I have no interest in sneaking sugar into my son’s savory food. When you want to eat sugar, eat sugar! There’s no need to disguise it in chicken soup. “I can’t get my son to eat sugar so I hide by mixing it with his vegetables! He has no idea and I can be sure he's getting his daily sugar quota!,” said no parent ever.

I gave up and left the store without the stock. If you haven’t noticed the sneaky sugar yet, start looking. It's in our pasta sauce, our bread, everywhere. There are some brands you can find that just have straight ingredients, but you have to look hard. With the limited amount of time I have, it always seems easier to buy pre-made. While I love roasting a chicken, I very rarely get around to making stock out of it (even though it’s so easy and I really should). The bones usually live in my fridge for a few weeks until I throw them out.

My mother reminded me of her easy chicken broth trick for times when you don’t want to roast a whole chicken. When I finally gave in and made it I was reminded how easy it was. Much less time and energy than reading all the labels at the store. Sometimes I waste an inordinate amount time resisting things that would make my life easier and save me time. Slightly counter intuitive. When we make food ourselves we get to control exactly what’s in it and may find that it’s far less of a headache then spending an hour in the grocery store. Read on for my mother’s wonderful method. No judgement if you continue to buy it. I finally found Pacific organic, sugar free, salt free, stock and I try to keep a box in my pantry just in case, but it’s nice to have your own in your freezer for stress free cooking.

I hope it makes your life a little easier. I can’t help you with the peanut butter, I haven’t gotten into making my own. I gave in on that one. If you do I’d love to hear!

Grammy’s Chicken Stock

Start with some fabulous chicken thighs. Don’t do breasts, all the flavor is in the fat and dark meat. I think it would be great with the skin on, but I used my favorite boneless skinless thighs from our local farm. It’s a little pricier, but free-range chicken meat really does taste better.

Once you’ve picked out some fabulous thighs, you need your flavors. This can be anything. Use what you like. Here are my favorites (it’s always best to use fresh if you can):

Ginger (I used dried this time but fresh is more flavorful)

Garlic (a must in my book)

Thyme

Sage

Onion

Peppercorns

Bay leaves

Savory

Parsley

Celery leaves

Fresh garden herbs

What’s great about this recipe is that you can use whatever you have in your house. I used a mix of fresh and dried because it’s what I had.

I have a great pot that we got for our wedding that has a metal steamer basket that fits in the top, but my mom uses an old metal colander for this. You could also use a regular steamer basket. Basically you just need a way to suspend the chicken above the water.

Place the herbs and seasonings in the pot and add water. The amount depends on how much you want to make. I used 5 chicken thighs and 12 cups of water. That was a lot and it meant that I cooked it for much longer than normal to get more flavor out. For 5 thighs 8 cups would mean less cook time and more flavor, but 12 cups came out pretty well.

Place the chicken in the top basket and bring the water to a soft boil. I also salt my chicken lightly. I don’t put any salt in the broth. Instead I salt as I use it in different recipes. Turn the heat down and put the lid on the pot. Simmer. The time will depend on the amount of water you used. I simmered for 2 hours to really flavor the broth. The thighs still came out pretty tender. It’s really hard to ruin a chicken thigh.

Taste the broth as you go along. It will help you to determine how long you want to leave it on. Make sure the chicken reaches 165°

Once done, remove the top basket and strain the broth into another pot. From here you can store it in your refrigerator, freeze it, or turn around and make something out of it. I made a delicious chicken soup.