Buying organic food may be something you'd love to do if only it weren't so dark expensive. It's no big secret that you can look at two nearly identical products of grocery store shelves, and the organic one will have a significantly higher price tag. With a sigh and a twinge of guilt, you place the non-organic option in your cart to save some money.

Don't feel too guilty, you aren't alone. In a time where food costs are rising substantially and consumers look for ways to cut costs, the organic options often feel like a luxury some just can't afford. However you can still have your organic cookie and eat it too in some cases because many supermarket and drug store chains are catching on to the growing trend and offering their own organic lines.

Safeway
If it's a type of food, chances are Safeway carries it in their O Organics line. Baby food, cereal, bread, salad dressing, peanut butter, juice, cookies, pasta, frozen produce and entrées, lettuce - you get the picture. Bonus: because it's their own brand, not only is it less expensive than major organic lines, it seems to go on sale twice as often too!

Shoppers Drug Mart
Canadian drug store chain Shoppers Drug Mart went organic with a bang. Their large range of Nativa Organics products includes assorted cookies (biscotti, ginger snaps and Teddy Graham-inspired biscuits to name a few), soup, crackers, coffee, syrup, chips, popcorn and oil. Their home brand is even comparable in cost to national and international brands, thus eliminating the "do-I-don't-I" conundrum of spending more money.

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The recent voluntary recall of several children’s medications including several types of infant and children’s Tylenol and Motrin struck fear in the hearts of parents across North America. After all, what parent hasn’t, at one time or another, turned to infant Tylenol to help relieve their little ones’ pain, such as that from teething?

While the FDA downplayed the situation and said the chances of any serious side effects were “remote,” more than 40 affected products were involved in the recall, so it’s safe to say parents may be looking for alternative options to provide relief for their children’s aches and pains.

Unfortunately young children are pretty helpless when they’re sick and require extra attention and care (hence the reason even adults claim to want to be “babied” when they’re under the weather). And while drugs may provide temporary relief and seem like the easiest options, these medications are generic and don’t actually target specific symptoms, nor are they particularly helpful when your child has a cold. Instead of reaching for a medicine dropper the next time your little munchkin isn’t well, try a natural solution instead.

Drink up
Babies or young children may not be able to tell you if they begin to feel dehydrated. Heck, some adults may not even be able to identify what it feels like. This makes it especially important to ensure your little patient is taking in lots of clear fluids, such as water or juice. If you are breastfeeding, offer additional feedings as needed – you’ll not only be giving them helpful antibodies, but comfort as well.

Wash away teething pain
Teething can begin as early as three months and last up until around the third year. That’s a long span of time, especially since some children find the process more painful than others. To help relieve the pain and discomfort, place a wet washcloth in the freezer for 30 minutes and allow your baby to gum away on it.

Clogged noses suck
Unfortunately, blowing the nose is an art and one which most kids can’t pick up until they’re around two years of age. However any parent who’s ever had a sick baby with a clogged nose can attest to how miserable experience it is for both parent and child. Try using a nasal aspirator to clear those passageways. HydraSense makes a phenomenal one that provides a mouthpiece so an adult can suck the gunk out – don’t worry, it’s a lot less disgusting than it sounds, and completely sanitary!

You can also make your own saline nose drops by adding a half-teaspoon of salt to one cup of boiled, cooled water. Administer a few drops to each nostril before using the aspirator to loosen the mucus.

Say goodbye to dry
Nasal passages may also become extremely dry when a baby (or any human for that matter) is congested. A humidifier will release moisture into the air and can help thin the mucous in the nose to make breathing easier.

It is recommended that parents with small children use a cool mist humidifier, since the warm mist variety release hot water and steam and can cause burns or pose a burn hazard. If you do choose a cool-mist model, be sure to take proper care and clean it to avoid the gathering of bacteria and mold.

Head to bed
The amount of sleep required among children will vary greatly, however babies under six months will usually sleep a whopping 16 to 20 hours per day. By the time they reach the toddler years, those hours are reduced to 10 to 13 hours, and then 10 to 12 hours each night for preschoolers. It’s especially important for kids to get their required sleep (and more) when ill to help strengthen their immune systems and speed up the recovery process. Unfortunately when a stuffy nose makes breathing difficult or a cough continuously wakes up the child who just drifted off, it can make for a very long, restless night.

The aforementioned nasal aspirator and humidifier may help aid some of the discomfort. If baby is having difficulty breathing, you can also prop up their crib mattress so they aren’t laying flat. A pack of diapers, a rolled up town or whatever you have that is sturdy and provides good support will work.

Adequate rest is probably the most natural remedy you can provide to your child, so even if it means curling up and taking a nap with them while you stroke their hair to help them sleep, go for it. Cuddling a sick child is one of the many privileges of being a parent!

» Reuters

We recently shared just how easy it is to make your own baby food, as well as why it’s healthier, more cost-efficient and better for the earth. However, once you have all of those yummy purees and mashed fruits, vegetables, meats and grains, what do you do with them? And when can you start injecting a bit of flavour?

Freeze for the future
Contrary to what you may be thinking, you don’t have to prepare baby’s food at every mealtime. For example, one yam will yield enough servings for several feedings. Make bigger batches of food, put in ice cube trays and cover with tin foil (or if you feel like shelling out the money, use an BPA-free baby food storage container), freeze and then empty the frozen cubes into freezer bags marked with the type of food and date of preparation. Over the course of a week, you’ll be amazed at the variety of foods that accumulate in your freezer. Come meal time, simply thaw a few cubes of food and dinner is ready. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it?

The spice of life 
Some professionals recommend waiting until baby is eight months old before introducing spices and new flavours. If your little one hasn’t experienced any food sensitivities and seems to enjoy trying new food, you can start to experiment with spices and herbs. Remember babies don’t ever need salt or sugar added to food, however you can try flavours such as cinnamon or nutmeg added to cereal, carrots or yams, or salmon and rice with some fresh cilantro.

Follow the food rules
All hard foods like raw vegetables or fruits, should be soft-cooked and pureed, mashed or chopped to eliminate the risks of choking. Stringy or chewy meats should be cut into small pieces once baby has passed the pureed stage. Round foods such as grapes and hot dogs are significant choking hazards, so be sure to quarter grapes or slice hot dogs lengthwise, then into bite-sized pieces.

When starting solids, introduce one new food into baby’s diet at a time, then wait a minimum of two days (four is recommended) before introducing the next new food. This way, if an allergy or otherwise adverse reaction is experienced, it’s much easier to identify the source of the reaction.

Think outside the (cereal) box
Once you start using your imagination, the possibilities are endless. Usually jarred food will include the standard combinations such as chicken, rice and carrots. However, why limit your baby to boring, bland foods? We’d get pretty bored eating the same things over and over, wouldn’t we? Last week, we roasted a butternut squash and cooked some pasta, then pureed both with some applesauce. Be as creative as you’d like, while following the guidelines for safe baby foods. Another recent family meal: chicken, basmati rice and mango, pureed with coconut milk.

Remember that about 10 months to one year of age, babies can eat the same meals the rest of the family is eating (minus the addition of sugar or salt). Use a food mill, or simply chop or mince soft, cooked fruits, vegetables, meant or grains. If baby is only used to bland, jarred food, the transition to regular table food may be a huge shock then if they’ve enjoyed a creative range of home-cooked foods all along.

» Alberta Health

Oh how time flies. It seems like just yesterday Baby Bean was getting the hang of breast-feeding, an activity that could take up to an hour near the beginning. Suddenly six months whizzed right by and before we knew it, the time to start solid food was upon us.

As all parents - especially first-timers – know that deciding how to feed your baby can be a daunting process. The countless resources offering tips and guidelines all seem to offer varying opinions about the best types of food to feed your baby, and there is usually an entire aisle at the grocery store devoted to cereal and fruits and vegetables (oh my!). With so many options at your fingertips, it may not even occur to you just how easy preparing your own baby food can be. Truth is, not only is it fairly simple, it’s also far more earth-friendly (think of all the jars and packaging you’ll save) and it will likely even save you some hard-earned money!

Consider it
While the aforementioned earth- and cash-saving reasons may be motivation enough, also consider that by taking the DIY route, you can ensure you know exactly what’s making its way into your little one’s system – or more importantly - what isn’t, such as extra sodium or sugar.

Making your own also gives you creative control. For example, if your infant isn’t a big rice fan, maybe he or she will love pasta or insert-grain-of-choice-here. And while the jarred varieties offer your standard chicken-and-rice fare, you can be imaginative and come up with all sorts of combinations to find the ones your child likes best.

Prep work
Cereals, fruits and vegetables
How much effort you want to put into making baby food is completely up to you. Most infants will start off with rice cereal since it’s the one least likely to cause a reaction. Since babies use up their iron stores from birth by the time they are six months old, most boxed cereals you find in stores are iron-fortified. If you decide to make your own cereals, you’ll need to ensure baby is getting enough iron from other sources such as lean meat and beans.

Most parents start with fruits and vegetables for baby’s first food once cereal has been introduced. Sources vary on which to introduce first since the school of thought seems to be that babies will accept sweet fruit more readily than a vegetable. Strike a happy medium and choose a sweeter vegetable likes yams or carrots.

Vegetables and harder fruits need to be steamed, roasted or boiled until soft enough to be pureed or mashed. Just cook the food of choice, then use a blender, food processor or masher to smooth them out. You can use breast milk, formula or the cooking liquid (if any) to thin the food to the desired consistency.

Some of the best first choices include the aforementioned carrots and yams, as well as peas, pears, peaches and mango. Papaya was a huge hit in the Bean household and extremely easy to puree once the fruit was ripe – in fact, because the water content is so high, no additional liquid is needed. You can also take a few shortcuts if you’re short on time and use frozen fruits and vegetables such as mango, carrots, peaches and peas. The fruits can be thawed and pureed, while the vegetables only require a short cooking time and don’t need to be washed or peeled. Not sure that this is still a better option than jarred food? Next time you’re at the store, compare the color of fresh cooked and pureed frozen peas to the jarred version and that ought to convince you.

Perhaps our greatest discovery during the introduction of solids was the humble banana. They are essentially the perfect baby food: cheap and so simple to prepare. All you need is a fork – simply mash it and feed it to the baby on its own, add it to cereal or mix it with other fruits or vegetables. Another great food: avocados. Also soft and easy to mash, they actually taste great when combined with mashed banana. Both are great foods to take along when you’re eating out since they require virtually no advance preparation.

Meats, alternatives and grains
Once baby has been introduced to some vegetables and fruits, you can start incorporating meats, alternatives and grain products. Optimal meat and alternative choices include chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, cooked egg yolk, lentils and tofu. For grains, try rice, oats and wheat. For Baby Bean, we’ll cook up some white rice and salmon, then add in some peaches or mango for a sweeter taste.

Remember, whether you’re feeding your baby homemade food or from a jar, it may take several tries for them to accept any new flavour or texture. Babies have more taste buds than adults, so flavours are more intense and may not initially be accepted. It took until the third or fourth try until our little one would take salmon and we still have to mix it with sweeter fruit.

Once baby reaches nine months and has been introduced to a wide variety of foods full of iron, he or she may be ready for dairy products such as cheese, yogurt and milk. All should be the full-fat variety.

And just like that, there you have it: the first steps involved in making your own baby food. That doesn’t sound so hard, does it? If your baby could say thank you, he or she would.

» Alberta Health

If you've finally managed to coax your kids off the couch and outside, there are some protective measures you may want to consider to keep their skin and hair healthy for the season. Sure sunscreen is an absolute given - absolutely non-negotiable in fact - however other activities can cause issues besides sunburn and they may be things you never even thought of.

Skin
- Wet skin leaves kids susceptible to funguses and viruses such as athlete's foot, warts and ringworm and while they are curable, are a nuisance just the same. Make sure kids wear flip flops or other sandals when by the pool. Feet can also be disinfected whey they are done for the day and in the car for the ride home.

- The use of sunscreen and bug repellent may also mean children are taking more baths or showers than usual. Even though dry skin is typically more problematic in the winter months, the additional water and soap from bathing may still cause some problems. Switch to a milder soap and use less of it. Enough to rid the body of sweat and dirt. Health experts say a buildup of sunscreen isn't such a terrible thing and will actually help add some extra protection from the sun.

- If skin is excessively dry, use lotions or creams containing shea butter or aloe immediately after bathing to add some moisture.

- When you do buy sunscreen, make sure you buy the appropriate type if your child has problematic skin, such as sensitivity or acne-prone. Rashes and clogged pores are also often the result of higher SPF levels, which tend to be thicker. Experiment to see which works best.

Hair
- Hair stylists often say the final haircuts of the summer prior to the start of school are the most brutal, likening the process to cutting straw since hair tends to be dry and brittle after a summer of swimming and lots of bathing. Conditioner should always be used after shampooing. Leave conditioner on for a few minutes if hair is overly dry.

- Exposure to water also makes encourages knots, especially in longer hair. A ponytail or loose braids are recommended when kids or active of sleeping.

- Finally, if your child will be spending much of their summer in the pool, consider using a swimmer's shampoo to prevent the unsightly green tinge that comes with overexposure to chlorine.

» MSNBC Health

We already know water shortages are now a common concern in several parts of North America and experts are encouraging us to treat water as the precious resource it is. As an estimated 69 per cent of worldwide water use is for irrigation, and 15 to 35 per cent of this irrigation is unsustainable, it's epsecially crucial for farms to practice water conservation techniques whenever possible.

It's not just important for the sake of the worldwide water supply - in times of water shortages, farmers have to ensure they have enough water resources to make it through the growing season, which can definitely present a challenge during times of drought. It's a fine balance to ensure crops have enough water without wasting it, but it can be done using the following techniques:

☆ Leaks in the irrgation system can be found using a water meter by turning off the system and watching the meter to see if it is still running. Consistent wet spots along the irrgation line that do not dry up may indicate a leak is present. If such leaks are found, they should be repaired as soon as possible.

☆ Soil can become oversaturated with water as it only absorbs what it can; the rest drains below the root zone or runs off the surface. By learning the maximum irrigation set time, farmers can learn to apply only the necessary amount of water without wasting extra.

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