Healthy Food, But Are the Containers Killing Me?

On top of thinking about what I’m putting into my body, lately I’ve also been thinking a lot about what I’m putting my food and drink into. It really freaks me out to read that the plastic bottles and sippy cups I used with my kids may cause cancer and that the aluminum water bottle I constantly used could cause neurological disorders.

Is anything safe these days?

There don't seem to be any issues with glass and stainless steel, so that’s what I'm going with.

First off, I ditched most of our plastic dishes and cups and we are using glass, which we already used aside from the kids’ stuff. I have to admit that I wasn’t sad to part with the dishes decorated with princesses and animals – cute, but time to go. The kids didn’t even seem to notice. I found tempered glass kidishes by Duralex for the kids online, which I am very excited about.

I also got rid of most of our plastic storage containers, although I still use some #2 plastic containers with dry goods for sending the kids food to school. I figure it is still better than contributing plastic bags to the land fills. I just don’t put them in the dishwasher or microwave them. (In fact the only plastic I ever microwave is the occasional Lean Cuisine when I am really desperate – nobody’s perfect, right?) Also, I have been reading about waxed paper bags for school lunches which I need to check out – sounds like another potential good option for the kids.

Next, I bought each member of the family a Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottle to use throughout the day. I love them! They are durable, the water doesn’t get a metallic taste and they are super light weight. More importantly, we don’t have to worry about chemicals like BPA. Plus, I like how the Klean Kanteen wide mouths are easy for cleaning.

Finally, I am slowly replacing a lot of my cookware. Because my budget is tight I haven’t been able to jump on this as quickly and instead have been replacing one piece at a time (and trying to mostly only use the new stuff). Maybe this is a good excuse to finally get to build a collection of the All-Clad stainless cookware I’ve been wanting for years!

I figure that making these small changes is the least I can do for my health and my family. There are so many things I can’t control, so why not do my best with the things I can!