feeding claire

When I first decided that I wanted to make Claire’s baby food, I didn’t really know where to begin. I thought that it shouldn’t be that hard. I eat, too. It’s not a completely foreign concept. But there are always so many things to consider with a baby that are unnecessary for an adult. It has become another new way for me to look at food. Where do I start? What can a baby eat? Are there things she shouldn’t eat? Granted, I wasn’t completely clueless and I do have commonsense but wanted a guide. I started by looking at the baby food aisle in my grocery store. Most ‘Stage 1′ foods are basic: sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, pears, prunes, bananas, cereal. I was sure there was more although these are a great start.

Claire’s pediatrician mentioned Super Baby Food and I thought I’d give it a try. It is written by mom who had a premature baby with health problems. She decided that diet was a way to help her baby and swears that her food helped her child become healthy (I don’t recall her mentioning what health problems the child had…). The book is obviously written by an untrained cookbook author; it is sloppy; it often reads like your mother is telling you what do to; and it’s biggest fault (for me) is that it’s a little over the top. There are charts for making sure that your baby gets all of the necessary nutrients. Those are probably good; but, I am not into charts (anymore – a long and not very interesting story). For me, food is not just about nutrients. (Our obsession with nutritionist eating is a whole other post altogether.) That is part of it; but, if you eat well-balanced meals then you should be assured that you are getting all of the nutrients that you need. At one point in the book when describing her recipe for Super Baby Porridge, she even admits that it doesn’t taste good at all and she can’t believe that her toddler still likes to eat it. I want Claire to love good food not eat because she has to. Eating should be an enjoyable experience not a means to an end. You have to eat everyday many times a day for your entire life. You might as well enjoy it.

That being said, this book is helpful in so many ways. First, it breaks down what your baby can eat at each month starting at 6 months up to toddler years. Each month Yaron lists new foods that babies can try as their digestive system matures. This was very helpful and exactly what I was looking for in a baby food book. Second, there is an appendix that outlines how to choose, store, cook, and potentially freeze all of your baby food. It is broken down alphabetically by food. If you want to know how to cook, puree, then freeze, say, pears, cauliflower, or even okra, it’s there.

This book is great for basics and some how-to’s but there is a lot of filler that I found unnecessary for my style. I wish she published an abridged version that just noted the ‘essentials’ of her Super Baby food.

I recently purchased Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel. I was just browsing Amazon when I saw this book and decided to try it out. Again, I am no chef, so I need a little help in getting creative in the kitchen. Karmel’s cookbook does just that. I will say that this is a real cookbook, with fancy photographs and beautifully designed layouts. I am often taken in by such packaging but I really enjoy the recipes, too. As I read them, I thought to myself, “That sounds really good!” I knew that these were exactly the kind of recipes I was looking for. Karmel lays out interesting recipes that are not only nutritious but also delicious (the recipe for ‘potatoes, leeks, carrots, and peas’ is adapted from her book).

The downside to this book is that it does assume that the average person knows a lot about what foods to feed your child and when. This may be a cultural difference since this book was originally published in the UK or maybe I’m just overly cautious in feeding certain foods too early (like fish and acidic foods, like tomatoes). At any rate, if nutritional facts are more important to you, this book doesn’t cover them. Also, this book makes no claim to be super-convenient. This book is about taste. I’ll admit some of the recipes do seem a bit time consuming (there are still a lot I have to try yet) – there is a recipe for braised beef that takes about 2 hours. But I would love braised beef and if I can make it for dinner when Claire is 7 and she loves it, then I know it was worth it!

Despite the cons to both of these books, I highly recommend them to anyone who would want to try to make their own baby food. I have limited skills in the kitchen and these books make homemade baby food even easier.