In The Kitchen With Baby

I have had several recent questions about baby food, so I thought I would address the topic here. I wanted to make Dash's food because I love to cook for my family. (I grew up in the kitchen with a mom who is an outstanding chef and see it as a way to lovingly serve my family.) I realize that if we are blessed with many children, this may not always be feasible. In no way think that jarred baby food is intrinsically worse by any means...it is essential when travelling for sure! I just enjoy being able to cook for Dash. Mr. Incredible says that Dash eats better than he does. (If he's not careful, that may just become the truth!) I will deal with how I make Dash's food in a later post, but for now, I'll just talk about the resources I've used.

First, let me say that the little sheet they hand you at the pediatrician's office is woefully inadequate for a first time mom who doesn't know what she's doing, especially if you are making your own food. So I turned to several books about the subject. Just as with sleeping styles, diapering options and everything else related to baby, there are many different opinions on what to feed baby first from processed rice cereal to organic avocado.

The book I have found the most helpful on how to make baby food is Super Baby Food, though it is controversial. Author Ruth Yaron is not a doctor or nutritionist, but a mom. She recommends feeding nut butters and ground nuts as early as 10 months, (which doctors would warn you against doing such until 2-3 years) and other foods that have high-allergen risks. But she does give extremely detailed information on how to cook, store, and freeze fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, etc. (though not meat...it is quite obvious that she is a vegetarian). Therefore, reading it in conjunction with other books written by doctors, you can take their info on what to feed baby when and her info on how to cook/store it. I have chosen to use mainly organic foods and whole grain cereals. I ground organic brown rice and barley and cooked my own cereal for awhile, but have given that up and use Earth's Best multi-grain cereal...much easier than making cereal every few days. Most baby food freezes for at least two months, so, if I plan well, I only need to make large batches every 6 weeks. I enjoy cooking and I know that Dash is eating wholesome, healthy foods. He LOVES eating his food, which makes it all worth it!