Comments on: Go Gourmet, Baby!

By: Gag Me Product of the Week: Chocolate Formula

Gag Me Product of the Week: Chocolate Formula — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:12:38 +0000

[...] babies (who are ready for solids) whole foods. Fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and make sure that these are no-sugar-added buys. You know [...]

By: Heather Dunham

Heather Dunham — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:06:15 +0000

Wellll… this is half right. There’s really no reason to wait until 8-10mo even. And you don’t HAVE to “make” baby food. They can eat “real” food just fine.

One of DD’s first favourite foods was spicy Indian veggie curry. We went minimal on the salt, but otherwise it was just a regular recipe we were all eating. She was not much older than 6mo at that time.

When babies are old enough for solids, they actually CRAVE interesting flavours, they’re ripe for exploration of tastes and textures and shouldn’t be limited to bland and pureed.

You can see my article here at ECP for more info about solid foods in general (I do mention the issue of bland baby foods leading to a bland palate):
http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/13/baby-essentials-that-arent-part-7-baby-food/

And this is a great article about how babies can really handle any kind of flavours, how different cultures give spicy foods from the beginning, etc:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449/

It’s helpful to remember that your baby has ALREADY BEEN EXPOSED to all the spicy flavours you yourself eat, both in your breastmilk and in utero (flavours get passed into the amniotic fluid! How cool is that?) So it’s not as though it’s anything all THAT strange and new to them. They just finally get to experience it from the “source”.

By: Pure Mothers

Pure Mothers — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:44:38 +0000

This is so true. I made about 80% of my son’s baby food and also bought a fresh organic store brand in LA called Homemade Baby and frozen Happy Baby, on occasion. I used cinnamon, mint, vanilla, lemon, orange and parsley in some of his home made cooked food. Today, my 2 year old eats spinach, green beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, etc.. He loves fruits and veggies and is a really good eater. He doesn’t go for all the carbs that his playmates go for. He’ll ask for a tomato sliced up!! I can’t recommend enough making your own baby food. If you wouldn’t eat that bland stuff in a jar, why would we give it to our babies?

By: Christen

Christen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:49:52 +0000

Hi there, You can also find homemade baby food recipes that incorporate some mild spices at NurtureBaby http://www.nurturebaby.com

Good luck to you!

By: Binary Blonde

Binary Blonde — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:46:57 +0000

That is great to know. Although, I suspected that, which is why I make most all of my sons food (except for a few Happy Baby frozen cubes that I like to give him). I love your kit, Cheryl! I’ve been using the recipe book and food processor since my son has started solids around 6 and a half months. I also use the recipe book “Petit Apetit” in conjunction! My son loves food and will try anything. There isn’t a food that he’s tried that he doesn’t enjoy and I am so happy about that! He just turned 9 months not too long ago and that is when I started introducing herbs and spices in my recipes. He loves cinnamon, dill and cumin (which you didn’t mention up there, why not?) the most!