Blender Baby Food: Over 125 Recipes for Healthy Homemade Meals

Making nutritious, homemade baby food has never been so easy!

Baby food doesn't have to come in jars, and making your own at home is not difficult. Baby food is strained, puréed or mashed adult food - just a different version of the food you prepare for yourself.

Here are three good reasons to make baby food at home:

1. Knowing what's in it, therefore ensuring healthy and wholesome meals.
2. Tailoring the texture to your baby's preferences.
3. Shaping baby's tastes and helping him/her learn what fresh foods taste like.

Whether choosing to make all baby's food at home, or just some of it, the blender is a great way to offer new flavors in a baby-friendly texture. Once a child begins to eat table food, there is always an occasion for a fruit smoothie or a nutritious blended dip.

Here's a sampling of the deliciously easy recipes:

• Six Months and Older: Peach and Pear Bananarama, Melon Madness, Zucchini and Nectarines, Roasted Vegetable Purée
• Eight Months and Older: Vegetable Paella, Humus for Beginners, Chicken with Red Peppers and Corn, Beefy Broccoli
• Nine Months and Older: Lemon Raspberry Yogurt, Over the Top Applesauce, Spinach and Tomatoes with Ricotta, Fisherman's Pie
• Twelve Months and Older: Orange Banana Smoothie, Very Berry Pears, Broccoli and Cauliflower Melt, Veggie Cream Sauce

All the recipes in Blender Baby Food are accompanied by suggested age guidelines. Also included are lots of great tips for making baby food, storage and freezing guidelines as well as the appropriate way to thaw and reheat food. Plus, none of the recipes calls for any of the salt, sugar, starches or fillers found in many commercially prepared baby foods. Blender Baby Food helps parents give their baby the best nutritional advantage.

Customer Reviews:

Blender Baby Food cookbook

The recipes that we have tried so far are excellent. The winter squash with pear seasoned with fresh Rosemary is so good that not only did my 7-month granddaughter enthusiastically enjoy it, but we adults did, too! I'm impressed that the book includes recipes that are nicely seasoned with herbs.

2008-08-15

Not for me

I was excited about this book after reading the reviews, but the excitement ended there. While the layout is nice and accessible and many of the recipes look quite tasty, the nutritional information is off. Many of the recipes include ingredients inappropriate for the age group listed in the book. For example, strawberries, citrus, and cow's milk products are included in recipes for babies under a year, and all of these should be avoided until a baby is older. I don't want to have to weed through and re-think every recipe in the book, especially at this price, so I returned it. I recommend Naturally Healthy First Foods for Baby: The Best Nutrition for the First Year and Beyond instead.

2008-08-07

Fresh Ideas

I have another book with baby food recipes that I used with my first son. I do like that book very much though it is more about how to make single foods, like avocados or pears, maybe a mix of 2 or 3 foods together. It was great for a complete beginner. (With my daughter, we had a cabinet full of purchased jars of baby food.) I bought Blender Baby Food in hopes of finding different kinds of recipes, and I am not disappointed. There are many great ones that I am excited to try with my second son. There are interesting recipes like Lemon Chickpeas with Carrots and Celery; Barley, Lentils and Sweet Potato; Jumpin' Jambalaya; Tilapia, Celery and Tomatoes; Cherried Peaches and even Dark Leafy Greens for the beginner eater. The book is set up in a way that tells what foods are best introduced at which ages. Nicole Young also gives safety tips when preparing and storing these foods. I think this will be a great way to start my son on the path to healthy eating. Some of the recipes introduced in the 12 month old chapter sound so good that I'm betting my other 2 children (ages 5 and 9 now) would be willing to eat. I am happy to have purchased this book.

2008-07-30

Essential baby book. A must-have for your recipe collection

I absolutely love this book and have recommended it to many of my friends who have babies. The recipes are quick and easy. You can make two or three at a time and freeze them. I liked taking one day a week and making a couple of recipes from this book while I was making dinner. It was only a little bit more work and I was cooking anyway. The recipes always make plenty and it gave me a lot of variety each day for feeding choices. The foods that you prepare yourself, just look and most significantly smell better than anything you can get out of a jar. Best of all, you know exactly what is in it.

I've been able to introduce my son to so many foods from this book. Some of the more unusual ones for babies are leeks, tilapia, and swiss chard. Just try getting any of these in a jar. Usually your choices for vegetables from a jar are carrots, green beans, peas, sweet potato, maybe corn, and maybe squash if you can find it. With this book, you can combine some really interesting vegetables with chicken or turkey and all the flavors blend nicely together and smell fantastic.

Now that my son is over 2, I'm finding myself pulling this book off the shelf again. When he doesn't feel well, he just wants some soft easy-to-eat food. He hasn't been eating as many vegetables lately, so I'm going to blend up a few recipes from this book until he starts feeling better. I'll get some food in his tummy and know he is getting some good vitamins too to help him feel better.

My mom said to me once, "When I get old and have trouble chewing, could you make me some of these recipes? They really taste great." I think that says it all.

2008-06-20

Great Book

This book offers such a great variety for baby food with perfect directions. I also enjoy the tips it provides on the sides of the recipes.

2008-06-18