 Malt loaf and marmite, anyone? |
| Review Date: August 18, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Jelena V.P., Maryland, US |
I guess the creepy balding baby on the cover should've been a red flag, but I thought I'd take a chance. Oh boy... I didn't think I'd need a baby cookbook, but here I am with my 15 months old and an endless chain of sweet potato, carrot and tofu purees. Before buying this book I read the reviews on about 10 others and browsed in our local bookstore. It seems that the most frequent complaints about the baby/toddler cookbooks are that the recipes are either 1) too simple (pureed carrots, anyone?); 2) too complex (as one reviewer brilliantly noted - "I'm not serving a mushroom burger to anyone old enough to order a proper Zinfandel to go with it").
I'm just an average working mom with a median income and basic cooking skills. All I really need is some inspiration and some recipe ideas that are "in the middle". But this book, unfortunately, fails to deliver on many accounts.
First of all, it was originally published in the UK. Not that there is anything wrong with it (although "The gourmet's guide on England" is one of the thinnest books in the world), but expect to find the ingredients like marmite, Weetabix and "floury" potatoes (the book seems to have been adapted for the US, was it really that hard to change this to "russet"?). This could've been just a cute "old world" quirk, but the things keep piling up. Author advocates (in a too preechy way sometimes) the use of organic ingredients, free-range eggs, etc. And I'm mostly with her on that, but this alone does not necessarily make the food healthy. Canned beans (or any canned products for that matter) and puff pastry are not really on my healthy product list. And when the muffin recipe for a toddler starts with "3/4 cups butter", it certainly makes my eyebrow raise.
It gets worse from here. On page 180 there is a recipe for "malt loaf with mashed bananas". It goes like this: "spread the banana on the malt loaf and cut into bite-size pieces". Wait, that's not all. "Malt loaf is quite high in sugar, so don't indulge them with this too often". What the heck is this? Why give this to a child at all? Is there some kind of a baked goods shortage in the UK? No wonder they have bad teeth...
Then there is Moroccan Chicken recipe, which contains more dried fruit than chicken and the note goes "this is only suitable for babies of 9 month or older". Which is OK, but the recipe is listed in the section "7-9" months. Right below it a baked potato recipe contains 1 potato, 3 tbsp cottage cheese, 1/4 cup grated cheddar and all this makes... 1 baby portion. And this is just one page, I haven't read through the whole book in detail.
The recipes are very heavy on fruit combinations (and I don't think anyone had much trouble feeding fruit to babies) and suffer from clear "UKness" - there are lots of lamb recipes and Asian influences plus some usual gross English stuff like kedgeree. Some recipes honestly made my gag - mashed potatoes with mixed in canned tuna and chopped fresh tomatoes. Yuck. The recipe section for 1-2 years includes (I a kidding you not) scrambled eggs, porridge and a glorified French toast. For a "healthy eating planner" the book seems to have too few vegetable and whole grain recipes.
Also I'm not a chef, but I find it hard to believe the author actually tried all the recipes. There is just no way in 5 minutes the carrots will be cooked enough to be pureed. And I'm pretty sure by just throwing in a pot milk, flour and butter you will get a lumpy mess, not a sauce.
The cover proudly states that there are 350 recipes. If you take away the recipes like "blueberry puree" and "things to mix with rice", there are probably only about 50 real recipes. Of them I'd probably make 5 or so tops and it's just not worth it.
In conclusion. If you're interested in the nutritional advice, I'd recommend The Toddle Bistro, which is better suited for the US realities. But if you're looking for the recipes, beter invest in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. |
A bit disappointed
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| Review Date: July 20, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Lindsay Mayhew, OGDEN, UT, US |
I was originally very excited about this book. As I scanned through the recipes, I was a little disappointed.
Many of the recipes call for ham and bacon. I don't feed my son pork products, but even if I did, I wouldn't give him bacon for his first meat. There are few recipes that call for chicken or turkey which is much, much leaner and overall more wholesome than compared with bacon. I haven't tried just taking the meat out or substituting it with another, I imagine that would work fine for some recipes.
A lot of the recipes in the book were for foods that I had already known how to make; so they served more as an idea of what to make. Fruit with yogurt isn't hard figure out. But it is helpful getting some ideas and different variations.
I liked the foods by age group along with a brief overview of the different stages. Though, now that my son is 13 months, and can have most any recipe in the book, it's kind of annoying having to scan through the whole book rather than having a designated recipe section to flip through. It's not bad, overall, I would say the book is pretty well organized.
I like that the book is practical instead of cheesy. It looks very nice. The pictures and pages are well laid out. |
Great recipes
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| Review Date: February 24, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Kelley Brady, |
| Love, love, love this book. Full of great easy to make recipes. I bought one for a gift too. |
One of the best! Nutrition information from birth to 4 years
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| Review Date: November 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Andrea Z, Milwaukee, WI |
I have used four books in preparation for starting my baby (now 20 months!) on solids. I was clueless and wanted to prepare all my son's baby food. Of the four books I bought (OK, just how many books do you need on how to puree carrots?) this is one of the ones I have used the most. It's EXCELLENT! And here's why:
1. The book is divided into helpful SPECIFIC sections: 0-5 months, 6 months, 7-9 months, 10-12 months, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3-4 years.
2. Each chapter starts with "What's happening to your baby" which I must say is extremely helpful in understanding why certain foods may or may not be important during this time frame.
3. Each chapter has: foods to eat / food to avoid, which nutrients are key, weaning stage (in earlier months), fresh breakfasts, fresh lunches, fresh suppers, breakfasts to freeze, lunches to freeze, dinners to freeze, quick bites - finger foods, quick bites - snacks (at the appropriate months), desserts, etc etc
4. sections on special diets and vegetarian toddlers
5. info on organic foods, GMO's, additives, and the importance of freshness, why nutrition matters, protein, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin c and so much more!
6. lovely, enticing photography
7. symbols / icons for each recipe that include such info as: protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin c, and more
8. the recipes are just as delish for adults! I've made them for all of us.
Importantly, the recipes are healthy, nutritious and taste excellent! I have such a good little eater at 20 months, and I truly believe it's because of this book (and the others too to some extent) b/c my son has been exposed to delicious, nutritious foods as soon as he started solids (at about 7 - 8 months old). My son loves every recipe I've made out of this book with the exception of anything with curry (I can't get him to eat anything with curry).
Here are some of the great ones I've cooked:
* pear and apple muffins / fruit muffins (made healthy, low sugar, whole wheat flour, etc)
* macaroni and caulifower cheese
* easy cheese straws
* leek and ham mash
* sweet potato hummus (this was a great way to use up the ton of left over sweet potato puree i had in the freezer!)
* chickpea and bacon stew (our whole family loves this!)
* energy slaw (with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, fresh beets, cabbage and carrots..... so good!)
* peanut noodles
* lots of the puree combos that are given for the early months... great combos that I would not have thought of on my own like apples and dried apricot puree, potato and corn puree, pumpkin and leek puree, etc etc......
The book is full of useful information. I recommend you buy it. It's worth more than what you'll pay for it!
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