Book Review -- Super Baby Food

Well, I really liked writing that last book review so I think I will keep it going. Sort of makes me feel like I'm using my brain & adds a little depth to the blog :)

So, onward and upward with Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.

For those of you who don't know, I made all of Beanie's baby food. It is so easy! Seriously, if someone who dislikes cooking as much as I do and who procrastinates to no end can do it then anyone can. It doesn't take much time at all. I know people who take one weekend day and make a ton of food and freeze it. I was more the type to make one thing at a time and freeze and then do another a few days later. Worked out well for me. And, OMG, have you ever tasted commercial baby food? Yuck! The homemade stuff tastes so much better! In addition to wholesomebabyfood.com Ruth Yaron's book was my guide to homemade baby food.

By far the best part of Yaron's book is Appendix A which contains just about everything you could want to know on specific fruits and veggies, from acorn squash to zucchini. She tells you how old your child should be before trying the fruit or veggie, when they're in season, how to choose the best produce, and how to prepare and store the babyfood. This portion of the book I used over and over again.

Yaron doesn't quit with baby food recipes though. She has a whole section on healthy toddler and adult recipes too, including recipes for healthier birthday cakes. She also discusses how to make homemade yogurt (I haven't tried to do this, but I'd really like to someday), talks about baby safe cleaning products and has lots of arts & crafts ideas.

Overall its a good reference book and that is mostly what I used it for. In my opinion, Yaron pushes solid foods (and too much solid food) over breastmilk and formula, both of which are recommended to be a child's primary source of nutrition for their first year of life. The portions she recommends seem quite large for a pre-toddler, especially Beanie when she was that young. Heck, Beanie wasn't even really too interested in solid foods until after her 1st birthday so the portion sizes seemed enormous to me. And maybe the previous is my bias against the book. Seeing as how I became very pro-breastfeeding, Yaron's pushing of solid food at such a young age rubbed me the wrong way.

I would recommend the book to my friends though. I would suggest using it hand-in-hand with the Wholesome Babyfood site. I actually ended up using the website more than the book, but I was always glad when I had the book close by while I was steaming some fruits or vegetables for Beanie.


Okay, this review turned out a little less review-ish and a little more talk about me and talk about the book. Hmmm...we'll let it slide this time ;)