Looking for Easy, Non-gourmet Baby Food Book

I am using So Easy Baby Food by Joan Ahlers and Cheryl Tallman. My Pediatrician said it looked fine and to use organic foods. He recommended making my own food if I would take the time. The book asks for 30 min per week and also says frozen is just fine too! There are nice little "ice cube trays" that freeze the food in one ounce squares.

Hi Jaymi,

I have one of Annabelle Karmel's books and I really like it. It gives lots of recipes and information...not only for babies, but it goes up to 5 years, giving tips on those finicky eating years. The recipes for baby food are very easy and as they get older, the recipes are family friendly, so you won't have to cook one meal for baby and one for everyone else. Also, I purchased mine on Amazon, so got it for a great price. One more little tip for you...I didn't already have a food processor, and don't have much use for one other than making baby food. I purchased a small chopper from Hamiliton Beach for $10 and am very happy with it. I've been making baby food for my son for about three months now and its not showing any signs of slowing down...definitely earned its money's worth!

Best of Luck!
T.

check out wholesomebabyfood.com it's great!

I have used the Everything Baby & Toddler cookbook. Very simple recipes- my boys loved the food. The only downsize is there aren't any pictures- but then again, I suppose pureed food all looks about the same anyway! lol

My favorite was the one by Annabel Karmel - First Foods - very easy to use and follow. Also, by Ruth Yaron "Super Baby Food". It is very good to tell you what and how to choose and how long you can store it once it's made.

We made both of our kids foods. It is very easy. Make sure you make enough to freeze in the ice cube trays. I used to pop out a cube, defrost, heat and serve. Just be careful there are no "hot pockets" when you heat.

Good luck!

I have Super Baby Food and love it. My son is now almost 4 and I still use it. Here is the link to the book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Super-Baby-Food-Ruth-Yaron/dp/09652...

I am obsessed with coookbooks for babies and children, so you are asking the right question for me! I have found several which I love, and most of them are designed to be fairly quick and easy, which is essential to busy moms. I am also not a gourmet chef - just a mom who wants to make healthy food for my children. With the exception of 1, all of these books feature foods for babies and toddlers on up.

Fresh Start Cworkbook: This is a very basic guide to making and freezing baby food using your food processor and your Fresh Baby food cube trays, which you can buy online or at a health food store. Very basic and straightforward, and solely for baby purees.

Annabel Karmel Superfoods and First Meals: Love both of these books. THey have a few of the same recipes, but most are unique to each book. Most of the recipes involve a bit of prep work, but they are all very easy and uncomplicated. As she is British, some of the terms are a little different, and some of the recipes are not super specific (like she doesn't tell you how high the heat should be on the stove, for example) but I've tried several of her recipes and they've all turned out well except 1. SHe has some recipes online on her website, so you might want to check those out first. I just made the yummy Bolognaise sauce with hidden veggies.

Healthy Foods for Babies and Kids: Rachael Ann Hill: Love this book, which features lots of great pictures and easy recipes. However, it's also British, so you might not recognize a couple of the ingredient names. Everything is available here, though.

Petit Appetit and the Baby Bistro Cookbook: A little more gourmet-ish, but still very easy and doable. The emphasis on these books is very much on organic and healthy food. Some of the recipes have been really good, but some of the cookies in Petit Appetit haven't gone over too well with my babies.

Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef: These are the cookbooks where you add secret veggies to normal foods. Once you have a couple of purees (or use baby's food) the recipes are super easy and quick, and you can learn to add veggies to your other meals too.

The Big Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers and CHildren: Love the binder format of this book, and it features hundreds of super simple recipes. Some are very basic, like tuna sandwiches, while others are more creative. Also by British authors.

Hope this helps!

I have "100 Best Baby Purees" by Annabelle Karmel. I got it for Christmas and it kick started me into making my own baby food.

There are some foods in there that I will never make, because they're more complicated than foods I make for myself, but there's also great directions on how to make the basic purees, so it works for me.

So far, I've made apples, pears, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, and avacados. My kids are eating GOOD!

Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron was my bible while making baby food for my daughter. I still refer to it a lot for nutrition information and recipes. I highly recommend it!!

N.

Hi Jaymi! I have the Annabelle Karmel book as well the Super Baby Food Book. Both are great, and the Karmel book gives great recipes that anyone can follow. You can be creative and do the designs that she says, or just the cooking. So far my 16 month old daughter loves all of the recipes. Note: Sometimes the recipe calls for frying, but we bake it instead...no need to add all that extra Saturated Fat just yet.

why not just grind up what you and your family eats, add a little water, and maybe that will be good...

I went to my local libraury and checked out the Annabel Karmel - First Foods, loved it and just wrote doen the intructions b/c they aren't very hard at all! It is tons of fun and my older one things we are making pudding!

Anabellle Karmel books are the best for every age. my daugther is almost 3 years old and I still using them... easy, fast & delicius. Good luck!
Patty

I made my own baby food and I didnt want anything gourmet either since I am not a very good cook :). I liked Annabelle Karmel. It was a nice mix of super easy like how to prep the basics as well as some other stuff that is fancier if you will.

ok not a book but I made my own baby food...

boil water and put a steamer on the top of the pot- or use a spaghetti pot, boil water & put a metal colander in it to steam whichever you choose to try first-

let's say apples (I used organic):
core let's say 2 or 3 apples and don't worry about the peel just yet
put them in the steamer and steam them until they are very soft- use a fork or knife to see how easily you can slide it in the apple slices-when they are very soft the peel will also come off very easily- when you remove the apples from steaming, don't throw away the water- just take the steamer/colander out of the pot

then you peel the apples
then you take the apples and put them in a cuisinart (at first I used a mini cuisinart but a big one is fine, too)
pulse, etc, the apples with a bit of the water (that was boiling underneath them)until you get to a consistancy that you think looks like baby food. you will have to experiment with how much water to add because each baby is different- mine liked 'thicker' baby food, but yours might enjoy it thinner.

foods to steam: apples, pears, all kinds of squash (I got adventurous!), plums, zuccini, sweet potato

I even lighty steamed papaya

you can also take very ripe avocado and banana & smash it w/ a fork and use formula/breastmilk or water to thin it out...

Enjoy! no need for a book!

oh & if baby is 9 months or older then you can start adding in proteins like beans, meats, poultry, etc

Don't know how "organic" you are (I'm not), but a friend got me The Petit Appetit Cookbook, and it's pretty good. You can make the recipes with regular fruits and veggies instead of organic if you prefer! It has lots of great info besides the recipes. Also, many of the recipes have different methods to choose from, such as oven/steamer/microwave.

Jaymi,
You don't need to bother with making special "gourmet" foods for your baby. I bought a handy food mill from an awesome company, www.onestepahead.com. Type in "food mill" in the search field and there are two varieties. I bought the manual one. The electric one is nicer, but a bit more money. Every meal I made for my family, I hand milled it for my baby and fed it to my baby. I have 3 children. I've never had the heart to buy jarred baby food. Occassionally I bought store-bought baby fruit just to have it out of convenience but other than that, whatever I made for my family, that is what baby ate too. Tacos, meats, veggies,lasagna, you name it!...I'd often mix it all together and mix a little water (or chicken or beef broth) to make it a thinner consistency. As for veggies, I steamed (not boiled) carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, milled it and froze it in ice cube trays. If I had leftovers of any meal, I also milled small portions and froze, and stored in freezer bags for later use. Save your money on some fancy cookbook. What you cook is what your baby should eat. I don't believe a baby should have separate meals unless there are specific allergies to whatever you've made.