Olivier Michele - Little Foodie: Baby Food Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with Taste

Part I
BABIES ARE PEOPLE, TOO

Part II
RECIPES FOR ONE & ALL

HELLO, MY NAME IS MICHELE, and I am a complete control freakwhich I am working on, thank you very much. I am also a lover of food, of course.

I wish I could tell you I always planned to make baby food for my first child, but that would be a lie. I did plan to give my little one only the best, which is why I purchased three different brands of organic apple pure to conduct my own quality control.

I tasted each one.

I threw away each one.

Okay, I tossed the jars in the recycling bin. But the point is my love of food made it very clear that what Id just eaten was not food as I knew it. And I certainly didnt want this to be my daughters first experience with what the food world had to offer.

I went to the market and grabbed pounds of fresh organic fruits, vegetables, spices, and herbs. Fittingly, my first acts of frenzied baby food making took place at my own mothers house. We started off with simple recipes based on the produce in season. Because my goal was to make pures that tasted better than just goodthey had to be amazingI added pinches of spices and herbs to enhance the natural flavors of the produce: apples with cinnamon, sweet potatoes with rosemary, and carrots with nutmeg. The result was more than 800 ouncesyes, you read that correctlyof flavorful, delicious pures. Were talking about half a years worth of pures. Can anyone say borderline obsessive?

My baby ate them, my husband and I ate them, and I believe (though I cannot say for certain) that Julia Child would have eaten them, too.

Thus began a truly life-changing experience: making baby food for Ellie. More than a hobby, it became my mission, and something I realized I couldand shouldshare with other parents who hoped to raise children on the full flavors of fresh foods.

Not long after I began creating and testing recipes, I started to blog about them. My Baby Food for Ellie concept got shortened to simply Baby FoodE, and my online recipe home is now fully established at babyfoode.com. And sure enough, a little foodie is just what Ellie (now an older sister to baby Parker) has become.

I came to discover it doesnt take that much time or energy to make your baby a foodieor future foodie, as the case may be. All you really need is a couple of hours each month and a passion to give your baby the best.

This book is the collection of recipes I developed for my baby (and now yours, too). Rest assured, they can be made regardless of how much time you have and how little sleep youre running on. The recipes also deliver big on flavor, and cover everything from memorable first pures to equally memorable (but perhaps less enjoyable) sit-down meals with your feisty toddler. All recipes are both baby- and parent-approved, so you may happily and confidently cook them for many years to come. Enjoy!

The Food You EatSmaller

You have been eating by yourself for as long as you can remember, but the responsibility for feeding another can seem like a lot to take on. If you are a food lover, however, this actually presents an incredible opportunity to acquaint your baby with the wonderful world of food. Passing on your own culinary passion can create a special bond between the two of you, surrounding this activity with great joy and pleasure, as you introduce your child to new and exciting flavors, textures, and aromas from the earliest days.