Folcik - Happy tummies: a cookbook for new mamas

N othing in the world compares to motherhood. For many of us, having a child creates the deepest, most honest, unconditional love we have ever felt. But thats not all. Sometimes we may also feel like we are on a roller coaster of emotions; even crazy at times. The truth is, motherhood is wonderful and hard at the same time. We delight in playful games of peek-a-boo, and are proud to share cute photos with family and friends; yet we are tired from long sleepless nights and even longer days. We spend all our effort caring for someone else when our own needs are rarely met, and we are often uncertain about how we are performing as parents.

But through it all, we desire to be loving, affectionate, and attentive, hoping to give our little one the best start possible.

Thats where this book comes in. When our babies are ready to eat solids, we want to give them the best possible nutrition. Without having fed a baby before, it may seem easiest just to buy some jars of baby food at the store. Its cooked and pureed; all you have to do is pop the lid and serve. But Id like to show you how quick and easy it actually is to make super-healthy baby food at home. You can do it, Mama!

I made nearly all of my sons baby food from scratch. Not because I have endless energy or because I thought I was Supermom, but because I just fed him foods I was eating. If I had bananas at home, he had bananas. If I was making chicken and rice for dinner, thats what he had too.

This book is written for the real mom, the busy mom. Its written for you. The first section of Happy Tummies contains everything you need to know about starting your baby on solid foods. Youll learn the basics, like choosing the right first food, and how to go about that first feeding, as well as in-depth strategies to properly introduce new foods and textures, store and freeze baby food, and much, much more. Plus its packed with up-to-date research and expert recommendations from organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The second half of Happy Tummie s takes over 40 whole-food ingredients and teaches you how to cook and prepare them for your babys food so you can use what you already have at home to feed your little one. My hope is that these baby food recipes inspire you to think outside the jar, giving you the skills and confidence to craft food that is both healthy and delicious.

Whats also included: nutritional information; instructions for preparing and cooking each food; recipes for the most basic purees; mix-ins to expand babys palate; ideas for making food more exciting and nutritious; and much more. Every ingredient also features numerous recipes for parentsbecause we need to eat too!

No matter where you are right now on the motherhood roller coasterwhether you are eagerly anticipating your new little one, have just strapped in and are feeling the new-mother high, or have several months under your beltknow that you have someone else (who has been there) helping you as you experience the invigorating highs, gut-wrenching lows, and confusing loop-dee-loops of parenthood. Feeding your baby wholesome food is just one more way you can help give your baby the best start possible.

Now trust yourself. Take a deep breath. And together, lets make some happy tummies.

Karen F.

Most of us know that whole, natural, unprocessed foods, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, and grains, are the best foods for our bodies. They are both rich in essential vitamins and nutrients and free of preservatives. Since babies may only eat a few tablespoons of food per feeding at first, they need all the nutrition they can get in each bite. By feeding baby homemade food made from the healthiest ingredients, youll be certain that hes getting the best possible nutrition in every bite.

Commercial baby foods can work in a pinch, but youll want to shy away from using them as your babys sole source of solid food if you can. The methods used to process packaged foods can destroy a significant amount of the natural vitamins and nutrients, making some commercial baby food 50% less nutritious than a homemade equivalent. Plus, some commercial foods contain fillers, preservatives, or unnecessary ingredients that your baby doesnt need.

Homemade baby food is pure and simple, and tastes like its ingredients. It is the perfect first step for growing a healthy eater. Baby will learn exactly what real food tastes like. Hell get used to seeing you make his foodunpeeling a banana, mashing it up, and serving it to him. Hell learn that when hes hungry, chances are youll slice up some apple, mash up some squash, or dice some chicken. Your baby will get used to eating whole foods instead of reaching for the processed kindand that is a good habit for you and baby!

With your help, in just a few short months your little one will transition from eating predominantly breast milk or formula to eating table foods. You can help your baby achieve this milestone by gradually progressing the textures and flavors of his food. Youll want to start with completely smooth single-ingredient purees, move to soft, lumpy purees, and later to finely chopped table foods. Your baby will learn new skills at each stage. One of the best aspects of making homemade baby food is that you arent stuck with just a few flavors or textures. You can completely customize your babys food so he can try a wide variety of ingredients at the right texture.

Which feeding method seems more affordable? Taking a scoop out of your baked sweet potato and mashing it up for babys dinner, or opening up a jar of store-bought sweet potato puree? If you guessed the first one, youre right! By making babys food at home you can save a lot of money, simply by feeding baby the same thing youre already cooking up for yourself.

For those times when its just not feasible to feed baby what everyone else is eating (ahem, pizza night), homemade food still comes out on top. One cup of homemade sweet potato puree costs me about $1.12 to make, whereas the same amount of store-bought sweet potato baby food costs about $4.16. That is a savings of 62%! Even if you add in the cost of buying a blender, youll still save a ton of money over the long run if you make babys food yourself.

B reast milk or formula with iron contains all of the nutrition your baby needs for healthy growth for the first six to nine months. Somewhere around that timeit ranges from child to childyour baby will be ready for his first taste of solid food. The process of adding solid foods to your babys diet is called