Helwig - Real Baby Food: Easy, All-Natural Recipes for Your Baby and Toddler

Copyright 2015 by Jenna Helwig

Photography 2015 by Lauren Volo Design by Alissa Faden All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Helwig, Jenna.

Real baby food : easy, all-natural recipes for your baby and toddler / by Jenna Helwig ; with Natalia Stasenko, MS, RD

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-544-46495-7 (paperback)

ISBN 978-0-544-46496-4 (ebook)

1. InfantsNutritionPopular works. 2. ToddlersNutritionPopular works. 3. Cooking (Natural foods)Popular works. I. Title.

RJ216.H3575 2015

641.5'6222dc23

2015005794

v1.0414

Thank you to Sharon Bowers, my delightful agent who happens to be a terrific writer herself. Receiving every one of your emails is a pleasure, and I am indebted to you for your guidance throughout each step of this process.

I am so grateful to Adam Kowit. I couldnt have asked for a more thoughtful or considerate editor. It has been a pleasure crafting this book together. And a big thank you to the rest of the excellent team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, including Rebecca Liss, Claire Holzman, Michelle Bonanno, Brad Parsons, Jessica Gilo, Molly Aronica, Helen Seachrist, Melissa Lotfy, and Alissa Faden for the gorgeous design of Real Baby Food.

Lauren Volo, your photos are exactly what I hoped for. Thank you for your generous eye, calm presence, and the warm vibe you created on set.

Sharon Bowers once said that food stylists are magic. I couldnt agree more, especially when it comes to the lovely and talented Mariana Velasquez. Prop stylists belong in the magic category, too, especially Alix Winsby who got the books look and feel just right. Thank you both.

I couldnt ask for a better collaborator than Natalia Stasenko. Your deep knowledge about feeding and nutrition makes this book better in every way. And the fact that you worked so hard on this project amidst the birth of your third child and a trans-Atlantic move continues to amaze me.

Thank you to Suzy Scherr for sharing your creative, toddler-pleasing recipes, and thank you to Nicole Page for your friendship and sage advice.

I am grateful for the support of my colleagues at Parents, especially Dana Points and Chandra Turner. Thank you also to my longtime friend and colleague Steve Engel and his incomparable wife Heidi Reavis, plus all of my Rosaberry chefs and clients.

With love and gratitude to my dear friends Danielle Wilkie, Allison Graham, and Felicity Rowe.

Of course, thank you to Linda and Andy Helwig (for everything, really). Their unflagging enthusiasm for this book manifested itself in last-minute grocery runs, movie dates with Rosa, and the taste testing of many, many recipes. Thanks also to David and China Helwig, especially for hosting me in your Seattle home and giving me the opportunity to observe the adorable Cole and Tashas eating habits at close range.

And finally, thank you to Dave and Rosa. You sacrificed your summer weekends to this project, cheered me on, and gamely tried dish after dish. Without you at the table it wouldnt matter what was served. I love you.

When my daughter started eating solid food, I knew one thing: offering Rosa a grayish pure of green beans or an odorous mash of processed chicken and rice was out of the question. I wouldnt touch that stuff. (I could barely stomach opening the jar!) So why should she? Plus, I wanted my daughter to be omnivorous. Bland, jarred baby food seemed like a step in the wrong direction.

Instead, I started making large batches of my own pures and freezing most of it, so I had baby food on hand whenever we needed it. I cooked and mashed apples from the farmers market and broccoli from the grocery store. I pured cooked ground chicken and mashed up roasted cod. I kept a few jars of packaged baby food on hand for emergencies, and used store-bought, iron-fortified baby cereal, but for the most part it wasnt hard to make sure my daughter was able to eat homemade food on a daily basis.

I came to believe in homemade baby and toddler food so much that I launched a business helping parents learn how to make their own. I worked with moms and dads who were eager to get their little one off to a good culinary start, but unsure of where to begin. A few years later I became Food Editor at Parents magazine, and I was convinced all over again. There is a hunger (truly!) for knowledge about DIY baby food and a growing understanding of how important the first months of eating are in a childs development. Parents want to perform this simple, natural task for their children, and thankfully, with just a little bit of kitchen savvy, its completely achievable.

Thats where this book comes in. Real Baby Food will give you the know-how and the inspiration to make your own fresh, healthy, tempting meals for your child from the moment she takes her first bite of solid food to the time she is happily ensconced in a booster seat at the family dinner table. The recipes come from my own experience cooking for Rosa, as well as years of teaching classes and feeding clients kids. From , baby and toddler food doesnt have to be boring. In fact, it can and should be delicious, a tasty primer for a childs developing palate.

Making your own baby food is also easy. Ill show you a simple method to ensure you always have healthy food on hand, with little to no cooking on a daily basis. Preparing homemade baby food truly can fit into anyones schedule.

I believe in the power of homemade food at every stage of life. It is healthier, cheaper, fresher, and often better tasting than anything that comes from a box, can, bag, or delivery container. But were all busy people, especially new parents. Why should moms and dads make their own baby food when there are so many optionsorganic even!available at the supermarket? Heres why: your best shot at raising a child who loves to eat nourishing, real food is to cook it yourself and eat together from the very earliest days. And theres more!

• Homemade food is fresher, meaning fewer nutrients will be lost as the ingredients travel from farm to table.
• Homemade food is less processed. Should beef stew really be shelf-stable?
• Homemade food can be less expensive: You will save money by making food in batches.
• The ingredients are under your control. Does your baby love peas? Add them to chicken stew. Do you want organic or non-GMO foods? Your call.
• The food contains no preservatives, and there is no added sugar, salt, or oil beyond what you choose to include.
• The food tastes better. Feeding toddlers, especially, can be a challenge. Its a no-brainer that theyre more likely to eat a meal that doesnt taste like it came from a can or box.
• By feeding your baby fresh, flavorful meals you are training his taste buds, helping him become accustomed to the variety of flavors that await him.
• While your baby is in taste-training, you are in kitchen-training. Whether you cook regularly already or are just learning, making your own baby and toddler food will start you on a journey in the kitchen that will hopefully continue as your family grows. Making homemade food will benefit your babys and your health for many years to come.