Product Description

From first purees and delicious snacks to tempt toddlers with tiny appetites to imaginative and nutritious meals that the whole family can enjoy. First Meals includes more than 150 fully illustrated recipes, all of which have been tested on a panel of babies, toddlers, and young children.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2245 in Books
• Brand: DK Publishing
• Published on: 2004-05-03
• Released on: 2004-04-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Amazon.com Review
There's a popular game at baby showers in which the new mom-to-be has to taste jarred baby food and guess its contents. Inevitably, the first comment is "Yuk! How do they eat this stuff?" The answer, of course, is that babies don't know there's an alternative--fresh, delicious, wholesome food made at home. In the beautifully and extensively illustrated First Meals, Annabel Karmel explains how simple and satisfying it is to make baby's food yourself--from the earliest mashed banana and steamed carrot purees to Singapore Noodles for 3- to 5-year-olds.

Karmel begins with an extensive section on early nutrition, pointing out that while grownups are often encouraged to follow a high-fiber, low-fat diet, "the under 5s need significantly more fat and concentrated sources of calories and nutrients to fuel their rapid growth during the early years." Continuing her "Basics" chapter are sections on keeping a well-stocked pantry; the equipment you'll need; illustrated, step-by-step instructions on preparing your first purees; and notes on freezing and reheating food. Close-up views of spoonfuls of puree are especially helpful for nervous first-time chefs. Chapters of recipes and feeding information are then broken down by age--4-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months, 18 months-2 years, 2-3 years, and 3-5 years, with each chapter addressing the particularities of the given age (questions about starting solids are answered for parents of 4-6-month-olds, while maintaining a healthy and varied diet and packing lunches are the concerns for the preschool child), along with 20 or more recipes appropriate to the child's level.

First published in England, the book has been "translated" well--ingredients are measured both in cups and in grams, and while there might be more parsnips called for than one normally sees in a North American diet, nearly every ingredient is obtainable at your regular supermarket. Karmel is up-to-date on the most recently accepted food recommendations as of 1999--she advises families with food allergies to avoid peanuts until a child is 3 years old, and while she cooks with cow's milk after 9 months, she doesn't recommend offering it in a cup until baby has reached his first birthday. Most importantly, she preaches a gospel of variety and of fun at mealtime. Cheesy Pasta Stars are made with tiny "stelline" pasta, and homemade Chicken Nuggets (made with grated apple and parsley in the breading) are formed in the shape of hearts--enough to break down the barriers of any picky eater. Stuffed Baked Potatoes become sailboats with cheese triangle sails and red pepper flags, and "Mock Fried Egg" looks just like the real thing--except it's vanilla yogurt with half an apricot on top! So trust your taste buds and leave those jars at the store--Annabel Karmel's First Meals will inspire you in the kitchen and leave your kids pounding the table for more. --Rebecca A. Staffel

Review
"Annabel Karmel's First Meals may be the perfect new-mom gift... it's real charm is for the decoratively challenged (or the desperate); fun food-presentation ideas, like chicken-sausage snails, above [picture shown]." -- Time magazine

"For help from an expert, try First Meals, a beautifully illustrated, easy-to-follow guide to cooking for kids up to the age of 5." -- Newsweek

"If your little darling is a food snob who has you jumping through hoops at every meal, Annabel Karmel's First Meals may be just the inspiration you need...an all-round nutrition guide, with lots of pull-out charts, photos and lively graphics." -- New York Daily News

"Recipes little kids can sink their teeth into." -- Parenting magazine

About the Author
Annabel Karmel's experience with her own children inspired her to research the interaction of food, diet, and young children. A trained Cordon Bleu chef and the author of several bestselling books, including Superfoods for Babies and Children, Karmel contributes to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and appears regularly on television.

Customer Reviews

Very Helpful
I found that the book had great ideas that I would have never have thought of.

Good for each baby
This cook book as good advice and ideas for making homemade baby food. Each time I had a baby I reviewed it. There's recipes from 4 months to 5 years+. Some are simple and some are gourmet.

Excellent!
My pediatritian recommended this book, and although I'm using a lot of Earth's Best, I have tried a couple of recipes and my daughter loves them. The only thing I didn't like is that it doesn't specify when you should give them each food (specifically) ,it just says starting at "17 weeks".