What the Heck am I Going to Feed You?: Baby & Toddler Cookbook Review

Hi there! As I mentioned last week I was waiting for my copy of “The BIG Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers, and Children.”

It arrived on Tuesday and I dove right in to check out if it was a solution to the nights I like to call, “mommy’s in a hurry to make dinner and can’t think of anything because all she really wants to do is sit down.” Here we go.

First, the copy I received is spiral bound, which I appreciate in a cookbook. The set up is very straight forward with introduction sections covering basic nutrition, tips for dealing with feeding problems, and discussions about creating healthy eating habits from an early age that discusses the importance of how we eat in addition to what we eat (huge fan of that).

The book is broken down into sections by age: Weaning and first foods, 1-2 year olds, 3-6 year olds. It then finishes with a section on meal planning that highlights what to stock up on, healthy snacks, and food safety and storage.

Each recipe in the book has a notation next to it that lets you know if it has to be served immediately, can be refrigerated, or frozen, and for what specific amounts of time for each (I really appreciate this part of the cookbook as I love to batch cook for our little man.)

Here’s a  few cons I found:

-The age 1-3 section is kind of small and this, I feel, is the most difficult age to feed because babies don’t have all of their teeth yet so you can’t always just give them what you are having for dinner. However, I found the recipes in the other sections could be adjusted for this age group if the texture is softened or cut up and the portions are smaller (the authors do note this as well).

-A lot of the recipes are classics and I have seen them many times before. Of course this is really the deal with most recipe collections (even my own food blog.) There are always classics thrown in with new twists. That’s just the way it is. Some things will never change (If you are not old like me you may not have sung those last two lines because you don’t realize they are from a song. Sorry about the joke lost in time).

-The menu section seems a little small. But, it does still give good ideas to branch off of when preparing meals for the day.

In general, the book succeeds in what it is trying to do: be a quick reference guide for busy moms who want to feed their family fresh, home-cooked foods, and would like a little help with an idea or two throughout the day… that somehow seems to consists of  a limitless amount of meals and snacks.

Now what am I going to eat…

The Book: The Big Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers, & Children: 365 Quick, Easy, and Healthy Dishes.

The authors: Judy More and Bridget Wardley