First Meals Revised: Fast, healthy, and fun foods to tempt infants and toddlers
by Annabel Karmel
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Book Reviews of First Meals Revised: Fast, healthy, and fun foods to tempt infants and toddlers
Book Review: a must-have
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this cookbook. I love cooking, though, and often prepare elaborate meals for my husband and I. I do not feel that 20 minutes of work to make nutritionally dense food for my 8 mo. old is excessive. (She'll eat what I cook for two days so it's only 20 min. every two days)
When she started eating more solid foods, she refused to eat plain steamed vegetables (pureed or not) and jar food. She put up such a fuss & refused to eat anything else besides fruit, string cheese or puffs. Not an optimal diet for a growing child. Naturally I was concerned because she used to eat a plethora of pureed foods (most were recipes from this book). I went back to the book to get recipes for 9 mos & up and it worked. She eats vegetables & anything else again. The recipes from this book are actually palatable to her. She loves to eat the food I make for her!
As somebody who's done a masters in nutrition, I feel pleased with the diet I feed my child when I use recipes from this book. Yellow vegetables and cheese are so good for your growing baby. (There is a slight lack of green vegetables in the recipe but that is probably because they are less palatable; I often add mashed sweet peas to the recipes.) There is a previous review, however, that correctly mentions that fresh strawberries or eggs should not be fed to your child until he/she is one and there is a pureed strawberry recipe in this book. That's not approved by American pediatricians. Everything else, though, I have found to be good, sound advice.
I highly recommend preparing your infant's food over jarred baby food and I highly recommend this book for that process. It is a little time-intensive but you don't have to cook every day. If you make extras, most of the foods are freezer-suitable even. I like that the microwave is left out of the cooking process in this book. Microwaving your food depletes it of anti-oxidant vitamins as well as other key nutrients. Overall, I think this book is an asset to people who want to prepare their baby's food. I don't know what my baby would eat if it wasn't for this book.
I would like to add, now 4 months later, that my husband and I will eat her food some nights! Instead of freezing the the other portions, he and I will sit down and eat her food with her. Obviously, she loves it, but we're always surprised how good it tastes. I even used the california chicken salad recipe for a party I hosted...it was quick, easy, and very delicious.
Book Review: Beautiful pictures, some great purees, but lots of false nutritional information that can be harmful for your child
Summary: 2 Stars
First of all, I bought the book Superfoods as well ( that one has the same basic recipes, but with gorgeous illustrations) and my review for that book will be the same.
The plus side to both books is that Annabel Karmel is very creative. I mean very. She makes food so presentable to children ( esp toddlers)and very fun to make ( if you have the time). She even gives some accurate nutritional info about the importance of garlic, ginger, and other herbs/spices in a person's diet ( however, she fails to mention that some children have stomach problems after ingesting garlic).
Where she goes WAY off is with her general nutritional information. For example, she recommends microwaving foods ad says it is not harmful. FALSE It depletes anything that it cooks of all nutrients. She goes on to mention the importance of including beef, pork, and poultry in a infants diet. In the China Study, which is the most comprehensive study ever done on nutrition in both America and abroad, it was discovered over 27 years of research that all meat ( excluding fish) and dairy are the main ( yes MAIN) contributers to cancer and a host of other problems that are affecting society. On top of that, most meat ( even if it says 'free range') has horrific hormones added to it, and the cattle/pigs/poultry eat poor quality, genetically modified ( on cheap farms) grass and corn. As far as providing adequate protein, calcium, and iron for our little ones, there are plenty of fortified cereals for infants, and veggies such as broccoli have lots of absorbable protein and calcium ( and spinach is a great source of iron).
Even if you could care less about the impact that our consumption of meat and animal biproducts has on the environment, think about your child eating meat that came from an unhealthy, abused and hormone laden animal that has been eating ground animal waste ( no joke). It is not a pretty or healthy picture.
Please do your research before giving your children meat and dairy, and be sure to find out if your child has any allergies to soy or wheat.
Books I recommend for you begin your research:
The China Study
Vegetarian Mother and Baby
Super Baby Food
The Petit Appetit Cookbook
Fast Food Nation
Quantum Wellness
Skinny Bitch ( a humorous book for moms that has excellent and well researched health info)
Simply Natural Baby Food
Book Review: Expand Your Food Horizons
Summary: 4 Stars
Tired of plain old meat & potatoes and gloppy "Stage 3" foods? Is PB&J and O shaped cereal getting boring? Not ready for the high sugar, high salt, or hard to chew adult foods? Need something to put in the freezer to have a meal in a pinch? The new and expanded version of this book is for you! All you need is about 45 minutes to make a batch with leftovers worth freezing.
How about little "meatballs" you can pop in the microwave as you need them as a snack or quick meal? They are even better if they have potatoes, parsnips, carrots & chicken all in one tidy toddler-friendly, finger licking package. How about a turkey meatball with sweet red pepper sauce? Anyone can sautee some peppers & onions, put them in a blender, and presto - instant low salt vege filled sauce over pasta. Not ready for dairy filled mac & cheese? Try herb seasoned butternut squash blended to a sauce over pasta stars. I don't know a 9 month old who would refuse it.
Yes, the recipies do use some often neglected items from the produce aisle - leeks, parsnips, rutabaga, butternut squash. But, these products don't bite, are inexpensive, and easy to prepare since the book tells you how to peel & cook them as easily as, and along with, your potatoes!
Best baby book purchase I've made. Even my husband & I eat the meals out of this book. 4 stars instead of 5 only because the recipies, divided for consistency by age groups, may contain ingredients not always supported by the current Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for introducing new foods. Be sure to speak to your pediatrician before introducing any food that may cause an allergy such as cow's milk, butter, peanuts, cheese or fish and make the appropriate substituion. The recipies, however, are still fantastic and you will eventually be able to use them all!
Book Review: Baby loves these meals
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this book to be very helpful in guiding my little one into solids. I think Ms. Karmel introduces yogurt a little on the early side but my daughter loved the meals resulting from this book. Variations are easily made from some of these basic foods. It definitely gave me the courage to try new things. The Fish Mornay, butternut squash pasta and avocado dip were especially loved. I love the way this book is organized, too. Karmel lists the ingredients on the left, making it easy for creating shopping lists. She also lists the prep/cook time, portions, nutritional information, and if the meal is suitable for freezing.
I work three days a week and managed to make a number of meals on Sundays and I never felt like I had to be some gourmet chef. I really don't understand some of the more sarcastic reviews and I don't think a mouli is required (though the hand held ones are great!). However, if you are looking for some creative yet manageable ways to introduce your child to a variety of flavors, this is a good book to have in your library.
These are not as complicated as some people make them out to be. Steamed carrots are great but if you're interested in developing a more extensive palette to meet the rest of your family, I would definitely give these recipes a try. If you think mango, avocados, kiwis, and parsnips are too exotic, then you should skip this book. Otherwise, if you aren't afraid of new flavors, textures, and you want your child to have more variety than the gerber line - check this one out.
Book Review: Only for ambitious and experienced cooks!!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
I've been cooking family meals since junior high school and have always been very interested in the culinary arts, so I'm a bit more experienced in the kitchen than my wife.
She bought this book thinking it was "quick, easy, healthy" meals. What she found was a huge pile of frustration and angst with every recipe she's tried.
The estimated times to make most of these is severely underestimated. In addition they don't consider any "sit time" required between certain steps. I don't know what planet the author is living on, but here on Earth, that "Beef Croquette" dish took well over an hour, not the 10 minutes they listed. The recipes also frequently call for change of bowls, etc so you end up with a sink piled high.
I've had to step in several times to repair the meals and my wife's self esteem. These are NOT recipes you should be trying unless you know the difference between a food mill and a chinois, a mandolin from a mezzaluna.
Even then, I'm not so sure these meals are all that healthy. Lots of pan frying, which to me is the same as deep frying. No real attempt to reduce sugar intake in these recipes. I think you'd do better buying a Rachel Ray cookbook and shopping at Whole Foods.
We're very disappointed. By the way, our kids refused to eat anything from this cookbook. They will eat things like tacos, scallion pancakes, miso soup, MaPo tofu, plain yogurt, stuffed grape leaves, fried gluten, and lots of other unusual dishes that many kids wouldn't touch.