Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.89 You Save: $9.06 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.54 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Super Baby Food
Book Review: This is the gift I buy for all the new parents I know, and they love it.
Summary: 5 Stars
There are not enough ways for me to praise this priceless book for the gift it has given my son and our little family. If not for this book, it wouldn't have occurred to me to offer him such a complete, healthy menu in this way. I would have taken the route of nutritional trial and error, making the latest in "good food" based on what he happens to enjoy. And I would have made the mistake of being guided by my tainted mature taste buds (developed in the heart of the midwest). All the while I'd be questioning if I was actually providing him a complete healthy diet. Afterall, unless you have a degree in nutrition, so much of what we think we know is actually unproven or even hearsay. Sorry, but that's not quite good enough for our babies and toddlers who are currently growing the amazing brains and bodies that they will be relying on for the rest of their lives.
The alternative that Super Baby Food offers is so complete that it gives parents a terrific gift . . . peace of mind! Just imagine, starting your baby's day with a breakfast of swiss chard, broccoli, squash, whole grain oats and rice, tofu, and seeds rich in omega-3's, . . . all in one delicious dish. I was skeptical and had very low expectations as I began trying the recipes on my son. But to my amazement, it has worked out extremely well. I've been feeding my son this healthy super porridge since he began eating solids, and now he is nearly three years old. He loves eating his super porridge to this day, as well as all of the other recipes I've offered him from this book. Plus, these great healthy flavors are now what his developing taste buds have come to know. And when he has a choice of foods, these are the foods he asks for. And what a great thing it is to hear, "Mommy, can I have more broccoli please? Can I have some cauliflower, too?" Music to my ears!
Peace of mind is multiplied by the fact that my son is the one person in our family who doesn't get sick. The time I put into planning and creating the meals is nothing, compared to the time saved by having a healthy child! He didn't even get his first diaper rash until the age of 14 months. Think of all the things we have to do later in life to fight off disease, and the aging process, often due to a lifetime of inadequate eating habits. As a parent or caretaker, you are in charge of what your child eats while he's under your care. This food plan provides the best method for prevention we could ever want for our children. And it became so easy to cook everything in batches once I got the hang of it.
This book is a terrific resource even if you don't want to try the nutrition plan at all. There is an appendix of specific fruits and veggies, and it will answer those questions you have about what is the best way to select, store, prepare, cook, and freeze each fruit or veggie. For example, did you know that you can avoid the gas problem with broccoli by slightly undercooking it, to retain the natural chlorophyll? Also provided is the age that your baby must be when each specific veggie or fruit is first offered to his developing digestive system. There are some great chapters on parties, crafts, and fun food decorating. And another appendix offers the reader a mini course in the how's and why's of nutrition. This book is a smorgasbord, from which you can select the ideas that appeal to you. I found it helpful to apply tab labels on the pages I refer to most often.
Think of the best pet you've ever had. If you knew there was a book you could follow that would give him everything he needed to be strong, healthy, fight off disease, and live longer, would you think twice about buying it? Well our pets rely 100% on us for their nutrition, and guess what, our precious children do too. Gradually, this book has taught me how to make it the priority that it deserves to be.
We are the first generation blessed enough to have such an amazing resource book in our kitchens, that gives us the extraordinary power to personally transform the "American Diet" for the next generation, and perhaps all those that follow. For that reason alone, I wish I could hand a copy of this book to you right now as you are reading this.
P.S. I'm certainly no health nut, and not a vegetarian; But our family is definitely eating better since we started keeping such super food fruits and veggies in the fridge.
Book Review: THE ABSOLUTE BEST! Recipes, kitchen tips, fun games, etc...
Summary: 5 Stars
Oh, where to begin? Unfortunately, I don't have the time to rant for pages on how great this book is, so I will just say that Ruth Yaron is a genius. That's really how I feel. She has written the bible of baby food & I love her for it! I was lucky enough to stumble across Super Baby Food during my wanderings one day & I've worn my poor book out from referring to it so often.
She has a way of blending nutrition & humor together to make this book not only an easy read, but a pleasurable one as well. I literally pick this book up at least 5 or 6 times a day. What I really love is that she helps me get in touch with the natural way to do things.
This book is not just another baby food recipe book-- no, she's included so much more such as: food decorating, throwing parties for kids, arts & crafts, homemade baby products & accessories, the dangers of many different things found in our everyday environment & so much more.
I must include one more thing before I go... On page 134 you'll find The Super Baby Food Diet Daily Worksheet which shows how much of what your baby needs every day. I scanned it, enlarged it, & printed out plenty of copies so that I can keep careful track of my little girl's diet. It sounds harder than it actually is-- I just keep the sheets on a clipboard with a pen attached in a central location so as I feed her I can just scribble between meals what I'm feeding her. Without it, she'd be missing out on vital nutrients & I'd never even know it!
Oh, & I have to add that she has gotten me hooked on organic foods & natural supplements, such as flaxseed oil & brewer's yeast. I had never heard of them before, & now I don't know what I'd do without them.
Yes, there are some things that I don't agree with, but I challenge you to find a book covering this many helpful topics that you agree 100% with. I just absorb what I like & disregard the rest.
By the way, there's one review that says there was "almost an entire page" dedicated to just bibs & she just couldn't bring herself to read it... well, I guess 3 little paragraphs can be too much reading for some people, lol.
I'll also admit that the layout of the book does require some flipping around, but with so many topics being related, it would be impossible to put it in a page after page format.
In closing, I truly feel that I'm giving my baby a much better start at life than the passive parents who don't take an active role in ensuring their child receives the very best nutrition. Too many people have blind faith that Gerber & the rest are the only way to go, when in fact you're paying 79 cents for 5 cents worth of carrots & water that aren't even free of pesticides! What a shame! Do yourself & your baby a huge favor, & get this book! I know you'll love it as much as I do! ***And our pediatrician approves!**
THANK YOU, RUTH YARON! YOU'VE CHANGED OUR LIVES & I LOVE YOU FOR IT!
Book Review: A Health Consciences Mom's Best Help
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a mom of an 11 month old and this book saved me from going insane when it came to starting to feed my boy solids at 6 months. I believe that there is nothing more perfect than breast milk for your baby - but you can't feed them that forever. This book helped me get over the fear of feeding my baby solids by giving me the power of deciding on exactly what I am putting in his mouth. It gave me the confidence and knowledge to make my own (super) baby food by explaining when and what kind of nutrition my growing baby needs and how can I provide that to him. It is also a great guide on how to pick, prepare and store every kind of veggie and fruit you can think of. I am still using the book almost everyday, reading and rereading certain sections of it. Someone complained about the scattered references all over the book. I think that is one of the most useful features, which by the way the writer explains in the very beginning. You don't need to read the whole book right away, which you don't have time for anyway, but read into the sections that are age appropriate and anything related to that. That is where the scattered references come to your help.
I am really sorry for the moms who have a hard time appreciating this book. If you read it carefully you would understand why it is important to feed your baby tofu, nut butters or millet, kelp, tahini or kale. It doesn't just tell you to do that but gives you a logical and scientifically backed explanation. Scientifically to the point that any mom can understand it. All you need is open mindedness. And a little effort that will go a long way!!!
It takes some time to get into making your baby's food from scratch but the book has great suggestions on how to manage your time in the kitchen. Since I started using this book I bought a copy to all my pregnant friends. It is one of the greatest things you can do for your baby: feed him right. Doesn't it make you feel bad to put all that commercial garbage into your baby's mouth, full of chemicals and additives and missing all the original nutrition because it was processed?
My baby will eat everything and anything I offer him. He had no chance to develop a taste preference. His favorites are tofu and avocado because of their texture. Some of the foods taste a little different than what you might be used to but because of the detailed explanations behind everything the writer suggests to use, you can make an INFORMED DECISION yourself on giving it to your baby or not. My parents and in-laws were a little skeptical in the beginning but my son is the healthiest, happiest baby they have ever seen which reassured them that we are doing the right thing following this book. As an added bonus: this book is slowly changing the whole family's diet to a much more health consciences one. It is a wonderful book that every mom should have access to.
Book Review: Great, Informative Resource
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this book to be a great resource when preparing food for my child beginning at 6 months. Yes, the author does talk about introducing some dairy and nuts, but she also says repeatedly to ASK YOUR PEDIATRICIAN before trying anything. So, at our check ups, I ask the pediatrician what is appropriate to introduce before our next visit and he tells me (vegetables and fruits, cereal, grains, etc.). I then use the book to prepare those types of foods. Additionally, she has a website that she updates all the time with current research and findings about the information in the book. As she says, once you publish a book, you can't quickly update it so refer to the website frequently for updates. Also, you can e-mail her any questions. She doesn't claim to be a medical expert. Only a mom who's done this for years. I e-mailed her and had a personal response in less than an hour. I was so impressed.
The absolute best part of the book is the section on fruits and vegetables. It's an alphabetical listing of every fruit and vegetable you can imagine. For each listing, it has how to select it, when to introduce it, how to prepare it, how to store it, other references in the book, etc.
This is a BIG book (about 600 pages), but if you take some time too familiarize yourself with the book and which parts are appropriate for your child's needs, then it is a fabulous resource. When I first got the book, I spent about an hour going through it tabbing the sections that were age appropriate for my son. Every month or so, I take ten minutes to see what I need to add or take away from my tabs.
I have looked at every other baby food book I can get my hands on and none of them are as complete a resource as this one. As others say, there's not much about meat, but with fruits and veggies being in season, I'm so busy introducing all those, I haven't been worried about meat yet. Besides, there's tons of information online about baby food. You can find out about meat there.
If for no other reason, the fruit and vegetable section makes this book a great buy. However, I like the whole thing.
The author is a little extreme in some recommendations/opinions for some of us, but you don't have to do everything she says. That's the beauty of being a parent. You get to decide what you want to do for your child. The book is open-ended enough to let you choose. There are more than enough food recommendations for each month so that you can pick and choose. So there's no way you could feel tied to doing it exactly the way Ruth does. I'm pretty sure she would tell you the same thing. You're the parent. You decide what best suites your lifestyle. Here's the information you need to prepare the food you feel is best for your child.
Highly recommended by a first time mom! A great resource!
Book Review: This is the way we should all be eating...
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is definitely not for the mom who wants to feed her kids the "average American diet", but we all know that that is not the healthiest way to feed our kids anyway. The reviewers who hated this book just can't handle the fact that it tells you to feed your child whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, and organic fruits and veggies. It is vegetarian, but just add meat if you want(not a hard concept...). Some people seem to be really bothered by her suggestions to add things to the Super Porridge. The healthy extras she recommends like kelp, tahini, and brewers yeast are considered by many to be extremely healthy foods, even if most people don't know anything about them. Babies who haven't gotten used to highly salted or sugary processed foods probably won't find any of these foods to be yucky. I suspect that some reviewers who have introduced this diet to toddlers would face this problem though. Besides, I find it easy to try what's comfortable for me and leave the rest. The book is an excellent reference with a page on each food with exactly how to buy, store, prepare, freeze etc. There is the "Super Baby Food Diet Plan", (centered around frozen food cubes and homemade whole grain baby cereal) which is extensive in detail and tells exactly what food groups, how much of each, and gives all sorts of nutrition info. on why certain things are beneficial/important. Her analysis and charts on what vitamins/minerals/food groups your baby will be getting from the Super Baby Food Diet and how you can keep track of these things is dizzying. She tells you to include certain amounts of servings of green foods, yellow foods, etc. so that you can be sure that you are including all the nutrients your baby needs to be healthy. Even if you choose not to follow the diet in such detail, her nutrition advice is great and her method of pureeing and freezing the different food in cubes is super easy and convenient. We never found a reason to get a jar of baby food with our first baby, and now the second is almost ready for solids and I will be getting my ice cube trays out again.
My favorite part of this book is that it makes it easy to feed my baby a whole foods diet, which is what I consider to be the healthiest choice for the whole family.
As for her warnings, opinions, and thrifty suggestions- some are laughable, but many are good. They certainly don't negate all of the fantastic information that is packed in this book about feeding babies and toddlers. And I have tried some of her recipes. Her whole grain breakfast cereal that you cook in the crockpot overnight is great, as well as several other recipes I've tried. Again, they are probably not really geared to a mom who is comfortable with the typical American diet. Her toddler will be eating Captain Crunch for breakfast.