Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70483 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 132 pages

From the Author
After the birth of our first daughter, I decided to stay at home to rear our children and develop our organic vegetable/herb garden and fruit orchard.

Cooking continued to be a creative outlet for me. As I had primarily been cooking adult food for many years, preparing baby food was a new undertaking. The cookbooks available contained recipes calling for white flour, refined sugar, and processed foods. Most dishes required dairy products, eggs, or meat. No alternatives were provided for the vegetarian child. As I researched infant nutritional needs, I learned how important it is to give babies healthful food from the start and to establish good eating habits early.

I combined my knowledge of natural, whole foods cooking with what I had learned about infant nutrition to develop the recipes in this book. Since I understand that our lives are busy, I keep actual preparation time to a minimum. The cooking time for some meals is lengthy (i.e. grains and legumes) but since you don’t have to be in the kitchen monitoring the meal, you are free to do other things. These recipes are all dishes that I prepare regularly. With two small children to care for, a garden and orchard to maintain, animals to tend, and books and articles to write, I don’t want to spend my free time in the kitchen.

My daughters are enthusiastic, healthy eaters and have rarely been sick. I hope you find this book helpful with your children.

From the Inside Flap
"Simply Natural Baby Food" is packed with all you need to introduce your child to nutritious foods and establish good eating habits that will last a lifetime. Find out how easy it is to prepare your own baby food. You’ll save money and give your baby the best possible start. Both experienced and beginning cooks benefit from the easy, detailed instructions.

This book contains:

· Over 150 wholesome recipes for infants and toddlers
· Fun recipes for crackers, pretzels, and sugar-free treats
· Imaginative ways to get your child to eat vegetables
· Vegetarian and vegan alternatives for almost every recipe
· Wheat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free dishes
· Recipes for non-dairy nut and seed milks
· Dishes the whole family will enjoy
· Timesaving tips and nutritional advice

"This priceless, precious recipe book gives natural, health-building foods for babies, children, and adults." - Patricia Bragg, N.D., Ph.D., daughter of Paul C. Bragg, Originator of Health Food Stores

"An enticing and inspiring book of recipes for children. A very accessible and tasty collection." - Sharon K. Yntema, author of "New Vegetarian Baby"

"In an era of epidemic obesity and diabetes in our children, Olson offers harried parents and providers fresh, wholesome and simple recipe ideas for giving kids a healthy start." - Monica Dixon, Ph.D., R.D., author of "Love the Body You Were Born With: A Ten Step Workbook for Women"

About the Author
Cathe Olson left her career as a Computer Systems Analyst in Quincy, Massachusetts to pursue a simpler, more natural life. She moved to California and studied vegetarian, macrobiotic, and whole foods nutrition and cookery. Cathe cooked at natural foods restaurants and delis in the San Francisco Bay and Central Coast areas of California before settling down with her husband Gary in the hills above Suey Creek, California where they shared a vision of building a farm and living off their own land.

After the birth of their first child, Cathe wanted to prepare her own baby food but the cookbooks she found used lots of refined sugar, refined grains, dairy products, and meat. She developed her own recipes, and her daughter thrived on a whole foods diet. Cathe has written numerous articles and newsletter columns on whole foods cooking and is the author of the booklet "Beyond Rice Cereal".

Customer Reviews

Oustanding Baby Book Excellent For Adults
Simple Natural Baby Food contains simple, easy to follow recipes. I picked the book up expecting soft, mushy, baby food, and found healthy delicious recipes enjoyable for the whole famioly. Check out the Banana-Oatmeal Cookies - YUM!!!

Great Little Book
I love this little book. I know a past reviewer criticised the book for being too thin but that's one of the things I like about it. I have always enjoyed cooking and bought quite a few baby cook books when my daughter was very young thinking I would potter around making her perfect gourmet meals but soon realised that there are many days when the thought of even leafing through the pages of those cookbooks is too much effort. I just find them too overwhelming and invariably reach for this book because the recipes are simple but still tasty. You don't need to be a great cook to be able to make these recipes, the instructions are very easy to follow.

Despite being a slender volume, the book packs a lot of information into its pages, and still has a great collection of recipes.

I never found it to be a problem finding any of the ingredients. I have to admit that even though I consider my cooking to be quite wholesome I had never used some of the items like dried seaweed (you only use a pinch) and ground seeds myself, but after reading in the book just why these things are included, I found myself adding them to my own food as well. They are incredibly nutritious and such an easy way to bolster your child's immune system which I found so reassuring during the winter. I'm sure you can order these ingredients online if you can't find them in a store nearby. You use such a small amount that they will last for ages. And you can always leave those items out if you prefer.

The book is written in a very friendly manner and is a nice balance between educating and guiding you as to what your baby's and toddler's developmental needs are with easy to follow recipes. A reviewer below wrote that the last thing they needed was to be making their own baby cereal. Well I guess if that's your mindset then this book isn't for you because honestly it takes all of two seconds to make the cereal, and the jar lasts a very long time when you are using a couple of tablespoons at a time! Not that you can't find good organic packaged baby cereal, (I did try that myself but my baby would never eat it). And there's nothing stopping you from using the recipes as guides and substituting purchased products for some ingredients if it makes life easier.

The book takes you right through to when your child is a toddler with tips that help you sneak vegetables into their diet and great snack ideas too. There are some lovely recipes for cookies and cakes as well, which is nice, it's very realistic in that although you want to feel that you are presenting your child with yummy healthy food, there's always a place for sweet treats in life. I'm not personally a fan of soy products which some of the recipes call for, but I just substitute the tofu or whatever with chicken,lamb or fish.

I went online to check out the authors website and was happy to see that the adorable little girls on the website who I assume are the author's daughters look like very happy and healthy children. They are a great advertisement for the book.

Loved this book!
I loved this book!! So many great ideas for feeding my year old. She just started eating solids a couple weeks ago! I especially love the Oatmeal Banana Cookies (No sugar! No dairy! No eggs!).

I don't find it hard to locate the ingredients needed for some of the recipes, even though I live in rural Canada.

Healthy, fun and easy!!!