Customer Reviews

First Meals: Fast, healthy, and fun foods to tempt infants and toddlers— from baby's first foods to favorite family feasts

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this book when my daughter was 6 months old as she was not happy with the smooth consistency of baby food. This book has been a lifesaver. There is a wide variety of easy to make recipes with items (such as parsnips) that I would not have thought that my child would like, but does. As she gets older, there are recipes and suggestions for up to the age of 5, including tips for reluctant eaters. She walks you through preparing your own baby food and how to freeze them. She tells you which recipes you can freeze, how long it takes to prepare and some nutritional information. I love this book and my daughter loves the recipes too.

I found this book when my son was almost two. After making several of the recipes he has more variety in his meals, but still dislikes certain food no matter how it is prepared (such as the meatball recipe). The food is easy to make, and less time consuming than those in "adult" recipe books. The foods are geared towards the taste buds of a child, which is something I enjoy about the book. There are lots of recipes to choose from, but I was disappointed at the lack of recipes containing beef. I do not own a food processor which several of the recipes require--but using my blender has been fine for most recipes. If you are looking for a book that offers simple, tasty alternatives for meal planning this book is a great place to start.

My son is 10 months and I have been making recipies from this book since he was 6 months old. I have yet to find a recipe from this book he won't eat. I always do a taste test on everything before I give it to him and everything tastes good too.

My only concern is that she introduces foods my doctor has told me NOT to give my son so early. For example, in the 6-9 month secion, she introduces citrus which I've been told not to give yet. She also introduces spinach, which my son loved, but my doctor told me is dangerous due to nitrate/nitrite conversion which can cause problems in children under 1.

So, I would say this is a great recipe book, but make sure you understand what you can and cannot feed your baby before making some of these recipes.

Read the reviews below about the cautions for this book (certain foods introduced too early, etc.) Then, go ahead and buy this book. I became the family cook for the first time and have methodically worked my way through almost recipe in the book. The recipes are easy to follow and make, give nutritional background, are included in a weekly meal planner, and more importantly, are almost all good. There are a few that bombed, but on the whole, I don't know how I would have survived my baby's first 16 months without this book. It will give you the confidence to NOT buy processed baby food and will give you the confidence to introduce complicated foods to your child before you might otherwise (I'm talking about flavors and combinations here, not the too-early introduction of milk, etc). My child can be picky, but others are amazed at the variety of foods she is willing to eat. Buy this book and her companion book, The Healthy Baby Meal Planner, also.

I love this book and have used it a lot. I love the format and pictures. It was very helpful having this when I wanted to make food for my son rather than buy it at the store. I used my own judgement as to what foods he should and shouldn't have at different ages and I found no problem with feeding him pureed meats at 8 months. He never had a problem with any foods in here either. This book is perfect for the novice baby food maker and is fun with lots of good pictures and easy to read format.

Before I had my son I swore I would never "hassle" with making my own baby food. A friend turned me on to this book before I started my son on solids (at six months), and after making a couple easy purees I was sold. My son (now 2) NEVER wanted processed baby food, and is a very adventurous eater. I attribute it to tasting the "real" foods I made and not the highly sugared or salted processed baby foods available.

I do agree that the author recommends certain foods earlier than my doctor (and the AAP) suggest, but she is British, and they probably have different national standards. I stuck to my doctors recommendations on when to give milk and eggs, etc. but was still able to use a lot of these recipes from my son's first introduction to solid foods and still use them today.

This book is my standard shower gift to all the new mommies I know!

A friend gave me this book since she didn't use it. It had great ideas for purees for my then 6 month old daughter but past 6 months the recipes were not safe for her to eat as she didn't grow her first teeth till she was 7 months old. Of course, some ingredients are too exotic and the prep times seem way off.

Ms. Karmel must have had a nanny watch her 3 kids while she cooked because as a mom of 3 myself, I can't imagine having time to cook these fooods and still have time to spend with my kids.

I got this book on the advice of a friend and boy am I disappointed and wish I had not bothered.

For me it was a waste of money for two reasons. One, I was hoping for more advice on a picky eater and there just isn't a whole lot in this book. Two, many of the recipes are nothing that my toddler would eat, and many aren't recipes I'd even want to bother with creating. I have a toddler, I don't have an hour to prepare a lunch for him. Overall I was just really hoping for something that would give me some advice and tips on how to get a infant, toddler to try new recipes and foods. No luck here!

Meals are good, and has good ideas, but takes lots of advance planning to make sure you have what is needed on hand.

Home cooking is an economical option and, as the recipes in this book show, it need not be time-consuming. There are many excellent purees that do not involve cooking and other recipes suitable for batch-cooking that allow a whole month's food supply to be prepared in a couple of hours and then frozen. ~Annabel Karmel

Annabel Karmel's ambitious baby food book is for infants and toddlers but adults will also enjoy some of the recipes.

The recipes in this book can be used occasionally in order to introduce new foods in fun ways or you could use a variety of recipes on a continual basis as you find favorites. The chapters are divided up into age groups:

Weaning Your Baby
9 to 12 Months
12 to 18 months
18 months to 2 years
2 to 3 years
3 to 7 years
Preschool and beyond
Healthy Snacks
Family Meals

A section on pantry essentials helps you stock the pantry so you have the food on hand in order to try the recipes.

Should you keep baby's half-eaten food for a later meal?
What are the common allergies to watch for?
When should a baby start to eat solid foods?
What do you do when your baby rejects food?

The pages of "first tastes" make introducing foods to your baby easier because they are bland foods baby can get used to when being introduced to purees. These can be made in a blender or food mill. Tips are given for each method with the recipes. Next there is a section on mashed foods and you can try recipes like peach, apple & strawberry or banana with mango or papaya. Savory recipes are also included, like chicken casserole and fish with carrots and orange. The first fifth of the book is made up of very simple recipes.

The recipes from this point on become a little more visual and much more fun to make. As children gain a bigger appetite and begin to explore textures, advice is given on how to encourage children to feed themselves. With fun cutouts and assorted dips and interesting serving suggestions, children are encouraged to try new foods. Some of the fun recipes include:

Gelatin Boats
Pinwheel Sandwiches and other creative Sandwiches like butterflies and wraps
Mini Pizzas with animal faces
Salmon Starfish
Summer Berry Milkshakes
Cheesy Bread Animals
Birthday Cakes
White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies
Chocolate Cream Puffs & Choux Pastry Mice

I am sure when the author created this book, she knew mothers could not find the time to cook like this every day, but many of the recipes will be fun for mothers to make on occasion and others will save time when made in bulk - like the puree recipes. The entire family can enjoy many of the recipes like the strawberry freezer pops or beef stir-fry. There are some family recipes, baby recipes and toddler recipes that anyone could enjoy if you like smaller meals. Once you make your own applesauce, the flavor may convince you to make it all the time.

~The Rebecca Review