Moms, please make your own baby food.

I really believe that one of the best things you can do for your kids is feed them well. That starts from the first baby food they eat. I made all of Aveline's baby food and used this great book Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel as a guide. It really is easy, fast, cheap, and much healthier than store bought food. Just look at the color of homemade peas and the store bought ones side by side and you will see .

I use a lot of frozen veggies and fruit for the purees and as the baby gets older I blend up less salty versions of what we eat for dinner and freeze it for the baby food. I also think it's important to limit the sugar that a baby gets. The first foods that I gave both of my girls were vegetables. I started with carrots then week by week added things like green beans, broccoli, squash, etc. One of Colette's favorites is squash and spinach. I use plain Greek yogurt instead of fruit flavored ones and they both love it. We are training their pallets from the first things they eat. Don't forget to give them a wide variety of foods and include things that you might not like. We used things like avocados, asparagus, papaya, and tomatoes. I also added herbs like basil and thyme to give the food some complexity so that they would not want just bland food when they got older.

I am not sure if this is being helpful or hindering but it is cute.

One of my girls favorite recipes from the book...

Lovely lentils

makes 5 portions

suitable for freezing

7-9 months

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 tlbs chopped celery

1 tlbs vegetable oil

1/4 cup split red (or any split variety) lentils

1 medium sweet potato (8 oz) peeled and chopped

1 3/4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Saute the onion, carrots, and celery in the oil for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the lentils and sweet potatoes and pour in the stock or water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer, covered, for 20 mins. Puree in a blender.

~Lentils are good, cheap source of protein. They also provide iron, which is very important for brain development, particularly between the ages of six months and two years. Lentils can be difficult for young babies to digest and should be combined with plenty of fresh vegetables, as in this recipe. You can transform this tasty puree into a delicious soup for the family by adding more stock and some seasoning.