When I was offered a baby cookbook to review on Kobo, I thought “YAY” A chance to use the reader on my new tablet. However, I quickly found that either I am technologically inept or electronic books are not all they are cracked up to be. I struggled with the lack of contents or index, the interactivity was less than I expected and I was unable to find any of the pages I bookmarked. I’m sure this is in no way a reflection on the book itself – more just my lack of understanding of e-books. I guess I will have to learn, but I must admit, I missed the flour coated paper books, with the page corners stuck together with icing.
The content of the book however, was brilliant. It’s called “Indian Supermeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook” and is written by Zainab Jagot Ahmed.
I have always been one of those people that never adds anything to meals. No salt, no pepper, no seasoning. I just enjoy the natural taste of the food. This is because I always assumed that all seasoning is bad for you. This book taught me the error of my ways. It talks about superfoods, all the different spices and what they do. Some enhance your immune system, some help with digestion, some even ease teething and colic pains… did you know that?
This has provoked a newfound obsession with adding spices to meals. I had no idea they were good for you! But back to the book – this book is about BABY FOOD. In my quest to be more frugal, after reading this book, I have made all my own baby food and saved myself an absolute fortune! This was my first attempt at adding things like cinnamon, ginger and black pepper to baby food. I was dubious, but I needn’t have been.
The twins LOVED all of the recipes I tried from this book. In fact they loved them so much that it marked the beginning of them actually opening their mouths for food, rather than me having to wiggle the spoon between their lips!
What’s more I found the recipes very quick and very easy to recreate. One thing I would say, is that the stages seem to be a bit muddled. The recipes quoted as stage 2, are actually stage 3 textures. Stage 2 baby foods are supposed to be “textured” but not lumpy. Some of these recipes left big lumps, like peas and rice, that you wouldn’t feed to a baby until stage 3. My twins are slightly developmentally delayed with their eating so at 10 months old, they are only just moving onto the 7 month (stage 2 foods) and they cannot handle lumps at all. So really I don’t see them being ready for many of these recipes whole, until they are about a year old. There is however a really easy solution! Mash or puree!
I took the recipes from this book which were quoted as stage 2 (really stage 3) and pureed them. I added a little milk or water to make them runnier, and pureed them to a stage 2 texture. So the recipes are fantastic – they just need a little pureeing after.
The stage 3 recipes, are really suitable for all the family. Once your baby is eating normal, lumpy food the same as the rest of the family, you can cook these recipes for all of you.
Despite the stage muddling, I really thought the content of this book was fascinating. I learnt a lot from it and am now much more experimental with food. The twins are certainly very thankful for it! The more they become accustomed to lumps, the more of these recipes I will recreate. I think it’s also quite enjoyable making their food from scratch. As well as saving several pounds per day on organic pouches, there’s a certain degree of satisfaction from seeing your babies enjoy your own cooking!
The Exciting Bit…
I have THREE copies of this E-book to give away. It is available on most e-readers for most smart phones, tablets and computers including Kobo and Kindle. To win, just complete the entries in the Rafflecopter below. Be sure to read the terms and conditions.
This book is also available to buy from Waterstones or Amazon.
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