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My stomach turns at the smell of most baby food. Not so much the first stages; bananas and apples are pretty non-offensive. Once they move on to the pureed version of turkey and noodles, though, I can’t quite conceive the yellowish gelled glop as food. Combine the smell of this epicurean treat with a fairly hefty price tag (at least for a student’s budget), and I had every reason not to want to buy pre-made baby food when Little Man was ready.

Making your own baby food isn’t hard, but it also isn’t convenient. You have to be organized and committed. (As we walked by the baby aisle every week in the store, I felt like I should have been committed.) Every other Sunday, I would steam, chop, puree, and sieve fresh veggies and fruits to make enough food to last the week ahead. I was a master of the food mill, a maven with the blender. Two or three hours later, I would have neat little rows of tiny plastic tubs filled with brightly colored purees and “dinners” to pop into the freezer. I’m sure the daycare woman thought I was insane the first time I handed her the little frozen tub of steamed peas rather than the usual glass jar of store-bought food.

Even though I have doubts about how much my venture into the world of homemade baby food helped Little Man’s current or future palate, I’m glad I persevered. Because a large bag of frozen peas costs as much as a jar of baby food, and made ten times more, we saved a ton of money. Plus, homemade food smelled and tasted so much better. I could understand why my son happily gobbled up butternut squash and bright green pureed peas–vibrant and sweet, these purees were nothing like their jarred counterparts.

Entering the world of mom-made food isn’t for everyone; it’s time consuming and, well, messy. But if you decide to dip your toe in or to take the plunge, you must, I repeat must, have a fabulous cookbook. My bible then–and to some extent even now, two years later–is Annabel Karmel’s First Meals. Friends recommended Super Baby Food , but at over 600 pages it was overwhelming for me. Providing detailed information and menus, Super Baby Food provides a comprehensive guide from birth to three years. It’s filled with more recipes than you’ll ever try, and more information than you can imagine about infant and toddler nutrition. As a first-timer, it made me anxious.

I wanted a cookbook that I could use easily, would enjoy reading, and would grow with me. With its glossy pages and enticing full-color pictures, First Meals seemed to be just that. I was happy with the book’s easy to follow simple purees, but as Little Man got older, I’ve grown to like the book more and more. The book is divided into age groupings, so that you can easily tell when to try new recipes. Each recipe has simple instructions, clear ingredient lists, and often also includes variations on the recipe. The best part? The recipes are actually quite good–and not just for your baby. While I wouldn’t recommend sitting down with the earlier purees, the recipes for older kids work for the entire family. The Zucchini and Tomato Frittata has become a family favorite in our house, and the roasted-red pepper spread is good enough to serve to guests.

As Little Man munches happily on his grilled cheese or hot dog, I often wonder if it would have been worth it to save all that time by depending on the store-bought counterparts to the food I made him. But then I think, it wasn’t that hard, really, to make the food myself, and in the process, I learned about new ingredients and new combinations of foods. Maybe I won’t avoid the chicken-finger-cheeseburger syndrome after all, but the vegetable fritters look too good to not try.

Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron; F.J Roberts Publishing, 1998.

First Meals by Anabel Karmel; DK Adult, 2004.

by Lisa D.

Photo graciously provided by Kazze, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved