Review of the book Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook

Homemade baby food recipes

Have you noticed that now more mothers are now making their own baby food? They cook in bulk and freeze or even make their baby’s food everyday instead of relying on the jar. Parents who are busier now more than ever , still take the time to make their own baby food. Surprising? Not really- parents want to know and be sure of all the substances that go in their precious little one’s body. The sudden surge in contamination of food products scares certainly do not help! Having said all this, it is really not easy for parents and caregivers to come up with homemade baby food recipes for a week leave alone a month. That’s where this fantastic Indian Super Meals Baby food and toddler meals book come into play. Zainab Jagot Ahmed has published this very resourceful book which has a chock full of homemade baby food recipes and toddler meals complete with nutritional benefits All of her recipes are “supermeals” which means they are very rich in nutrients and they are very easy to prepare with the right ingredients.

If you have a baby or a toddler and are looking for meal plans for homemade Indian baby food or toddler meals recipes, look no further.

Today I tried a simple sweet dessert type baby food and that turned out to be very mouth-watering that my 5 years gobbled it all up. You can find this simple “Apple and Pear Jardo” recipe on the stage -3 section.This recipe is a sample of an easy baby food that can be made in a cinch. It was a delicious rice recipe which used fruits in place of sugar to give it that extra sweetness all babies love.Without going into details let me just tell you that the baby food recipe or toddler meals recipe called for just 3 simple ingredients.I don’t about you guys, but I have never thought of cooking rice in apple juice.  That alone would have made my life easier when my older one was a baby – she was and still is not the best eater!

Another vegetarian baby food recipe I loved was the Rainbow Veggie Pie.

Throughout the book Zainab walks the readers through the steps for introducing your baby to Super Spices. She has also conveniently broken down the recipes into the typical stages ( Stages 1-3 of typical baby food) Babies and toddlers who are introduced to a variety of food including the ones from a different cuisine are less likely to become picky eaters. Just like how we as parents want to expose our children to a variety of mind and body stimulating activities, it is just as important for us to introduce the same kids to a variety of food to avoid any inhibitions to certain types of food in the later stages.

When you read Indian cuisine you think spicy. Zainab has explained in detail (after a lot of research) that why introducing spices at a young age is very important. It should also be mentioned that the spices she has used are Superspices with contains TONS of nutritional benefits.

Her book does not just stop with baby food recipes, but has toddler meal recipes as well. You know how toddlers are- stubborn little eaters.

Another wonderful aspect is how Zainab has taken recipes from outside the Indian cuisine and put a twist on it to make it more Indian. This Indian ratatouille is a very good example. The same recipe also falls under the vegetarian meals category which brings me to another great thing about the book- categorization. It is wonderfully organized and  picking out the recipes you need is a cinch.

Here is another Western recipe with an Indian twist. Pizza Pitta Fingers!

She also highlights those recipes that are great for freezing.

Please keep in mind that this book is not only a recipe book- Zainab has done extensive research and provided the readers with all the pertinent information with regards to nutritional benefits of each recipe. She has a dedicated chapter for “Cooking techniques”, ” What are Superfoods and Super Spices?” These chapters are a much read for parents trying out homemade baby food from other cuisines. I particularly liked the notes on storage guidelines. Often times we try a different recipe be it baby food or not and assume storage guidelines are similar across food- it is sometimes not the case. Zainab takes the guess-work out and provides you with all possible details with regards to the food- storage guidelines, serving suggestions and sizes and even conversions.

If you are interested in experimenting with Indian cuisine, this book would be a great buy! These recipes don’t have to be simply homemade baby food recipes. Just don’t mash or puree the ingredients and make a nice meal for the entire family!

Thanks for reading

If you are interested in buying Indian SuperMeals visit Amazon by clicking on the image below.

Here are Zainab’s social media links.

Facebook and Twitter

I was given the book Indian SuperMeals in exchange for an honest review of the same.

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