Ruth's Blog
Ruth Yaron, Super Baby Food Author, Weighs in on the Arsenic Levels In Rice Issue
Recently, rice has been found to contain arsenic. There is plenty of information online, and you’ll find that the amount of arsenic in different types of rice varies greatly. Although doctors on TV and other sources have been telling us it’s still OK to still eat rice, why take the chance–especially with our babies! I recommend not eating any rice when there are so many other whole grains available. That goes for any foods containing rice–infant cereal, breakfast cereal, brown rice syrup, cooked rice, granola with rice, rice milk, etc.–read the ingredients list on the label.
A healthy diet is about variety. Just as babies (and adults) should eat a variety of organic fruits and veggies to help ensure we get a vast array of nutrients, we should eat a variety of organic whole grains and legumes (beans, peas, lentils). You shouldn’t feed carrots, and only carrots. to your baby for veggies and you shouldn’t feed only brown rice for whole grains.
The Super Baby Food Diet is about eating a vast array of healthy organic whole foods. Quinoa, millet, and oats are other super whole grains recommended for Super Porridge, as well as those listed in the Super Baby Book on page 222. Page 235 has a list of legumes. On page 215, see my tips for mixing several whole grains and legumes together to ensure your baby will have a variety of these foods in their high-protein Super Porridge (2 parts grains + 1 part legumes). Make Super Porridge even more healthy by sprinkling freshly-ground seeds and nuts (if your baby has no allergies) into cooked Super Porridge. (Freshly-ground immediately before feeding because once seeds and nuts are cracked open, their super healthy oils/fats start becoming rancid.) See Page 135 for a list of seeds and nuts. If you can’t find these foods in your supermarket, visit your local natural foods store. You can also find these foods online; you’ll have to pay shipping, but you might find it’s worth it when you consider your time and energy, since you don’t have to use gas and bundle up baby or get a sitter. (I always buy from www.BreadBeckers.com, a website you can trust for only the highest quality foods.) You may even want to join a food coop to buy in bulk and save $.
Parents who are concerned because they have been feeding large amounts of brown rice to their babies should talk with their pediatricians. Rice is one of the grains that is gluten-free, therefore many people might be eating it frequently. The American Academy of Pediatrics has information about arsenic at http://www.aap.org; search for “arsenic.” We should expect more information about arsenic in rice as more studies are completed.
Finger Foods For Baby and Toddler: Everything you ever wanted to know
Dr Greene.com recently asked Ruth to be a special guest perspectives blogger on their informational website. Ruth was more than happy to provide 5 terrific blog posts sharing all kinds of great, detailed information on finger foods and tips for getting started with finger foods for babies and toddlers. In case you missed it, here is a description and a link to each fantastic blog post.
Finger Foods: What They Are And Why They Are Important To Your Baby’s Diet
Getting Started With Finger Foods
Finger Food Ideas For Baby and Toddler: Fruits, Whole Grains, and Vegetables
Baby and Toddler Finger Food Ideas Galore: Proteins, Dairy, Omega 3 Healthy Fats
Baby and Toddler Finger Food Ideas Galore: Seeds and Dips
Super Baby Food is happy to be a part of the Dr. Greene team! Be sure to check out some of the other terrific information on Dr. Greene’s website.
Dr Greene Announces His “White Out” Campaign: No Junk Food For Babies
Super Baby Food loves Dr. Greene. Below is a video which announces Dr. Greene’s White-out campaign.
To learn more about The White Out Campaign, you can visit Dr. Greene’s website: DrGreene.com.
What You Did Not Know About Martha Stewart
Ruth Yaron’s appearance on the Martha Stewart Show, as we have been proudly mentioning, was aired Monday, at 10 am and 2pm on the Hallmark Channel.
Martha introduced Ruth and prepared a recipe for baby “pink applesauce” that is now featured on her website. We thought it would be fun to ask Ruth a couple of questions about her visit with Martha. Her answers may surprise you. The answers are also a great conversation starter for those holiday dinners when you need something witty to contribute to the conversation.
You can visit the Martha Stewart Website for more information on the episode that featured Super Baby Food here.
Question for Ruth:
Can you tell us one thing about Martha Stewart that you didn’t know before you met her?
Ruth says:
I never knew she was a professional model. She has photos on the walls in the hallway behind the stage. She is as beautiful in person as she is on TV and in the pictures of her in the media and in her books. She is a natural beauty.
Question for Ruth:
What was your favorite part of meeting Martha Stewart?
Ruth says:
Meeting THE Martha Stewart. I loved watching all the activity behind the scenes while the show was being taped. Every one of her staff was professional, very kind, and organized and they all worked together perfectly, like a well-oiled machine. They were all very capable and extremely efficient without rushing anyone, and they had a great sense of humor and an easiness about them. They enjoyed me kidding around saying stuff like, “What do you say when you meet Martha Stewart? ‘Hello, your majesty!’ with a curtsy? (which I did NOT say to her, by the way).” It was really an all-around fabulous experience and I had fun being a part of it.
How is that for some Martha Stewart Trivia? Martha was, indeed, a model for Chanel. Check out this link which shows the proof!
Thanks to all the Super Baby Food fans who tuned into the show and told all their friends. You are the best!
Desiccated Liver Powder as Nutritional Supplement for Baby
In a recent comment a mom asks about dessicated liver. We thought it was a great question and that we would ask Ruth for her thoughts…
The mom asks:
I really love your book. Thanks for such a great work.
I’d like to start using desiccated liver powder for my 8 months old daughter but I cant find the powder version of it, all I can find is the tablet version.
Can you recommend a brand/company who makes powder form of the desiccated liver?
Thnx.
Ruth Says:
Desiccated liver is a powdered nutritional supplement made from dried liver. It is high in vitamin B12 (a nutrient sometimes claimed to be lacking in vegetarian diets) and other B vitamins. You can introduce desiccated liver to your baby beginning at about 8 months. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to your baby’s Super Porridge daily or several times a week to make up for whatever you feel your baby would be missing in a meatless diet.
I recommend the Now brand. Please go light on the liver powder so baby does not get too much iron. The nutrition section of Super Baby Food discusses the daily recommended amounts of iron. The iron is “heme” iron and is very well-absorbed, unlike iron from plants. You can also buy the tablets and crush them by putting them in ziploc bag and crushing with a spoon
Check back at the Super Baby Food Blog for more information for feeding your baby the very best!
By Popular Demand: Eggless Salad Spread by Super Baby Food
We had a blog request for the Egg-less Salad Spread recipe found in Super Baby Food p.317. We are happy to oblige.
Egg-less Salad Spread
Mix together:
1 pound tofu, crumbled
1/4 cup tofu mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 green pepper, minced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon tamari
Enjoy!
Commercial Baby Food vs Super Baby Food: Did You Know?
When parents consider making their own baby food the first concern is invariably: Is it safe to make my own baby food? Or said another way…Is commercial baby food better for my baby? Let Super Baby Food dispel the myths.
Myth #1: Commercial baby food is superior to homemade baby food.
The food that you make at home from fresh, whole vegetables and fruits is nutritionally superior to any jarred commercial variety on your grocer’s shelf. The cereals you can quickly and easily make at home from brown rice (and other whole grains) cannot be compared to the processed, refined white rice commercial baby cereals.
Myth #2: It takes too much time to make homemade baby food.
Making homemade baby food is easier than you think. Check out WholeParenting.com’s pictures showing how simple it can be to make your own nutritionally superior baby food.
Myth #3: Homemade baby food may cause my baby to get sick or get food poisoning.
Some parents think that there is something magical that goes into the preparation of commercial baby food that can not be done at home, which somehow makes it the only food suitable and safe for their baby. Not so, baby food can be made easily, nutritionally, and safely at home.
Myth #4: The convenience of commerical baby food is worth the price.
Actually, making your own baby food is the cheaper alternative. Check out this handy dandy chart prepared by WholesomeBabyFood.com to see the price per baby food manufacturer as compared to homemade baby food from your ice cube tray. Homemade baby food is much cheaper!
Can you think of any other myths surrounding commercial baby food vs baby food made at home? Share them with us so we can dispel more myths!
A Fan Speaks Out For Super Baby Food! Super Baby Food Says Thank You!
A Fan of Super Baby Food took the time to write a nice note expressing the reasons she loves Super Baby Food. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Thank you, Dacia, for your permission to reprint your kind words.
I just want you to know what an immense impact your book has made on my life. I’m a research nut & the book saved me a lot of time. Not only useful information, but well organized, user friendly and all-encompassing for all viewpoints or opinions. The second reason it has impacted me is the support it has given me in embarking on homemade food & fully immersed nutrition. Our society has evolved into consumers and we’ve become much too separated from our children’s nutrition. I wanted to breast feed very badly and when I decided to make my own super baby food, I discovered the uncanny parallels the two have as far as stigmas and barriers. I found support for breast feeding and now I’ve found support for super baby food & beyond. What I’ve learned will go far beyond my child’s nutrition and even past our own dinner plates.
A couple years ago, my brother had mentioned possibly making his own baby food. My silent reaction was “you can’t do that, it’s not that simple, baby food is fortified…” Then I had my son 6 months ago and made my research and decisions. I went to Borders and piled up 20 books to sift through before choosing yours since it wasn’t all pictures and glossy pages – LOTS of info and that’s it. Then I went to the family meet & greet for my son’s daycare enrollment & they stated they provide Gerber foods. I asked if I could bring my own in. They just about gasped and said, well maybe if you had a Doctor’s note… Can you believe it! I pushed and spoke to the Director and they agreed if I would label the ingredients. THEN, the following week, the teachers all huddled around me and detained me for a half an hour inquiring excitedly about home made baby food. They just couldn’t get over how wonderful it was all of a sudden. I’m glad I turned them on to it and plan on buying his two teachers copies of your book for Christmas.
I apologize for the windy feedback, but I really thought you’d enjoy the story as well. Thanks for your work and for your time!
Dacia Volz
Dunmore, PA
Can anyone provide more words of support for Dacia? Has anyone run in to the kind of reaction Dacia did at her day care regarding baby food? How did you handle it?
Prunes For The Super Baby With Constipation?
Mom Asks:
How do you make prunes for a Super Baby who has constipation issues?
Ruth says:
You don’t tell me your Super Baby’s age, so I’ll assume he’s about 6 months. It’s fabulous that you make almost all of his food! Constipation is common but he should grow out it within a few days.
Two things keep poop moving smoothly–fiber and water. So be sure to give him a few tablespoons of plain, pure water in a cup with each meal of solid foods. This will help the constipation and teach him drinking, swallowing, and hand skills. It will also get him used to plain water instead of sweet drinks or juice. Nix the juice!
Prunes have the fiber needed for poop “building.” It will make his poop softer, but not watery. The fiber (pectin-a soluble fiber) in pears and apples will also help. Try these fruits instead of the prunes and see if things get moving. There is no fiber, NONE, in animal products – meat, dairy, fish. It’s whole plant foods that have the healthy fiber we all need. Fiber is found in whole grains, as in brown rice and Super Porridge, legumes (beans,peas, lentils), nuts, and seeds like pumpkin seeds and flax seeds – freshly ground.
Prunes are dried plums, just as raisins are dried grapes. If you have a good food dehydrator (I recommend the Excalibur brand), you can buy fresh plums and dehydrate into prunes. I LOVE my Excalibur and it has paid for itself several times over by just making fruit roll-ups (see instructions in book).
You can also make your own prune purees by buying dried prunes, soaking them in water in the fridge overnight to plump them, and pureeing with water and freeze using food cube method. Depending on where you buy the dried prunes, you may save a lot of money. Buy organic, of course!
Hope this helps. Thanks so much for writing!!
Ruth
Moms Want to Know: Vitamin Greens and Bok Choy for Baby?
A Mom Asks:
I am just beginning to feed my second child solid foods using your Super Baby Food book as a guide. Our CSA share this week included “vitamin greens” and I am wondering if they can be prepared as other greens and fed to my son when he is old enough for cooked greens. I also wonder about “bok choy”. Thank you for your help, and for writing such an excellent resource for parents.
Ruth Says:
Vitamin greens (I don’t why they call them that since all green leafy vegetables are loaded with vitamins) and bok choy should be introduced to your baby just as any other veggies. Use the 4-day wait rule.
Cook as you would kale. Thanks for writing!
