Ruth's Blog
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.
Can Water Be Used Instead of Breastmilk for Super Baby Food Purees?
Here’s a question from a Mom regarding Super Baby Porridge and other Super Baby Food Purees and getting the consistency just right.
Mom asks:
Does it really matter what you use to get your purees to the right consistency? My son is exclusively breastfed and I just about never pump, so it seems like such a pain to pump just to make his food. Is water perfectly fine. I have to give him water when he starts solids anyways right?
Ruth says:
Pure water is fine to puree with. Also, your baby should get used to drinking plain water, instead of sugary juices. Use only milk or water in his sippy cup or bottle.
Your quick Super Baby Food tip for the day. Please feel free to add your own comments about what works for you.
The Martha Stewart Show Featuring Ruth Yaron, Super Baby Food and an Applesauce Recipe, Too!
In case you did not see the Martha Stewart Show where Ruth and Super Baby Food is featured, you can see it below along with a demonstration of very simple, but delicious, apple sauce recipe. Enjoy!
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!
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
The Super Baby Food Free Downloadable Sample Menu for Your Super Baby Feeding Needs
You have spoken and we have listened. We proudly present the Super Baby Food Daily Menu of the Super Baby Food Diet free for you to download at your leisure. In the second edition of Super Baby Food, this sample menu is found on page 136.
This is our most recent download. For other Super Baby Food Resources including the The Super Baby Food Diet Daily Worksheet, check Ruth’s blog page “resources” under “about the book!”
We know the sample menu will help your meet all your Super Baby feeding needs!
Moms Want To Know About Feeding Oatmeal to Baby
Moms Want To Know About:
Feeding Oatmeal to their baby.
Mom Asks:
Is my 6 month old too young for oatmeal porridge?
Ruth says:
No, he’s not too young, you can start him on oatmeal Super Porridge, just make sure it’s very smooth so he won’t choke on any lumps. Get the organic steel cut oats or just plain oatmeal flakes from the natural foods store or the part of the supermarket that has “health” foods. Quick cook oatmeal or the brands processed with sugar aren’t as healthy as plain, unprocessed oatmeal. It is perfectly normal and very common for babies to get constipated when they start eating solid foods, especially on whole grains because of the fiber.
Here’s what to do about constipation: Feed him about 2 ounces of commercial jarred baby prunes with the oatmeal. Only two ounces, though, or you’ll have poop up the back ! With each meal, offer your baby a few tablespoons of plain water in a cup. Let him get used to and like drinking plain water, not juice. Thanks for writing!
