Kids Cuisine

I recently grabbed a copy of, “Toddler Meals: Lifesaving Recipes and Advice for Making Fun, Nutritious Food,” in search of some new ideas for feeding my toddlers. Sometimes it can seem like they get just a little too much banana and cubed cheese.

Between picky tendencies of toddlers, looking for food that is healthy but acceptable, and finding something that isn’t downright dangerous, you can start running out of ideas quickly.

I quickly discovered that the little spiral-bound book had some great and healthy ideas I actually had never tried, such as Baby Ratatouille, Red Tomato Risotto, Peanut Buttery Noodles and Shepherd’s Pie.

There are also some wonderful recipes to make from scratch and with fresh ingredients, such as a quick homemade pasta recipe, Melon Bowls with Yogurt, and Funny Bell Pepper Faces.

There were only a couple beefs I had with this book. The index is extremely confusing, and I had a hard time locating recipes a couple of times.

Another was that a big chunk of the book is devoted to recipes that are essentially baby food. With toddlers in the title, I expected more advanced foods and found I had to advance past tips and a section on recipes for 9- to 12-month-olds to find anything beyond mush.

For those who do have babies, there are some handy recipes, however, like Zwieback Toast and Baby Teething Biscotti.

One major thing I do like is the compact size. It always seems like I am buying cookbooks but forgetting to write down ingredients before hitting the store. This cookbook is definitely small enough (6.9″ tall x 4.4″ wide x 0.9″ deep) to tuck into a purse and take to the store.

The best thing about buying this book was simply getting some new inspiration and ideas on slipping healthy foods into uninterested toddler mouths. Just a couple of recipes I’ve tried already have been eaten eagerly by toddlers who have declared, enthusiastically, “Num-num!” It’s hard to argue with that.