Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating: A Cookbook

I love Tyler's Ultimate. He is definitely my favorite Food Network chef to watch in action. His passion for food and life shines through on screen. Even though he has several books out, I had not been interested in purchasing them. I guess I thought some of his magic would be lost in print. That is until two weeks ago when I ordered Start Fresh on a whim. As soon as it arrived I fell in love and I have made something out of it every day since. EVERYday. The book is absolutely fabulous. If you are into making food for your baby/toddler - get this book! Get it even if you don't have kids...And if you don't want to buy it, borrow it from your local library. You won't be sorry, and you'll probably be back to order a copy of your own in the end.Start Fresh is divided into three sections roughly based on age. The first contains purees, some of which can also be used as sauces for meat dishes for the grownups. We came to this book a little late for the first section. At a year old my daughter is pretty much over purees, and isn't a big fan of veggies either, though she will drink them from a cup smoothie-style. She had Tyler's banana, spinach, and yogurt puree this way and asked for more after already sucking down 5 ounces.The second and third sections are where the fun begins. All of the recipes contain fresh fruits and veggies, which Tyler suggests you purchase organic and locally (a man after my own heart). Most of the recipes call for these various fruits and vegetables to be roasted in the oven, a technique I have to admit I had never bothered with before the book. It is so simple and does an excellent job of adding complex flavors to food that I can't believe I avoided it for so long.The very best part is that the meals are meant to be enjoyed as a family! That's right, one meal for everyone. This is easily accomplished by blending or processing the infant and toddler portions to the right consistency for your tot and leaving the rest intact for the grown-ups at the table. I have seen that advice before, but never in a way that actually worked out well for everyone. Typically recipes of that type end up being too bland for the adults or too flavorful for the infants. Start Fresh gets it right and the results are brilliantly tasty.Everything we have made so far has been simple, beautiful, quick, and most importantly, tastes excellent. I made the cauliflower gratin for dinner with grandma and grandpa last week and it disappeared. My husband, who typically can't stand anything resembling a vegetable, even asked me to make it again this weekend. Proof that Tyler has a way with veggies. Magic!Start Fresh is also filled with bits of Tyler's wisdom about inspiring a love of great food in your kids. He suggests simple ways to get kids to eat healthier like letting your little ones watch you cut up veggies and fruits so they are more likely to eat the end result. And beautiful pictures of his family and to-die-for kitchen are sprinkled throughout.

I bought this book because I have an elderly parent who has difficulty swallowing and was told I could only feed him pureed foods so I wouldn't risk future choking. After trying store bought baby foods I found myself with a lot of barely eaten bottles of baby food and one frustrated parent. I have had success with other Tyler Florence cookbooks so I figured I would give this book a try. The recipes are divided into the following sections:- Stage 1 - 4-6 months - Single Ingredient Purees- Stage 2 - 6-8 months - Flavor Combos- Stage 3 - 9-12 months - Foods with Texture- Stage 4 - 12 months and beyond - Everyone to the TableThe recipe ingredients are easy to find in your local supermarket. The recipes are easy to follow and have delicious results. Each recipe has the ingredients running in a column on the left side of the page with the recipe running parallel on the right side of the same page. I really like this page format when cooking. I never imagined some of the combinations could pair and compliment each other so well. I appreciate that the recipes in the Stage 4 section use only a single pot or baking sheet. Tyler also lists servings in this section in both Adult and Child servings - example: 2 adult servings or 4 kid servings. There are photos accompanying almost every recipe so you can see what the final product should look like. There are even a handful of photos of Tyler and his family which gave this book a personal feel. I feel a lot better knowing my parent is happy with the taste of the purees and I know the foods he is eating is good for him. A great cookbook!

The recipes in here are wonderful. I enjoyed them so much that I use them at times to enhance our own meals. The parmesan/spinach/pear is lovely with steak. I've made the root vegetable one into a soup. The roasted blueberry/banana is excellent on ice cream.It was a marvelous way to introduce my kids to new flavors. The recipes are easy and it goes beyond purees to toddler foods. They aren't your average purees, either. He takes the foods to the next level, making it a restaurant quality puree and flavor, in the simplest of ways.I actually once made a dinner for our friends and our babies where we had purees in every aspect of the meal and our new eaters could eat just about every item we had for dinner. The kids thought it was so fun, the adults thought it was delicious and fun as well!His descriptions are lovely as well. I now always think "liquid sunshine" when I see yellow beets and apricots in the store. My toddlers still love those 2 flavors, and I suspect it could be from their early experiences with foods I may not have thought to pair. I recommend this book to all friends who like making food for babies to explore. :)

I bought this cookbook planning on making all my own baby food this time around. So far it's gone very well. My baby likes most of the purees (we've done carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, plums, apples, pears and mangos and I've got spinach and cherries in the wings). I've been using the recipes later in the book to make dinner for the rest of my family. I agree with some of the other reviewers that the recipes need to be modified. I think a lot of the recipes leave out more seasoning because they figure babies are eating but I've needed to add more seasoning to almost all the recipes.I agree that you have to drain the tomatoes for the one pan lasagna. I had to cook it an additional 30 min to get all the liquid to evaporate and the noodles to cook but my 10yr old loved it. I made the pea risotto and salmon and that was a big hit. I'm currently making the coconut curry chicken and i soaked my chicken in lemon juice, curry powder, salt, pepper and cumin before browning it in the pan. We'll see how it turns out. Overall it's a good cookbook and as a busy working mom I appreciate that eventually I should be able to make one meal for everyone.

The recipes are so good, I would eat them!!! Im happy that my lo can enjoy some yummy, healthy food!!

Such a great book for beginner baby food making. Fantastic recipes, great combinations! I pureed and froze into silicon ice cube trays, so convenient!! I love that my baby is getting tones of vegetables and fruits in just a few cubes. Some combinations are so delicious I'm tempted to make into a smoothie for Myself!

Baby shower gift

Awesome book. Have made a lot of the book so far.. and the baby loves it.

I whish I would have known about it earlier. Beautiful, inspiring pictures and well explained with love. Super healthy and tasty ideas.