Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To de really p'd off with Annabel karmels latest cookbook?

51 replies

Mummy2Bookie · 08/01/2011 09:47

I recently bought her new top 100 finger foods as i was looking for ideas on feeding dd at tea rime. There's a lovely picture on the front of a toddler eating veg and pitta bread but inside it's a different story.
Its packed with fried recipes, Lots of added sugar recipes and is a " burger and chips " style cookbook. Maybe thats a bit more acceptable for older children and certainly for parties, but not for babies and toddlers whom you're trying to get used to healthy food.
I'm just really annoyed that she is suppost to be such a leading authority on young children's nutrition and she pubiIshed this rubbish. She doesn't deserve her MBE to do with child nutrition. More fool me for butting this book, I don't normally buy her books.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mummy2Bookie · 08/01/2011 09:48

Buying this book

OP posts:
compo · 08/01/2011 09:50

Ah the old adage: never judge a book by it's cover

compo · 08/01/2011 09:51

If you google her you'll get her recipes without needing to buy anything if you're still interested

ValiumTinselton · 08/01/2011 09:53

I only ever made ONE thing out her book. I had one of them.

Her children must be about 20 by now, is she still doing banana and avocado recipes, and arranging raisins on a plate!?!?

prettymuchapixiegirl · 08/01/2011 09:53

I'm not a fan of Annabel Karmel recipes TBH; they all have so many ingredients in that you end up spending a fortune just to cook one recipe. I've always found the Lorraine Kelly cookbook to be a lot better, with more realistic recipes that you can easily adapt to be family meals.

prettymuchapixiegirl · 08/01/2011 09:54

LOL Valium, I'm sure she still makes them the jelly boats in an orange skin too!

ivykaty44 · 08/01/2011 09:59

I have one of her books, I love the banana loaf that she has for breakfast and used to make it on a regular basis and dd1 would take it to school - the little was selling the cake to others as they also liked the loaf and dd1 was in profit

Newgolddream · 08/01/2011 10:01

That doesnt sound great tbh.

I have a few of her books, Baby meal planner and 100 purees or something like that and I have used them extensively with my boys, I just stick to the ones DS3 likes, esp out the puree book but obviously I dont puree them anymore lol.

JoBettany · 08/01/2011 10:02

Oh no! I loved Annabel Karmel's cookbook for babies and toddlers. I was very earnest about it all! Grin

My DS loved the recipes and used to make contented noises while eating - especially the salmon fishcakes and prawn and chicken fried rice.

I still use a lot of her recipes too. In my defence I have never made jelly boats though!

PolythenePam · 08/01/2011 10:04

YANBU!

I too like to make toddler and baby mealtimes an unneccessarily complicated affair using the guidelines of someone else to show me what I should feed my dc. If it wasn't for Annabel Karmel, I'd be forced to use my common sense, and then where would I be?

Certainly the sort of food our parents gave us will no longer hold up as nutritionally viable...what with so many of us crippled with ricketts and straggling to spell our own names. We need Karmel and her counterparts to light the way for us. How dare she recommend junk style food? It's our kids that will suffer!

Original poster
Mummy2Bookie · 08/01/2011 10:04

She's moved on from raisins and avocado.now included are recipes such as beef sausage rolls and sugar packed carrot, coconut and pineapple muffins. Not forgetting tempura veg and eggy bread with caramelised bananas....... In a baby/ toddler finger food book!

OP posts:
geezmyfeetarecold · 08/01/2011 10:06

i wouldnt buy Karmel in a blue fit since she was outed for lying about the salt association (or whatever its called) endorsing her (salt laden) ready meals.

expatinscotland · 08/01/2011 10:07

Why not just give them a bit of whatever you are having?

I never understood this idea of making something separate for certain members of the family (allergies and dietary special needs aside).

Talk about a rod for your own back, especially if you have more than one child.

PolythenePam · 08/01/2011 10:10

Well expat - I hope your kids thank you for that when they're older and have psychological problems through not having jelly in half an orange for dinner as a toddler, but being forced to eat what you're having as though they were a member of the family or something.

backwardpossom · 08/01/2011 10:11

Agree with expat DS (1.5) only eats bits of what we're eating. Last night he had Thai red curry with us and loved it.

What's wrong with fried food now and again, btw? Eggy bread is hardly bad for you unless you're eating it every day? They're just recipes - you don't need to feed them things out of it every day. It's up to you to decide how to make the diet balanced - the recipes are just there for ideas.

expatinscotland · 08/01/2011 10:12

They're probably scarred for life, the poor souls :o.

I mean, I just accepted that they were going to make a huge mess at mealtimes as they eat with their hands.

So, whilst serving everyone up, put a little of what we were having in a bowl, cut it up appropriately, and put a bib on them.

Rosebud05 · 08/01/2011 10:20

Someone kindly gave us an Annabel Karmel 'recipe' book when we had dc1.

As pp says, you can google 'babyledweaning.com' and other sites for recipes. I dipped into a Rose Elliott book, but generally just gave her food.

I do remember the embarrassment of taking dd to a 'Annabel Karmel-ed' b'day party and her demolishing a bowl of tangerine segments individually dipped in chocolate in about 30 seconds.

CaptainNancy · 08/01/2011 10:20

Newgolddream- love your name!
Surely it's time there was a SM reviv al?

Chil1234 · 08/01/2011 10:22

Next time flick through a book before you buy it perhaps? Hmm

alemci · 08/01/2011 10:34

i used to love her recipes and have used 2 cook books. alot of the meals worked well.

Laquitar · 08/01/2011 10:34

I never liked the woman.
Even if her recipes were good i still wouldn't buy her books. I just cant stand her face and the photographs.

Original poster
Mummy2Bookie · 08/01/2011 11:01

Dd does eat what we have but sometimes it's nice for her to have a change.
I bought it on amazon, so couldn't look through it beforehand

OP posts:
Original poster
Mummy2Bookie · 08/01/2011 11:03

I didn't know she lied about who endorsed her meals. I'm tempted to throw this book into the rubbish bin. Probably better to give it to a charity though.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mummy2Bookie · 08/01/2011 11:22

Does yoghurt dip for babies and toddlers really need to contain 2 tbsp icing sugar and 2 tbsp lemon curd?whatever happened to just yoghurt?

OP posts:
SlowComfortableShrew · 08/01/2011 11:28

This her fight back against blw isn't it. Did you see her comments about blw being "dangerous" basically because no one would buy her puree books anymore