One Pot or Pan Dinner Ideas for Baby-Led Weaning with Ellie Krieger, RD

Ellie Krieger (0s):

Hey I couldn't recommend more strongly, just making sure that from the beginning you set the stage that your child eats what you eat. There's a family meal. They don't have to eat every single thing that's being served, but that those are the options that

Katie Ferraro (14s):

Hey there! Hey, there I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietician, college nutrition professor, and mom of seven specializing in baby led weaning here on the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy podcast. I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, leading you with the competence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby-led weaning. Hey guys. Welcome back. So as I'm releasing this podcast episode, it's March and March is very big in the world of nerdy nutrition people because it's National Nutrition Month. And so what I wanted to do this year was to take my interview episode.

Katie Ferraro (58s):

So I do two episodes a week. The Monday release is always a mini baby-led weaning training episode on the Thursday. One is always an interview with a feeding or food expert and guests. So what I want to do with the Thursday episodes for the entirety of March is to highlight some of my favorite dieticians who are doing amazing work in their particular corners of food and nutrition as a way to celebrate National Nutrition Month. So to kick off National Nutrition Month, I am so excited to bring you guys this interview with Ellie Krieger. Now, Ellie is a dietician. She's a chef, she's a TV star journalist like, just all around amazing person and incredible leader in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Ellie lives in New York city. And many of you may know her from her many years on the food network.

Katie Ferraro (1m 41s):

She's the host of food network show Healthy Appetite. She also is a host and executive producer of the cooking series called Ellie's Real Good Food on PBS. Ellie writes a weekly column for the Washington post. She's a New York times bestselling author having now written seven cookbooks and her latest cookbook is called a Whole In One it's complete, healthy meals in a single pot skillet or sheet pan. So in this interview today, we're going to be talking about this idea of one pot or one pan dinner ideas and how we can adapt some of Ellie's principles and her recipes for baby led weaning. So if you're one of those moms or dads or caregivers, who's like, I want my baby to eat modified versions of the same foods I do, but I do not have all day to like prep and cook those meals.

Katie Ferraro (2m 23s):

Then I think you guys are going to love this episode about one pot or pan dinner ideas for baby led weaning with the amazing Ellie Krieger, Registered Dietician. Well, Ellie, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. I was so excited for the opportunity to interview you.

Ellie Krieger (2m 38s):

Great to be here, Katie.

Katie Ferraro (2m 40s):

I'm very familiar with your body of work as one of the most well-known and certainly most visible dieticians out there. But could you share with our audience a little bit about yourself and how you were inspired to become a dietician and a chef, and then how'd you get to where you are?

Ellie Krieger (2m 54s):

Oh boy. So basically I am a culinary nutritionist is what I consider myself a registered dietician, as you mentioned. And my mission really is to help people find that what I call the sweet spot, where delicious and healthy meals. And I do that mainly by working in the media. So I have had several television shows in my life and I have one currently on Discovery Plus, which is my food network show that I had for many years on the food network. And now on discovery streaming on Discovery Plus, also a public television show called Ellie's Real Good Food, which I executive produced and also hosted. And then I have seven cookbooks and I write for the Washington Post.

Ellie Krieger (3m 36s):

So really the media in general is kind of my, my forum, right? And also social media and how I got into it. Interesting. I have always loved food. I was born loving food. My mother says that me becoming a nutritionist is like a pyromaniac becoming a firefighter. And I think the one thing that really nails me the most in terms of characterizing my motivation, I just love food. I was pre-med in college because I also loved science, but I majored in nutrition because I loved food. And as I was studying nutrition as a freshmen, I started to realize the depth and breadth of the field. And it really just sparked something in me so strongly.

Ellie Krieger (4m 17s):

And I realized then that I did not want to study medicine per se, but I wanted to study nutrition. And so, so here I am, I actually went on to get my master's with a minor in journalism. So I knew that I wanted to work in the media eventually. And I was able to combine these passions of mine being on camera, cooking, and of nutritional science.

Katie Ferraro (4m 41s):

So I know you've written seven cookbooks and one of my most favorite books is your book called Whole In One, it's a complete healthy meals in a single pot sheet, pan or skillet. And that's why I wanted to have you on the podcast today because so many of our audience members are new or first-time parents who might not be super inclined to cook all the time. And certainly don't have all day to be prepping food. So the idea of like making one pan or one pot for dinner, with food that, you know, both the adults and the kids and the baby can even eat sounds very appealing. So could you tell me a little bit about the concept behind Whole In One?

Ellie Krieger (5m 14s):

Sure. Yeah. I'm so glad you love the book. I do too. So, and, and I, in a way I love it because I'm a little bit lazy. I mean, I come home at the end of a long day and I have a teenage daughter and my husband and I don't want to fuss. I really don't, it's not, I think some people may have this idea that like I'm making stock at a veal bones or something when I come on. But I literally, I write these books essentially for my own busy life. And it really resonates, I think because of that. And essentially it is complete meals. So nutritionally complete meals, you don't have to make any sides or anything to fill in, but nutritionally complete meals in a single sheet, pan, pot or skillet.

Ellie Krieger (5m 55s):

So it's not only good for you. It's like inspiring flavors, but not difficult and inspiring flavors without being so all the ingredients are easy to get. I really want this to be accessible. There's no reason why it should be difficult or feel laborious to eat well and have your whole family eating well.

Katie Ferraro (6m 13s):

And I love that you're so down to earth with your recommendations, because I think a lot of times we need to make food accessible to people who might not have again, always been inclined to cook. Some people just grow up loving food and that's great. But I hear from a lot of parents like, listen, I don't have the best relationship with food, or I don't know how to cook, but I recognize the importance of needing to provide wholesome food for my baby. So it's time to learn. So you guys, if you have not checked out Ellie's books, they're fabulous. But the Whole In One is really awesome. Especially if you're interested in saving time, because nobody has time to make three different dishes. Especially if you know, you have one baby that you're trying to feed. So thank you for those wonderful resources. I'm curious for parents and caregivers who are just starting out, translating your recipes, what are some suggestions you have if they want to adapt them so that their baby can eat the foods that the rest of the family.

Ellie Krieger (6m 60s):

Yeah. And I really couldn't recommend, I know you recommend this all the time. And I couldn't really, as a parent of a teenager who has been through this a while ago, but I couldn't recommend more strongly just making sure that from the beginning you set the stage that your child eats what you eat, that there's a family meal and they can pick foods. They don't have to eat every single thing that's being served, but that those are the options that are there. And when you do that, you actually are saving yourself so much hassle in the long run. And you wind up with a child that actually can kind of go anywhere and you don't have to bring tupperwares or something to accommodate them. That all said, so what I did in general was cook one meal, but maybe I would take out some of the carrots or some of the vegetables say from the stew or from the sheet pan, before I added the spice or a little extra seasoning or salt or cayenne pepper or whatever.

Ellie Krieger (7m 58s):

So it's things like that, that you can still make one meal and really not take much more effort at all to pull out maybe foods for your child, depending on their developmental age that essentially everyone's eating. Or sometimes I might, if it was something that was like stewed together, I might actually give it a little rinse for my daughter if it were a little rinse under some, some warm water, just to like maybe take off some of the spice, but it was a little bit too much for her. But I think by and large, you don't really have to make that many changes. I feel like our notion of what a child will accept, what a child will like could be expanded. Sometimes for example, I find small children love the flavor of curry.

Ellie Krieger (8m 40s):

I make this delicious curry dip. And there's no reason when they're old enough, of course, to give them those flavors. I mean, they're helpful, helpful seasonings. So I think also don't limit your child by your own sort of box that you may have put the word kid food into.

Katie Ferraro (8m 58s):

And certainly I think a lot of parents learn, well, they think the way babies or children need to eat is based on what they see on a kid's menu at a restaurant, which as dieticians we know tends to be, you know, brown and white foods that are highly processed, certainly don't have the array of flavors, textures, Nutricia that we know babies and children can and should be eating. So I love the idea of just adapting the foods, the rest of the family is eating. For your recipes though, I've noticed kind of across the board, they tend to be lower in sodium than a lot of other cookbooks that I cook from. Is that something that you do intentionally or as a dietician or is there any rhyme or reason?

Ellie Krieger (9m 35s):

Yes, I absolutely do that. And I provide all the nutrition data for all of my recipes. I know some nutrition analysis person who told me that she was in to do the nutrition analysis for a certain cookbook of a chef. And when the numbers came in, they're like, oh, we can't use these. And they decided not to put them in. So I think it's funny to me because by being transparent about the numbers in there, and I don't cook by number per se, but I think the numbers are a good guide and I am conscientious about the sodium. So I would say they're moderate and salts. And I am aware of, of that importance health wise also, I think it's just still, that doesn't mean it's not flavorful.

Ellie Krieger (10m 15s):

And I think what's important is this notion of using salt more to enhance other seasonings, rather than leaning on salt as a primary flavor driver, as you find in many prepared foods, many sort of highly processed foods. So as the cook, you can use other seasonings, you can use lemon juice and citrus zest, and you can use spices like paprika and cumin and coriander. And you can use those things as well as vinegars. There's such a huge realm of seasonings that are not salt and then use some salt to kind of tie everything together. So yeah, they're already quite moderate and salt and I am very conscientious about that.

Katie Ferraro (10m 58s):

I love that about your recipes, cause it really focuses on the flavor and not the salt because it is true. Everything that you mentioned, coriander and curry and vinegar. These are ingredients that are perfectly fine for babies to have. We want them to have it for vinegar. We just make sure it's unseasoned meaning unsalted, but there's no reason why your baby needs to eat bland food. So you can go through any of Ellie's cookbooks and just modify to make sure the sodium's minimal. Make sure there's no hard or crunchy foods. I know with the Whole In One cookbook, you were gracious enough to send us a few copies of them. There's so many good options there, especially for meat. And I was curious if you could just share a few tips for when it comes to chicken, like the darker cuts of chicken are generally what we recommend for baby led weaning the legs, the wings, the thighs, because there's more fat that equates to more moisture that helps reduce choking risk.

Katie Ferraro (11m 43s):

And we were talking before you said, oh, I think your ticket dyes are so easy. There are no brainer. I'm like, I actually think a lot of parents like they can do chicken bras, but we don't feed chicken breast to babies. So any tips for making chicken thighs, for example, work in the kind of one pan approach. Oh yeah.

Ellie Krieger (11m 58s):

And chicken thighs actually are easier to cook because they're more forgiving because of the fat that they have in them. And they're not a high-fat food by any means actually. So don't get that misconception. They just have a little bit more fat and most of it is not saturated fat, either. PS: they also have more iron. So we all, most moms and kids need more iron too. So that's helpful in terms of cooking. It's actually easier to cook because you can't really over cook it. So putting it in a stew, dark meat, chicken, and a stewed dark meat, chicken on a sheet pan roasting it. You don't have to really worry about it over cooking. So I think that that's something that's really super helpful, no matter what it's going to be really tender and fall off the bony delicious.

Ellie Krieger (12m 41s):

So I do use chicken thighs preferentially, especially in stews. And so that kind of one pot cooking and then on a sheet, Pam thighs are just terrific and they're wonderful to broil a little bit too. So I like to kind of cook them for a while and then you can broil them and they're just, they kind of take on the flavor of whatever you've marinated them in and become beautifully brown, but still stay moist in the center

Katie Ferraro (13m 8s):

For chicken thighs. We am always going back and forth bone in or bone out. I just buy whatever's on sale for babies. We take the skin off and then I don't give the chicken bone to babies until they have at least one tooth. But do you have a preference for chicken dyes with the boner without,

Ellie Krieger (13m 21s):

You know, it really depends on the recipe. I don't really have a preference. I think it depends on what's feeling right in the recipe and how long, the cooking time. I want it to be based on the other ingredients in the pot or sheet pan, because with the bone and it will take a little bit longer to cook with the bone out. It will cook more quickly. So it really, it doesn't really matter. It just depends on what you want. And I agree. Just get what's on sale. Exactly.

Katie Ferraro (13m 47s):

The chicken ratatouille skillet recipe from the Whole In One cookbook. I just made it when you had said the cookbook, it's fabulous. I'm actually going to share that one. We're going to work on the recipe to share in the show notes for this episode, if that's okay with you.

Ellie Krieger (14m 2s):

Yeah, sure. And I forgot that I use chicken thighs for that one.

Katie Ferraro (14m 6s):

t's boneless skinless chicken dies, which is even easier because I know some people are kind of like grossed out by handling chicken, but regardless of your comfort level with cooking, I think you guys will love the recipes in here and we'll just show a few slight tweaks that you might make to make sure it's entirely safe for babies, but just this notion of being able to make one meal and serve your whole family is so important. It saves a lot of time in the kitchen. So thank you again for that recipe.

Ellie Krieger (14m 27s):

Oh my pleasure. I think you'll love it. It's so yummy. And ratatouille, I mean all that tomato and zucchini and eggplant, it's so wonderful really any time of year because those ingredients are available all year round, but particularly in the summer months.

Katie Ferraro (14m 41s):

And you made a good point that the dark meat of chicken actually ounce for ounce has more iron than the leaner cuts of meat. So not only is it safer for babies to swallow, but then a recipe like a ratatouille with all of the, in there vitamin C that helps the baby's body absorb more of the iron. So this idea of combining foods is wonderful from both a taste and flavor standpoint, but also from a nutrition standpoint

Ellie Krieger (15m 2s):

I love when that happens. It always feels a little magical to me when flavors that work together also have nutrition benefits that work together. That's sort of, maybe that excites me more than it should, to be honest, Katie.

Katie Ferraro (15m 16s):

I just really wanted to do this episode with you about the whole approach and your Whole In One approach. Because I think that is really appealing to parents. Like I know I'm a, full-time working mom. I have seven small kids. I have to prepare food for them every day.

Ellie Krieger (15m 28s):

You have seven small kids.

Katie Ferraro (15m 29s):

I have seven. Yeah. We have a six year old. I have five-year-old quadruplets and almost three-year-old twins. So a lot of kids very close together. Thankfully they all eat the same stuff. There's no short order cooking in my house either. Cause we just, from a capacity standpoint, I can't handle it, but I love the idea of like a one pan or one pot dinner, not just from the dishes standpoint, just because I don't have to make four different things like a starch, a protein vegetable, or fruit, like you can kind of all incorporate it together. So could you share just like a couple of like what types of recipes are in your new Whole In One book? Is it like a full meal or like how would parents exactly use it?

Ellie Krieger (16m 6s):

Yeah, so rach dish is a full meal, complete meal. And sometimes I say, oh, if you're hungry, extra hungry, you can serve this with piece of bread. Or I try to find like a non pan using way to enhance the meal if you want it to be a little bit, you know, if you're, if your appetite is a little stronger that day, but one example of a dish that I just love, it's a sheet pan dinner. There's lots of sheet pan dinners in this. I mean, there's so many that I love. It's almost hard to pick, but the sheet pan dinner, it's: salmon with broccolini, shitaki mushrooms and edamame and it's all on a sheet pan with a soy ginger sauce kind of.

Katie Ferraro (16m 41s):

Yeah. That's amazing. And there's two different allergens in there. You guys there's fish in there and there's soy in there. We've got to be introducing those foods to babies early and often. So that's amazing.

Ellie Krieger (16m 51s):

Yeah. And so the thing that I like about it, for example, this particular dish, so let's say your child isn't eating too much fish or so one of the things that might, I would serve one meal and whenever my daughter ate out of those choices was what she would eat. I mean, that was dinner. And if it wasn't always perfectly balanced, that's fine. But that sort of set us up like this is the meal, but the key to that I think is serving enough variety. So having on that one sheet pan two different vegetables, we have a broccoli and the mushrooms and having on that sheet pan, essentially two proteins, the edamame and the fish, whether they eat one or the other or mix it up or just focus on one of the bros, you know, it gives them options even within the realm of the family meal.

Ellie Krieger (17m 35s):

And so I was always big on that. My daughter, for some reason, she had an aversion to chicken of all things. I mean, every kid loves chicken, except my daughter had a version to chicken. So when I would make a chicken dish at home, I would do the thing of just open up a can of chickpeas for her. So that's about how far I would go in terms of like accommodating, like that extra cooking. So that's one example in, from Holland one, but also I have like meal bowl, for example, where you, you can make all the elements kind of like make pre meal prep it, so everything can be done. And then you can like freeze the grain, even cook it ahead and freeze it and then just microwave it. And then I love meal bowl types of things because you have the grain and then you have maybe some egg and some cooked spinach and some radishes.

Ellie Krieger (18m 23s):

And so there's, it's almost like everyone can kind of build their own bowl. And I feel like that's great for kids to have as they get older.

Katie Ferraro (18m 31s):

Absolutely.

Ellie Krieger (18m 31s):

Kind of like to have that control also.

Katie Ferraro (18m 34s):

Way more inclined to eat foods that they've had a hand in preparing, even as early as toddlerhood, you can incorporate your kids in meal prep and they will eat what they make. It's kind of amazing. And I'm just like, thinking about the imagery in your book is beautiful. The food photography is like everything you do top-notch but it's so colorful. And that's so important for parents to remember that we do want to offer a variety of different tastes and textures and flavors, but colors are part of it as well. So like the salmon dish, like with the salmon and the Shataki mushrooms and then the broccolini, like all those different colors, that's important for that sensory experience when your baby is learning how to eat as well.

Ellie Krieger (19m 9s):

Yeah. Plus it was like very alluring. Oh yeah. You know, you see that color and you eat with your eyes first in a way. Well, I don't know. I might eat with my nose rest. Cause aroma gets me too.

Katie Ferraro (19m 17s):

My baby eats with all of it, including smashing it in their face and their nose, but you know, learn how to eat it. Almost wonder if you talk a little bit more about meat because that's really a sticking point for our families that do eat animal products. We want them introducing soft shreddable strips of meat that are moist because the moist meat. So the darker, you know, when it comes to chicken, like your daughter, we're doing legs and wings and thighs, the more moisture equates from the fat then equates to a lower choking risks. Cause we don't want to serve dry proteins to babies. So what are some ways that parents can make some of those fattier cuts of meat nice and moist and shreddable that their babies can eat?

Ellie Krieger (19m 52s):

Oh yeah. And also some more iron in there too when you get that. So that's kind of a plus too. Oh my gosh. So I've so many chicken dishes. Where do I even begin? I have one really lovely one. That's it's actually marinated in a marinade of that's based on pomegranate juice. So it's chicken thighs marinated in this pomegranate juice, gorgeous mixture. And then it's served over mashed avocado. Perfect. Which I know is great for it's served over mash avocado with, and now I'm trying to remember the other elements of the dish. I think it has a little bits of pineapple. So it's really interesting. And I like to make it spicy, but it's one of those things. The chicken itself isn't spicy, but I like to put some chili peppers in the avocado and then you just hold back on that and serve it on the side for those who like things spicier at the table.

Ellie Krieger (20m 38s):

But something like that is really lovely. So chicken thighs are no brainer. I think in terms of you can...

Katie Ferraro (20m 45s):

You say that because you work in cooking and you you've done this forever, but I think chicken thighs and even the darker cuts of meat are really intimidating, especially to a lot of like women. If they come from your traditional diet culture, which a lot of us do like, oh, we just eat chicken breasts. Well guess what? Chicken breasts, I don't care how good of a chef you are. It's never going to be as good as the thighs, the legs or the wings. And a lot of parents don't know what to do with dark meat. So I think like that thigh recipe sounds amazing.

Ellie Krieger (21m 8s):

Right. And it's so easy and it's actually easier to cook because it's harder to over cook. Yeah. So with chicken breasts, I think it's so easy to make a dry that you want to cry, but with thighs, there's just as much more forgiving that bit of fat in there makes it like, all right. So if you cooked it a little extra two minutes, it doesn't really matter. It's still going to be delicious.

Katie Ferraro (21m 28s):

About how long do the recipes in the book take? Cause that's another point of pushback from parents is like, listen, I don't have all day to make these elaborate meals. Like I love the idea of one dish, but then how long does it take to actually like, I guess from start to finish to prepare these dishes.

Ellie Krieger (21m 42s):

So first of all, I'm kind of lazy. I don't know. And these recipes, I think I make them for me a little bit first. I mean, I guess that's not a bad thing. I want to know. Wow. I want to, I come home at the end of the day. I sometimes don't feel like cooking. You know, you think, oh, she loves cooking. I don't feel like when you do it all day for work, I feel you, two things that help is a wine and to music truth. If I just do get into that zone, then it starts to feel less like work. Right. But that said, I don't want to fuss. So all of my recipes, even if they're, if they need to simmer, for example, a roast, it's like, hands-off right. So I try to minimize chopping. I try not to make a million steps or make you wash a million bowls. Yeah. It's one pot at the end, but I just washed a sink full of bowls to get there.

Ellie Krieger (22m 27s):

None of that. So I'm very conscientious about that for my own needs. And some are fast. I mean, some of the recipes in the book are like 30 minutes. Others take longer, but not cause you're standing over a doing something it's maybe just simmering and you have to stir it once in awhile or it's on a sheet pan and it's just roasting away in the oven while you bathe your child or whatever.

Katie Ferraro (22m 51s):

Exactly. Okay. Next question is about sauces because sauces and dippers and toppers are really important in baby led weaning. Cause we don't want to serve any, like I mentioned, dry protein, certainly not any dryer, crispy, crunchy bread products. So a lot of parents get like hung up on sauces and I'm always trying to share your recipes with like, okay, you can do this and your baby can eat it. Do you have any like basic tips for people might be intimidated by sauces?

Ellie Krieger (23m 14s):

Yeah. Oh gosh. So again, it's going back to starting with just a couple of key recipes, right? So on my website, elliekrieger.com, by the way, I have a whole section sauces and dips and they're all like better for you. So creamy or dips. I have this very mild curry dip made mostly with yogurt and a little bit of mayonnaise with a little bit of curry. And you can just put in a tiny bit at first as your child's palette develops if you want, but that's a nice creamy dip, yogurt based, like I said, but with a little bit of the richness for mayonnaise and I have another ranch dressing, yogurt ranch, that is like, I call it the magic dip because it makes every single thing tastes good. And that's also yogurt based. So it's really like stirring three or four ingredients together.

Ellie Krieger (23m 56s):

To be honest with you, it couldn't be easier. You're not having to do anything fancy. The other thing that I love to do is just take fresh herbs and wear them in a food processor with a little bit of oil and a little bit of lemon juice. And that's lovely too. I mean, just to make that kind of like herb sauce flavor.

Katie Ferraro (24m 16s):

You mentioned you were lazy, which I don't think you are. I'm super lazy. I have terrible knife skills and I don't like chopping. It takes too long. I put everything in a food processor and I have some chef friends who were like, you know what? The garlic doesn't taste the same. I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm cooking for seven kids right now. And I need like 20 minutes for the dinner to be ready. I put everything in the food processor. So you're okay with putting stuff in the food processor. It doesn't like kill the flavor. Okay. Anyone who's all I use.

Ellie Krieger (24m 40s):

I have had these arguments with people with like the, even the garlic press. I use a garlic press and touching it and I can't have that in my eyes. I think people get a little bit too precious about the whole thing. Do what works for you. You know what I mean? I know like

Katie Ferraro (24m 53s):

If your pallet is that refined that you can tell whether or not I mince my own garlic, like you probably don't need to be eating with me cause we're more of an efficiency operation most times, honestly,

Ellie Krieger (25m 1s):

If you gave him a taste test, they probably couldn't tell exactly. That's just annoying. I'm sorry. Just tell them they're annoying.

Katie Ferraro (25m 7s):

I love your approach. You're so down to earth. So we are releasing this during National Nutrition Month trying to celebrate other registered dieticians. My mom is a dietician, which is how I got into it. But you were one of the like first I don't wanna make you blush, but like famous dieticians, like she had her own, you had your own food network show and you had cookbooks and that yes, lots of people work in food, but you are a credentialed healthcare professional as well. And we have a lot of parents who are interested in nutrition. And I was curious if you could just speak a little bit to your experience being a registered dietician in the food world.

Ellie Krieger (25m 37s):

Yeah. I feel like I'll tell you what a lot of people talk about food and they just say whatever comes to their, whatever they read last on, on the internet,

Katie Ferraro (25m 46s):

I'm trying to keep a straight face. You can't hear it on a podcast, but like, oh my gosh.

Ellie Krieger (25m 52s):

And so I feel like just because you eat, doesn't make you mean you're a food expert. I mean, you're, you're an expert in certain aspects of it in the culture you are steeped in, in the ideas you have totally, you're an expert in those things. But when it comes to nutrition, I really think it's so critical to seek out someone who has an education in this. As an RD, I make sure everything I say is backed up by actual bonafide science. And I don't do science speak on my show or whatever I'll throw out tidbits or whatever. But the concept behind everything that I'm doing is based on getting people to make changes in their life, based on what the science indicates is best for you.

Ellie Krieger (26m 35s):

And what's great about it is that human beings, there's a really wide spectrum of different ways of eating that make for a healthy person. And I think that many people in the food media trying to sell a book, trying to sell a concept will have you believe that there's one way to do something that there's one way to eat. Of course, their way that they invented somehow a year ago. I don't know what people were doing for centuries before. Right? Exactly. So I think it's so critical to look toward experts for the expertise. I mean, you wouldn't ask your best friend, if you needed legal advice, right. You would ask an actual lawyer.

Katie Ferraro (27m 12s):

Exactly. And I just want to say thank you because you've been such a pioneering figure in media and nutrition and have really paved the road for so many of us too. If you've opened doors for other dieticians to really be respected in different areas where they weren't historically always thought to be like, oh, a dietician, the food police, they should just be in the hospital. And as someone who's worked in media for over 20 years as a dietician, I know that a lot of the stuff I do is thanks to people like yourself who really did pave the way. So, you know, you might not picture yourself as a trailblazer, but

Ellie Krieger (27m 45s):

Nice to hear. Oh, thank you for saying that. That means a lot to me because you know, I stand on other people's shoulders who have done this ahead of me and we all stand on each other's shoulders. So I'm happy to be thought of in that way,

Katie Ferraro (27m 58s):

Moms out there, you guys, you're the one supporting the next generation of people who are going to grow into having hopefully wholesome and helpful relationships with food. And so you guys are doing an awesome job by trying to expand the types of foods that your babies get introduced to because we know, and the research shows us that babies who are exposed to the greatest variety of foods and flavors and tastes and textures early and often, those are the babies who become independent eaters and it helps prevent picky eating. So Ellie, I know you kind of teased that you might have a project coming up. Is there anything you can share about where we might find you in the future with regards to family feeding?

Ellie Krieger (28m 32s):

Yes. And hopefully you'll, you'll have me on to talk about this when it's ready to really be talked about. Cause it's just in the, in the beginning stages now, but I'm working on a cookbook, a pictural cookbook that gets kids excited about food and helps them explore it from a sensory perspective. So it's a cookbook for families, I would say, but getting kids in the kitchen and getting them really thinking about food and experiencing it in a different kind of way. So it's what you do. And it's just for young readers essentially.

Katie Ferraro (29m 4s):

So for the moms, with babies, when they're toddlers, that project will be ready.

Ellie Krieger (29m 8s):

Exactly think on that. One of the things I'd love to share is that it's so worth it. Like my daughter, it's hard in the beginning and it's hard now, but it really pays off. And I remember so distinctly the first time I shut the television off and said, oh no, we're about to eat dinner. We're shutting the TV off. And my daughter, she was about to, she pitched a literally sounds. I was afraid of the neighbors weren't going to come over because it sounded like I was pouring oil on her hot oil on her or something. She freaked out and she wouldn't stop. And I almost gave in, at that point, I remember thinking like, okay, what's the big deal. I'll just turn the TV on. And I stuck with it. And I, and we always ate our meals together, one meal.

Ellie Krieger (29m 48s):

And when she was about, I don't know, five years old, she said during dinner said, so mommy, how was your day? Awesome. And I was like, felt showered. Like someone just showered me with confetti.

Katie Ferraro (29m 58s):

It took you five years to get that accomplished, but it was totally worth it. Yeah. Just that my daughter knew how to have a conversation at dinner and you, you work for that and this might feel hard now, but that reward will definitely be there. And it, it, it might take a while and it might come gradually, but it's there. Yeah, and I love that idea because I know a lot of parents in listening, especially moms may have grown up without great relationships with food, or you're really finally working on fostering your relationship with food and you don't want to replicate some of the challenges and setbacks you've had in your own child. And I don't know if you know, Dr. Julia Nord grin, chef Julia, she's a pediatrician and a chef. And so she always speaks about this concept called writing your family's food story, that essentially your child is a blank slate and you don't have to pass down the insecurities and the difficulties you've had with food.

Katie Ferraro (30m 47s):

Maybe you didn't grow up eating family dinners, but it's your decision to set the stage for your own family and your own baby. And I think just having resources, if you didn't grow up with it, then how do you know how to cook? Well, there's wonderful resources like your cookbook Whole In One out there for parents, because you get to write your family's food story.

Ellie Krieger (31m 5s):

It's a beautiful notion. I'm going to remember that.

Katie Ferraro (31m 7s):

All right. So Ellie, tell us, where can we go right now to learn more about your work in your cookbooks?

Ellie Krieger (31m 14s):

Sure. You can find anything about my cookbooks, all my cookbooks on elliekrieger.com. Plus I have lots of free recipes on there and videos and all sorts of good stuff, articles. And I'm also on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and all that. And uh yeah.

Katie Ferraro (31m 29s):

And we'll link to everything that Ellie mentioned in this episode on the show notes page, which is going to be at blwpodcast.com/106. Well, Ellie, thank you so much for joining us today. It was an absolute pleasure getting to interview you and happy National Nutrition Month.

Ellie Krieger (31m 46s):

Thank you, Katie. Happy National Nutrition Month to you!

Katie Ferraro (31m 48s):

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that episode with Ellie Krieger. She is one of my favorite dietitians in the whole wide world. I she's like such a prolific producer, right? It's books and cookbooks and TV shows and multiple TV shows and then journalism. And then like still takes the time to do the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy podcast. So happy National Nutrition Month to everyone, by the way, if you know a registered dietician, tell them thank you for the work that they do. And if you want to check out all of Ellie's information, go to the show notes page for this episode, which is at blwpodcast.com/106.