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

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Ellie Krieger, (38s):

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, they don't have to eat every single thing that's being served, but that those are the options that are there.

Katie Ferraro (53s):

Hey there, I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in baby led weaning. Here on the Baby led weaning with Katie Ferraro podcast. I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, giving you the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby led weaning. I was talking to my sister about like our least and favorite chores. She thinks I'm crazy. I like vacuuming and ironing because you can see your progress, right? Like it starts out dirty and disgusting and then like when you're done you're like Wow, I made progress. Her least favorite one is dishes and I normally don't mind dishes.

Katie Ferraro (1m 36s):

And she's like, yeah Katie, because you make everything for dinner in one pan. And I'm like, yeah, that's kind of my jam. I love like a one pot wonder dinner and I've been teaching my kids how to do the dishes like with varying degrees of success, but they really SUCK at doing the pots in the pans. So this idea of like how much of the dinner can I make in one pot or pan has really been saving my back lately. So today we're talking about one pot or pan dinner ideas but make it for baby led weaning. And my guest is one of the coolest dietitians in the world. She was like the first celebrity dietician that I remember encountering Ellie Krieger is on the podcast.

Katie Ferraro (2m 17s):

Okay, I don't know how much food network you've watched in your life, but if you've watched any of it then you know Ellie Krieger, she's got a very distinctive look. She has like super awesome short haircut like before anyone else had a short haircut. She's like the og. So I love her so much. When she said she was gonna be on the podcast, I was so stoked. She has an amazing cookbook called Whole In One. I use it all the time at my house. So if you're trying to make meals that your whole family can eat, including your baby, you're not cooking your baby. Excuse me, I just wanna clarify there. You're making food that your baby can eat, you don't wanna cook a bunch of different separate dishes. This episode is gonna be super helpful. So Ellie is a registered dietician, she's a chef, she's a cookbook author.

Katie Ferraro (2m 57s):

I'm a major fan girl. When I saw this book come out, I like jumped all over the interview. We, the interview is actually from a couple of years ago, but I wanted to re-release it 'cause I was just cooking something out of her cookbook again the other day and I was like, dude, I gotta bring this podcast episode back up to the top of your feed. So in this interview we're talking about one pot, one pan, one sheet pan dinner ideas and then how you can adapt these meals so that your baby can safely eat modified versions of the same foods that you're making for the rest of the family. Because that's the goal here, right? No short order cooking, no making different foods for different parts of the family. 'cause X, Y and Z baby doesn't eat, you know that particular food, right? If you want practical meal ideas that save time, reduce stress and help your baby learn to eat real food, I think you are going to absolutely love this conversation Here.

Katie Ferraro (3m 46s):

Is Ellie Krieger talking about one pan or one pot dinner ideas that work great for baby Lead Weaning?

Ellie Krieger, (3m 57s):

Great to be here Katie,

Katie Ferraro (3m 59s):

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 you know, how'd you get to where you are today?

Ellie Krieger, (4m 13s):

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 meat. 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, (4m 54s):

So really the media in general is kind of my, my forum, right? 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 freshman, I started to realize the depth and breadth of the field and it really just sparked something in me so strongly.

Ellie Krieger, (5m 36s):

And I realized then that I did not want to study medicine per se, that 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 of cooking and of nutritional science.

Katie Ferraro (5m 59s):

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 foods 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? Sure.

Ellie Krieger, (6m 32s):

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 wanna 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, (7m 13s):

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 (7m 31s):

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 wanna adapt them so that their baby can eat the foods that the rest of the family eats?

Ellie Krieger, (8m 18s):

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, (9m 15s):

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 if 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, (9m 58s):

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 healthful and healthful 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 (10m 15s):

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 a, the array of flavors, textures, nutrition 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, (10m 52s):

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 in salt 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, (11m 33s):

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 the cook you can use other seasonings, you can use lemon juice and citrus zests and you can use spices like paprika and cumin and coriander and you can use those things as well as vinegars. But 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 in salt and I am very conscientious about that

Katie Ferraro (12m 16s):

And 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.

Katie Ferraro (12m 58s):

Fat equates to more moisture that helps reduce choking risk. I know and we were talking before you said, oh I think your chicken thighs are so easy, there are no brainer. I'm like, I actually think a lot of parents like they can do chicken breasts but we don't feed chicken breasts to babies. So any tips for making chicken thighs for example, work in the kind of one pan approach?

Ellie Krieger, (13m 15s):

Oh yeah. 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 in a stew, dark meat chicken on a sheet pan roasting it, you don't have to really worry about it overcooking. So I think that that's something that's really super helpful no matter what, it's gonna be really tender and fall off the bony delicious.

Ellie Krieger, (13m 59s):

So I do use chicken thighs preferentially, especially in stews. And so that kind of one pot cooking and then on a sheet pan 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 (14m 25s):

So for chicken thighs we, I'm 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 thighs with the boner without, you

Ellie Krieger, (14m 39s):

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 in 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, I agree. Just get what's on sale.

Katie Ferraro (15m 4s):

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

Ellie Krieger, (15m 19s):

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

Katie Ferraro (15m 23s):

It's boneless skinless chicken thighs, which is even easier 'cause 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, (15m 45s):

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

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Katie Ferraro (17m 54s):

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 oui with all of the tomatoes 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, (18m 15s):

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 (18m 28s):

And I 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, (18m 40s):

You have seven small kids? I have seven,

Katie Ferraro (18m 42s):

Yeah. We have a wow 6-year-old, I have 5-year-old quadruplets and almost 3-year-old twins. Wow. 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 Yeah. You know, use it? Yeah.

Ellie Krieger, (19m 18s):

Each dish is a full meal, complete meal And sometimes I say, oh, if you're hungry, extra hungry you can serve this with a piece of bread. Or I try to find like a non panus way to enhance the meal if you want it to be a little bit, you know, if your, if your appetite's 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, love it. But the she pan dinner, it's salmon with broccolini, shiitake mushrooms and edamame and it's all in a she pan with a soy ginger sauce kind of

Katie Ferraro (19m 54s):

Amazing. And there's two different allergens in there, you guys, there's fish in there and there's soy in there. We've gotta be introducing those foods to babies early and often. So that's amazing.

Ellie Krieger, (20m 3s):

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 my, I would serve one meal 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 the broccoli and the mushrooms and having on that sheet pan essentially two proteins, the edamame and the fish. Yeah.

Katie Ferraro (20m 37s):

Whether

Ellie Krieger, (20m 37s):

They eat one or the other or mix it up or just focus on one of the protein. You know, it gives them options even within the realm of the family meal. 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 aversion 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. Yeah. Extra cooking. So that's one example in from hole in one. But also I have like a grain 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 I, and you can like freeze the grain, even cook it ahead and freeze it and then just microwave it.

Ellie Krieger, (21m 25s):

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. 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 too of as they get older.

Katie Ferraro (21m 43s):

Absolutely. They

Ellie Krieger, (21m 43s):

Kind of like to have that control also.

Katie Ferraro (21m 46s):

And they're 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. Yeah and I'm just like thinking about, I mean 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 wanna 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 shiitake 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, (22m 20s):

Yeah, plus it 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. Well

Katie Ferraro (22m 30s):

Your baby eats with all of it including smashing it in their face, in their nose. But you know, they eventually learn how to eat it. I was wondering if you could 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, if we're doing legs and wings and thighs, the more moisture equates from the fat then equates to a lower choking risk. 'cause we don't wanna 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, (23m 4s):

Oh yeah. And also some more iron in there too when you get that. Yeah, exactly. So that's kind of a plus too. Oh my gosh. So I have 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. Okay. 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. It served over mashed avocado with, and now I'm trying to remember the other elements of the dish. I think it has 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, (23m 50s):

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

Katie Ferraro (23m 56s):

But 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 ate chicken breasts. Well guess what? Chicken breasts, I don't care how good of a chef you are, it's never gonna 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. Right.

Ellie Krieger, (24m 19s):

And it's so easy and it's actually easier to cook because you, it's harder to overcook. Yeah. So with chicken breast I think it's so easy to make it dry that you wanna cry. Exactly. But with thighs there's just, it's 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 gonna be delicious.

Katie Ferraro (24m 39s):

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, (24m 52s):

So first of all, I'm kind of lazy. I don't, 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 wanna know, wow I wanna, I come home at the end of the day, I sometimes don't feel like cooking same. You know, you think, oh she loves cooking. I don't feel like it.

Katie Ferraro (25m 8s):

Not when you do it all day for work, I feel you.

Ellie Krieger, (25m 11s):

Two things that help is wine and some 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 wanna fuss. So all of my recipes, even if they're, if they need to simmer for example or 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. 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 it doing something, it's maybe just simmering and you have to stir it once in a while 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 (26m 0s):

Exactly. Okay. Next question's about sauces because sauces and dippers and toppers are really important in baby led weaning. 'cause we don't wanna serve any, like I mentioned, dry protein, certainly not any dry or 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 who might be intimidated by sauces?

Ellie Krieger, (26m 24s):

Yeah. Oh gosh. So again, it's going back to starting with just a couple of key recipes, right? So on my website, Ellie Krieger dot com by the way, I have a whole section sauces and dips and they're all like better for you. So creamier 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 palate 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.

Ellie Krieger, (27m 4s):

So it's really like stirring three or four ingredients together, 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, I love that is a big flavor.

Katie Ferraro (27m 28s):

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 are like, you know, 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 dinner to be ready. I put everything in the food processors. So you're okay with putting stuff in the food processor? It doesn't like Yes. Kill the flavor.

Ellie Krieger, (27m 48s):

Okay. Anyone who's all I know I use a, I have had these arguments with people with like the, even the garlic press, I use a garlic press and chef. Heck yeah. Because

Katie Ferraro (27m 57s):

I hate touching it and I hate how bad my hands smell.

Ellie Krieger, (27m 59s):

I think people get a little bit too precious about the whole thing. Do what works for you. You know what I mean?

Katie Ferraro (28m 5s):

I know like if your palate is that refined that you can tell whether or not I minced my own garlic. Like you probably don't need to be eating with me. 'cause we're more of an efficiency operation most time.

Ellie Krieger, (28m 12s):

Honestly, if you gave them a taste test, they probably couldn't tell. Exactly. That's just annoying. I'm sorry. Just tell them they're annoying.

Katie Ferraro (28m 19s):

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 dietician, 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, (28m 47s):

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 (28m 58s):

I'm trying to keep a straight face. You can't hear it on a podcast. It's, it's exhausting. Oh my gosh.

Ellie Krieger, (29m 2s):

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 were 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, (29m 44s):

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.

Katie Ferraro (30m 9s):

Right? Yeah, exactly. I same. Yeah.

Ellie Krieger, (30m 12s):

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'd ask an actual lawyer.

Katie Ferraro (30m 22s):

Exactly. And I just wanna 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 to, you know, 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, oh, you know, you might not picture yourself as a trailblazer book. That's

Ellie Krieger, (30m 53s):

So nice to hear. I don't think about that. You

Katie Ferraro (30m 55s):

Certainly certainly are.

Ellie Krieger, (30m 57s):

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 (31m 9s):

And moms out there, you guys, you are 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, (31m 43s):

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 Pictoral 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, and 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. And

Katie Ferraro (32m 14s):

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

Ellie Krieger, (32m 18s):

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 two, she pitched literally I, it sounded, I was afraid the neighbors weren't gonna come over because it sounded like I was pouring oil on her, hot oil on hers. And like 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 didn't. And we always ate our meals together one meal.

Ellie Krieger, (32m 59s):

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

Katie Ferraro (33m 10s):

It took you five years to get that compliment, but it was totally worth it. Yeah. And

Ellie Krieger, (33m 13s):

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 might take a while and it might come gradually, but it's there and worth it.

Katie Ferraro (33m 28s):

And I love that idea because I know a lot of parents and listening, especially moms may have grown up without great relationships with food or you are really finally working on fostering your relationship with food and you don't wanna replicate some of the challenges and setbacks you've had in your own child. And I don't know if you know Dr. Julia Nordgren, 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. 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?

Katie Ferraro (34m 9s):

Well there's wonderful resources like your cookbook hole in one out there for parents. 'cause you get to write your family's food story.

Ellie Krieger, (34m 15s):

Well that's a beautiful notion. I'm gonna remember that.

Katie Ferraro (34m 18s):

All right, so Ellie, tell us where can we go right now to learn more about your work and your cookbooks?

Ellie Krieger, (34m 23s):

Sure. You can find anything about my cookbooks, all my cookbooks on Ellie Krieger dot 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 yeah,

Katie Ferraro (34m 40s):

And we'll Link to everything that Ellie mentioned In this episode on the show notes page, which is gonna be@blwpodcast.com slash 1 0 6. 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, (34m 55s):

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

Katie Ferraro (34m 60s):

I hope you guys enjoyed that interview with Ellie Krieger. She is so cool. She's got millions of cookbooks. I have most of them. I think Whole In One is definitely one of my favorites though. If you don't like doing dishes and you only wanna make like one pan for dinner, she's amazing. And so many of the recipes work really well for baby led weaning. I will put all of the references and resources she talked about on the show notes page for this episode, which you can find@blwpodcast.com slash 1 0 6. If you guys are looking for a done for you solution for baby led weaning and you like all the stuff in one place that shows you exactly what foods to make for your baby on which day and how to prep them safely, check out My program, BABY led weaning with Katie Ferraro. I've got a discount code for you, the podcast listener, because you made it to the end of the episode.

Katie Ferraro (35m 43s):

You deserve a deal. Check it out wherever you're listening to or watching this episode, head to baby led weaning dot co slash program to get started today. I love working with all the podcasts moms and dads and grandparents who are coming into the program making real food for your baby. Thank you so much for listening.

Airwave Media (35m 60s):

Thank you To our partners at Airwave Media. If you like podcasts that feature food and science in using your brain, check out some of the shows from Airwave Media. Again, we're online, BW podcast.com. This episode is /106 and I will see you next time. Bye now.