Introducing a baby to solid foods for the first time can be a daunting task for new parents, but Little Foodie Club aims to make this transition a fun, culinary adventure. The Los Angeles-based baby food delivery company helps to shape the next generation of foodies with organic, nutrient-dense, and flavorful purées primarily sourced from local farmers’ markets and delivered flash frozen after ordering from www.littlefoodieclub.com.
Created by noted international food writer Kerstin Kuhn, Little Foodie Club serves Los Angeles neighborhoods from the Pacific Palisades to Pasadena, with plans to expand to Orange County and San Diego in the near future.
“Starting solids is one of the most exciting milestones in a baby’s and new parents’ life. But it can also be a daunting process, with a lot of worries of when, how and where to start,” says Kuhn. “This is why we developed the 21 Days To Solids transitioning plan, to help parents start their baby’s journey to eating solids with confidence and ease.”
Developed with a leading pediatrician, Little Foodie Club’s 21 Days to solids plan is the first of its kind. It exposes a baby to a organic vegetable or fruit puree each day, teaching babies to not only enjoy fresh ingredients but also be willing to accept new flavors right from the start, paving the way for a healthy and adventurous eater.
The plan retails at $125 and includes 21 single-ingredient organic baby purées made from low-allergenic foods, an informative handbook to guide parents through the process and beginnings of feeding solid foods to their baby, and a meal planner for each day of transitioning. Each day a baby is introduced to a new puréed ingredient from apples to zucchini.
Once graduated from the 21 Days transitioning to solids plan, families can sign up to two different subscription-based meal plans: the 6-9 months range, which is made up of smooth combination purees and focused on discovering flavors; as well as the 9 months plus plan, which comprises chunkier purees exploring both taste and texture.
Plans range from $60 to $320, with vegan and vegetarian options available by request. Babies can try bites of mango, coconut, & chia or Pear & Raspberry with Lavender, Lamb & Veggies with Rosemary, Sweet Potato, Spinach & Garbanzo Bean Coconut Curry, and Carrot & Potato with Chicken Bone Broth & Turmeric. Each unique recipe is designed to tantalize their tiny tastebuds and expand their palates for a lifelong love for fresh, tasty and unprocessed foods.
Handmade from scratch in small batches in a commercial kitchen using the highest quality organic ingredients, Little Foodie Club does not use any artificial ingredients, food coloring, added sugar, salt, additives or preservatives. Purées are immediately flash frozen to lock in freshness and key nutrients essential to baby’s development and giving parents the convenience to feed their baby when it suits them, with a freezer life of three months.
Kuhn hopes her purée meals will offer busy Angeleno families a convenient, nutritious and accessible way to palate train their babies in the crucial first few months of eating solids. Babies who are exposed to a rich variety of flavors and textures early on are less likely to become picky eaters. Little Foodie Club delivers every other week throughout most of Los Angeles county, including Long Beach. Plans to expand to serve Orange County, San Diego, and beyond are in the final planning stages as well.
“When my daughter Maxine was born, I knew I wanted to pass my love of food on to her,” said Kuhn, who has worked as a food writer for more than a decade and founded Little Foodie Club in 2016. “It was my biggest nightmare to end up with a fussy eater so I started doing an enormous amount of research into how to raise a child who loves good food. Through creating all my own recipes and successfully palate-training her, I got inspired to launch a baby food business helping other parents who don’t have time or inspiration to cook for their babies.”
She adds: “If you consistently expose your baby to foods out of a jar or pouch, you’re conditioning their palate to prefer processed foods,” said Kuhn, the former restaurant editor for The Caterer magazine. “The purées out of jars and pouches have little or no resemblance in taste or texture to those made from fresh ingredients so it’s no surprise that babies who are exclusively fed these bland and often tasteless manufactured purées often turn out to be kids who refuse to eat real vegetables and instead demand processed foods – like chicken nuggets.”
Kuhn is available for guest blog posts, speaking at local Los Angeles events, and providing expert insight on transitioning babies to solids, tips for introducing your child to new foods, and how to handle picky eaters. To learn more about Little Foodie Club and its founder, please visit www.littlefoodieclub.com.