I recently became extremely bored with our weekly dinner menus and started digging through the various cook books I’ve accumulated over the years. Most, I’ve found acted more as dust collectors than as useful tools, mostly because; in the cooking department I am more workhorse than racehorse. That and, my husband and I have decided that dinner should take no more than one half hour or so to prepare.

That can be limiting.

One stood out. It was used endlessly and shows it from the earmarks and stains - my baby cookbook.

With a new baby is just one upheaval after another. So, to make dinner time a little easier I started including my child in family meals from the time he started on solids. While this can be challenging if your meals tend toward the gourmet, simple, scrumptious meals can be made for the whole family using a baby and family cookbook.

The Baby Cookbook features meals that fit with the tastes of baby’s and toddlers and are actually tasty for adult palates. All of the recipes are low sugar, low sodium, etc. and promote good eating habits…which can be good for the whole family, if you like I, before kids, had slipped into some rather unhealthy ones.

Another indispensable book, especially if you prefer to pass on the processed pacaked baby foods stage and feed your baby real food from the beginning, is Super Baby Food. This one is packed with recipes for making your own baby food, as well, as nutritional information and feeding schedules.

Of course, you’ll want to purchase a food mill too so check out these options.