Welcome to the Fortified Family! I’m Katie Ferraro, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and mom of 7 and I specialize in baby-led weaning. I’m passionate about feeding strong families and making food fun.
Purees are an important texture for baby to master. But they’re not the only texture babies can eat! You can pre-load baby’s spoon with purees, but babies can also learn to drink purees out of an open cup. Here are 3 easy BLW blender recipes for babies to practice drinking purees.
Kids eating food is not clean. It’s not supposed to be. And when babies are learning how to eat, it’s especially messy…and that’s ok. I’m sharing 3 applications of my favorite non-toxic cleaner that is guaranteed to minimize your kids’ mess: at the table, doing dishes and even pesky food stains on clothes.
If you’re taking your show on the road, you might be wondering how baby-led weaning works when you’re traveling or out of your regular routine. Food is pretty easy…but what about the chair? Here are a few of my favorite portable booster chairs that might work for you away from home.
Meat is a great first food for babies. But parents and caregivers struggle with how to serve meat safely to babies. Enter ground beef…I like to think of it as the “gateway meat” for baby-led weaning. Here are 5 easy recipes for feeding ground meat to your baby.
Can we get real about muffins for a minute? We’re all in agreement that muffins are basically cake...right? But here’s a low sugar zucchini muffin that actually tastes good and works for baby-led weaning plus the rest of your family!
Are you into yogurt?! Yogurt is one of our family’s favorite foods...and here are 3 useful yogurt hacks that are making my life a LOT easier right now. It’s all about going back to basics, skimping on the sugar and taking care of your gut health.
We’re always on the hunt for new foods from different cultures that everyone in the family can eat. Here are a few of our favorite cultural foods books for kids showcasing foods from around the world…and most of these feature recipes you can make at home too!
Never in a million years did I think that I, a white suburban dietitian mom, would be writing a blog post about fighting racism in the very niche area I work in called baby-led weaning. But here we are, amidst a powerful movement and moment of recognition and I can do better.
If you’re a podcast person just starting solids with your baby, then I created my brand new podcast for YOU! Here’s a little rundown of the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy podcast launch and what’s in store for you…
Whoah there’s a lot of unsafe feeding practices out there we sometimes don’t even realize! Here are 5 unsafe baby feeding photos I recently saw on a stock site (…and how I would reframe the shoot to make that food or feeding situation safer for the baby).
If you're trying to put more plants on your plate here are 5 easy make-ahead vegan freezer meals that your family (including the baby!) will love. I’ve also included a cost-analysis to show you just how affordable plant-based meal prep really is!
Lots of parents & caregivers asking if introducing allergenic foods is ok during COVID-19? I sat down with Dr. Ron Sunog to get his take on safe baby feeding strategies during Coronavirus…
Coronavirus social distancing has us staying away from the grocery store…so, here’s my 10-Day Pantry Challenge: cooking only from the foods I already have on hand for our family of 9 for the next 10 days. No going to the store!! 😱
If 2/3 of the US is overweight or obese, why have 90% of physicians here never taken a dedicated nutrition course? …enter Dr. Julia Nordgren: pediatrician & CIA-trained chef who shares some thoughts here about cooking for our families (even if you can’t cook!)
In addition to my work here at The Fortified Family, I’m also an Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco. I recently contributed some BLW tips to their UCSF Guide to Healthy & Happy Eating, included for you here!
If you have kids then you probably read kids books. Well, if you’re looking to add some food for thought to your reading list - here are 10 of my favorite food-related kids books!
One of my Baby-Led Wean Team members & first time mom Sara Sanchez of NBC Palm Springs invited me to come on her show and share the basics about baby-led weaning…
If you’re a fan of Costco and you have a baby in your house, here are 10 easy foods that you can buy at Costco that also work for baby-led weaning.
That Instant Pot can make SO many types of foods for your self-feeding baby! I sat down with Jenna Helwig, author of The Multi-Cooker Baby Food Cookbook and the Food Editor at Parents Magazine to talk about IP cooking for BLW…
If you’re a fan of Trader Joe’s and you have a baby in your house, here are 10 easy foods that you can buy at TJ’s that also work for baby-led weaning.
