Nina Sebastiane: Today, there can be no question that feeding your baby fresh and naturally greens is beneficial to the health and of course, they will be, but with moms and dads where they increasingly hectic lifestyles, sometimes precious baby food are really going to be too much and I put my hand up myself. Gerrie Hawes is a leading campaigner in the UK for the improvement of main stream baby foods and has just released a new book from quick and simple baby recipes. Welcome to the show Gerrie. Now, how did you get involved in this in the first place?

Gerrie Hawes: It's been a long story in a way because actually my mum is a primary school teacher and she was very interested in way before joining all of the days about how food would affect the behavior of the kids in the nursery, so I was very well. And then when I started work, I worked for a Hynes and whilst I work to Hynes I started to wonder whether baby food is as you buy off the shelf, it tasted anything like homemade and whether the taste of that was giving children a taste to feel that process food. A long time ago, but nothing to do with me, I just go into my own thing, and then as life is progressed that's all hasn't got a way and I just felt that it was a bad time that we had some baby food on the shelf that was like in to make yourself.

Nina Sebastiane: So, what is the fundamental difference that between what I buy in my local super market that comes in jar like said, baby food and what you've come up with?

Gerrie Hawes: Okay. When you walk down the super market most of the baby, if you just say consider room temperature for a couple of years, if you think about it.

Nina Sebastiane: How do they do that?

Gerrie Hawes: Exactly. It's climacteric. Isn't it? They are usually in glass and you can buy in cans, but the basic process that they do is what's called canning, and even those in glass. What they'll do is they make the puree, and then they put it into the jar, put and then give another cook. If you're going to do yourself at home and don't try, you basically cook it at very high temperatures in a pressure cooker to get it up to this temperatures and thus it sterilizes. They best way you can explain is if you think of long life milk because it's the newest equivalent --

Nina Sebastiane: Ultra high temperature. Okay.

Gerrie Hawes: Yeah, and one of my concerns is that if I give an adult example, if I may do have a long life milk in your tea for six months. Can you imagine that --

Nina Sebastiane: it's bad enough having it for a day when you run out from your favorite point, but yes --

Gerrie Hawes: And then get you a cup of coffee made with fresh milk, you'll find the taste of fresh milk. Very different, you would find because you got used to the taste of long life. And what think is happening and this is very much opinion, but what I think is happening is that by feeding babies a lot of long life baby food jars and cans. We're giving processed food, we give them that they've never tasted fresh food when you suddenly them freshly stain taste of it, tasted it before.

So, what we do is we would look to the best possible way to make baby food at home and we make it exactly that way, which is how we took behind to make it in the book, and then freeze it in a little pots and you buy at frozen, so we don't do that extra fun in cook. So, thinking what parents being doing for some time with time of the world, but we save the ocean of the move and then chomping. But when we do things like the baby show various they come treat for people to taste off food. A lot of people said, I agree the lunch and try and make some at least some of the baby food myself. And that's what read in the book, and say if it's a way.

Nina Sebastiane: I've got a little girl and when she was first born and started doing the weaning by night, I did the whole kind of you know trying to set up, you know freeze the ice cube trays and stuff. Actually, I was climbed to successful and that I did some of the time, and then the rest of the point, I kind of fell back on cheating the jaws or whatever, and whatever all I could find here. The problem was just I didn't have the time; you know who does have the time these days?

Gerrie Hawes: Well, what we try to do is make it incredibly simple to make your own baby food, so it does take some time and that is probably what we're doing, if you got the time, please try and make it yourself, you have got the time, you know you can buy the exact same product of shelf. So, you can dip in a mat with rather than; you know some children, get the taste for the jaws and that's nightmare to struggling on to your homemade --

Nina Sebastiane: You said that and it reminded me with some body I know, it's a child was in effect weaned on jaws, they look like very busy and they got on with it. And actually, you know you see the jaw it just you know fresh carrot so you're quite happy. But when she was tried on real carrot that was mashed up compared to the jar of carrot, she wouldn't touch it. So, yeah that was definitely -- but we're also been a part with so much other -- is all your stuff organic and if so, why must it be for that age?

Gerrie Hawes: I really believe in organic for as much as you possibly a can of food and if you can afford the first year make it organic.

Nina Sebastiane: Why in first year?

Gerrie Hawes: Well, if you think about little baby who has never had anything other than the milk a bit being whatever they use milk was and or is, and then you suddenly want to give them food. They grow enormous amount of growing in that first year, and then the other growing their bones and muscles, but also that for brains as well.

And what we know is conventional, the food that's organic is allowed to be treated wit lots of it's growing in also to preserve it, when you see in the super market, which is why if you buy yourself something that's organic, but at the same time buy something, which is not organic and put in any fridge. The organic is like to go off quicker because it's not been sprayed with lot of things because it's not been treated. But all of those chemicals, you basically that better building rock locks for growth and development.

So, the pure it is, the better quality is and that's what most people know about organic, but there wasn't other great things about organic because actually because loads of chemicals on fruits and vegetables and the cows and you know I'm using antibiotics know is on. They grow slower, so therefore this means in recent research on milk, on organic milk and it's much higher on in for example on Omega 3 than conventional milk and also the vitamins because it grow slow as you get the feel like more intense flavor, but also much more intense in nutrients than conventional food.

Nina Sebastiane: So, you're big at the organic --

Gerrie Hawes: --

Nina Sebastiane: Quite ever possible. Alright, I -- that message is coming through --

Gerrie Hawes: But what we do in about like we do point add those, if you can't, you know if you can't stretch to through organic, there are certain things that really worth concentrating on. For example, carrots are amazing things; carrots are great for growing to cut the little suckers from pesticides and things. So, organic carrots in particularly pure carrots. They can be commercial carrots, so take the pesticides from the soul very easily. So, for example, if you point out at X; I really recommend that you got for free range, free range organic because they're little intense bowl of nutrition.

Nina Sebastiane: And then when you count by organic, and then practically peel where possible --?

Gerrie Hawes: Yeah, I mean when you're first making around baby foods, you peel anyway because they little tummies can't cope with the roughage so as we know we speak and peel in those things. When you're a little baby all the roughages to course for their intestines. So, you peel anyway, but with organic and conventional little bit, maybe you still always wash and peel to start with.

Nina Sebastiane: Which we have a taste or stuff you know the truth in putting is in the tasting as you say.

Gerrie Hawes: Okay.

Nina Sebastiane: Don't let himself with a little bit in a while since of child and baby puree?

Gerrie Hawes: Take it. I bought a couple here. When the things to notice about when you make your own baby, if do as well is that they separate time because we're not using anything to make it.

Nina Sebastiane: No binding?

Gerrie Hawes: Yeah, there is nothing to stabilize at it's just actually the ingredients. So, which we would start with the savory, this is squashed in. This is the one that when the organic food works for us.

Nina Sebastiane: Okay. Thank you. I mean how long do these things last?

Gerrie Hawes: The ones that fro -- when that's frozen. They are five to ten months, so they actually best before date, so three months in because that check --

Nina Sebastiane: I'm taking this for about hundred of my -- also, it to me, this is just lentil soup.

Gerrie Hawes: Well.

Nina Sebastiane: It takes just like lentil soup that grande would make, it had no different.

Gerrie Hawes: Yeah, exactly.

Nina Sebastiane: And there is in that kind of --

Gerrie Hawes: Stickiness?

Nina Sebastiane: No, that's not stickiness and there is that. Do you see that, that's actually quite, it's quite moist?

Gerrie Hawes: Yeah.

Nina Sebastiane: That's nice.

Gerrie Hawes: So that's your savory. This one is one of the organic food savory.

Nina Sebastiane: That's right.

Gerrie Hawes: But we taste this one because this is one that we get most to initiate most people on this.

Nina Sebastiane: Okay because this is the one that most people say, whatever you do apples quite have good one to start it off.

Gerrie Hawes: As this pair as well.

Nina Sebastiane: Right. And why is that?

Gerrie Hawes: Well, the breast milk is very sweet and so babies like the sweetness of certain fruits and vegetables. Another good way, some people don't like to start with fruit vegetables; so sweet potato is sort of lovely one to start with squashes and pumpkins and butter nut squash because you got natural sweetness with them. But also, pair apple, carrot, sweet potato, squash will let those sorts of foods, they very rarely cools on a cheese, so therefore you know feeding babies something --

Nina Sebastiane: You guarantee that they'll start off with something.

Gerrie Hawes: and when you first start, you need a bit confidence that you don't want a reaction to start with that the classic when there a lot of people start with this, just the normal way potatoes, what potatoes is when you start whisk them up and chopping, meshing that down, the starch bakes out --

Nina Sebastiane: Right. Yes.

Gerrie Hawes: --

Nina Sebastiane: My little girl can't stand potato even now perhaps like this start stage is just like, it's just like a fruit smoothy, just like a fruit that does taste genuinely, really gorgeous. Let's have a look at your book its called feed me, shy to the camera. You have a rather interesting section on well, what goes in must come up as suppose and how do we put it. Poo!! That's quite I was looking for. Tell me a bit about that?

Gerrie Hawes: Every parent talks about putting.

Nina Sebastiane: I have a lots of conversation about with my partner, especially in the sort of first few months, oh, you'll never get to what came out today.

Gerrie Hawes: Exactly. Right. Now, Poo as I was searching in the key -- is a good way to tell how the system is working. And it's always like one thing that happens in the first few months you get routine of you nappies on quite as horrible as you expected and you can also routine the feeding hopefully, some sleeping and just nappy changing, and then you start weaning and nappies change from something quite manageable to something where that goes straight through, somewhere is when you have napping warnings, feed a baby, which is a lovely and really healthy food, it has nappy warning because you'll be tend to --

Nina Sebastiane: And I just direct.

Gerrie Hawes: -- goes straight through and lobry as well.

Nina Sebastiane: Yes.

Gerrie Hawes: And then actually the purple kinds of foods like plumps and new berries and have a great antioxidants, which can be against cancers and so, but apart they might would do an effect on nappies. So, for start, we mentioned poo because as started feed your baby with brightly colored food because not all baby would has to be orange, it comes through and I'll show you in the nappy. The other thing is that it's a good way to tell if your baby is constipated and so they're not getting enough liquid or if they have got some diarrhea, it tells many reactions.

Nina Sebastiane: It's the genuine sort of test to check the babies really. Now, just a sum up for me as well, obviously, we had some of the fruit that you've gotten and you've got some amazing recipes in here, they're too many to go through just now, but if somebody, you know likes the idea of the book that's all very well, but you know they just want to get started. What's the basic kit and basic knowledge that people should sort of --

Gerrie Hawes: Well, I always say the first thing you have to have is a baby that's ready to read in those. The first, but ever sense of equipment and so -- when you think the baby is ready to read and that's when the baby showing on sides really important. The next thing is I would say, look for some ingredients, so ingredients it's just the next big thing. And you also have to get two complicated, we've already talked about carrots, I think a great food start with these one of these, which is a sweet potato and I board along because a lot of people don't know how to start with the sweet potato, we treat them like a potato, and then you peel it and it's a nice peel and it's very nice, reddish color -- already orange color inside it.

Nina Sebastiane: And then what you do it? chop out --

Gerrie Hawes: Most people expect to chop it, one of the top tips that I've got is great it. The reason you that great it on the locals is grating or you chop it as finely as you possibly can or if you got all the gadgets in your kitchen then you can use it for the great attachment of your food processor.

Nina Sebastiane: Right.

Gerrie Hawes: The reason you do that is that if you got great big bits of vegetable fruit. It takes a long time to cook the middle, so the outside is nice and soft, the inside is still hard. So, when you're trying to make a very, very smooth puree, which what we're trying to do it for the first that the bids are really smooth, it cooks nice and quickly through. When people taste my broccoli puree they were like how do you do that tasting like, the worst school dinner night maybe and you would see the, yeah you see the bitty or it tastes really, really over cooked. If you chop that to really, really small bits, you're not trying to cook the hardest stem, you know the outside doesn't have to cook for so long, so you can have much nicer taste.

Nina Sebastiane: And then what you brought a couple of bits here.

Gerrie Hawes: Well, first when you eat the sting if you got as electric steamer, then they're good and just put it on it and just go and do other things that pains when you're ready or you just put in just enough water in a small clean saucepan just to boil it. Too much, we want to use all of them in the can when you make it, so that's what you do with that. And then, some people -- the older fashion where they're not quite in the fashion right is that it take a metal and a big paper spoon, when you push it through.

Nina Sebastiane: And just mash it and that's good enough consistency.

Gerrie Hawes: Yes, it is. Some times, when you want to get it really smooth, you have to do it twice. What I recommend because I like saving peoples time is investing a food in a hand process like this, but go upward, upper step and make sure it's got herb chopping attachment, just pop the food in them with the blade and blitz it, until it's smooth.

Nina Sebastiane: On the way you got it and you'll get hopefully something that is --

Gerrie Hawes: What you'll get is the really smooth stage. So, this is your very first start, you want some of these really, this is our sweet potato, so it's nice, very smooth, but what you want to do is as the baby starts to get -- once the baby is comfortable where they're very smooth, you need to introduce texture. You want add the texture.

Nina Sebastiane: Gerrie, thank you so much for coming in today, and then showing us through these, in fact, you've almost motivated me into getting started for baby number two. Thanks for coming in shows.

Gerrie Hawes: Thanks Nina.