MR. KOJO NNAMDIIt's Food Wednesday and for many busy parents, time and the lack of it often dictates the answers to questions about feeding babies and children. But with a little planning and a reliable blender, it can be easier than you think to provide nutritious and, dare I say, delicious foods for your child in his or her early years and beyond.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIThink it can't be done? I have two busy parents in my studio today who have made healthy food for children a priority and, well, a profession. Joining us in studio today is Geoff Tracy. He’s known locally as Chef Geoff. He owns four restaurants in the metro area, including his flagship, Chef Geoff's. He's also co-author of ''Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler," co-authored by his wife, Nora O’Donnell, chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC and contributor to NBC's "Today Show." She couldn't be here today, but Geoff is. Geoff Tracy, good to see you.

MR. GEOFF TRACYIt's great to be here.

NNAMDIAlso in studio with us is Heather Stouffer, founder and CEO of Mom Made Foods an Alexandria, Virginia based organic foods company. Heather Stouffer, thank you for joining us.

MS. HEATHER STOUFFERThank you very much, Kojo.

NNAMDIGeoff, you're well known in our area for your delicious contemporary cuisine so of all the first cookbooks you could have written, why did you focus on baby food?

TRACYWell, I did end up having three kids in 13 months so I was kind of stuck with this audience and I started cooking the food for the kids. It never really occurred to me to purchase the food, sort of mass-produced food, in the grocery stores. My wife looked at what I was doing and said, we've got to tell everybody about this.' And I said, no one's going to buy it.' But we sold 25,000 copies in three months so that's pretty good.

NNAMDISomebody's buying. With Nora having new stories to cover and you having four restaurants to run, how do either of you have time to cook for your kids?

TRACYI think that's the number one question I always get asked and I think the reality is you just have to carve out a little bit of time. These -- a lot of the recipes in ''Baby Love'' are two, three ingredient recipes. They take about 10 minutes. The way we worked is to do it in batches and it really takes about an hour every two weeks to produce enough food for that two-week period.

NNAMDIHe's got it worked out, do you? Call us at 800-433-8850 if you have questions or comments about baby and child healthy food. 800-433-8850 or go to our website, kojoshow.org, ask a question or make a comment there. Heather Stouffer, your story is not unlike Geoff and Nora's. When your son, Emery, was about six months old you realized that there weren't a whole lot of healthy, fresh options for a full-time working mom. Tell us about how this led to Mom Made Foods?

STOUFFERWell, Kojo, I came from a foody-focused family and mom spent a lot of time and energy as a working mom and raising myself and my brother. Food was a focus for us and it wasn't until I had my own kids and I was working that I find that this was really a priority for me, too. And I wanted to make as much homemade food as possible, but I'm also a realist that it's not always possible, that there's not always time. And when you are in a pinch, that you shouldn't have any guilt involved in what you're feeding your kids and it should be something that they like to eat and so we set off to create Mom Made.

NNAMDIMom Made Foods. Geoff, let's start with the basic baby food tool kit. What are the most important tools we need to start making our own homemade baby food?

TRACYYeah, I mean, I really try to avoid including any of the really complex, very specific tools that you can sometimes buy on the market. Something that costs $150 that produces food for a baby doesn't seem to make a lot of sense when they're only going to eat that food for about, you know, four to six months. If you've got a blender that can make a margarita, you can make baby foods with it.

TRACYThere's actually even a mango margarita recipe in this book. It's the only baby food book ever written in the world that has a margarita recipe.

NNAMDIYes, ''Baby Love'' does contain quite a few adult recipes, which will give listeners a treat for themselves as they stress out about what to make for their kids. But go ahead, Geoff.

TRACYYeah, and so, you know, beyond a blender, you know, I mean, really all you need a knife and a cutting board and really those are the basic tools that you need.

NNAMDIDo we really need a food processor to make good pureed foods for kids? Just a blender?

TRACYYeah, a blender, you could do a food mill. You could do a little Cuisinart or something like that. It does not need to be complex, but all those items will get it done.

NNAMDILet's look at the arguments for and against buying organic foods when we shop for our little ones. I'll start with you, Heather, since you've built a company out of organic food for kids. Arguments for.

STOUFFERArguments for, well, the growing bodies of children need to be able use the energy from the food as quickly and as efficiently as they can. So, you know, the less processed food and chemicals and preservatives and so on that you can put into the young, growing bodies. I, personally, am a big believer in making food as clean and pure as possible.

STOUFFERBut I also am a believer in, you know, reality and that health begins with really fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet and when you can make them organic, great, all the better. But we've got a long way to go to even get kids healthier and eating more fruits and vegetables as a start and I think it's a big bonus if they can be organic.

NNAMDII'm not talking aloud because I'm eating your Mom Made mac 'n cheese here. Tell us a little bit about this.

STOUFFEROur Cheesy Mac is actually our top seller, Kojo, believe it or not.

NNAMDICheesy Mac.

STOUFFERYes, the world does need another mac 'n cheese. Kids love it and we've made ours a whole lot healthier by adding in all organic ingredients. And we've got whole peas in it and sweet potato and butternut squash to get a really sort of orangey-cheesy color. But it also has a nice cheese flavor to it, too, but it's 75 percent less sodium than the other mac 'n cheeses out there on the market.

NNAMDIWhere was this when I was kid? Geoff, I know that you and Nora tried to give your kids organic foods when you could, but you don't strictly adhere to organic.

TRACYYeah, I mean, I think some people get concerned about cost and I think that's, you know, considering the economic situation in this country, I think that's a valid consideration. You know, one of the reason we do say, you know, it's great if you can, but kids eat such small amounts of food that, you know, even if the price is significantly higher in terms of the cost, they're not really using that much of -- the overall cost of, you know, creating your own baby food is very low, whether it be organic or not.

NNAMDIIn case you're just joining us, it's Food Wednesday. We're talking about healthy eating for baby and beyond with Geoff Tracy, locally known as Chef Geoff. You know, he owns four restaurants in the metro area, including his flagship, Chef Geoff. He has co-authored a book with his wife, Norah O'Donnell.

NNAMDIIt's called ''Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals For Your Baby And Toddler.'' He's joined in studio by Heather Stouffer, founder and CEO of Mom Made Foods, an Alexandria, Va. based organic foods company. Here is Jacob in Takoma Park, Md. Jacob, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

JACOBHi, Kojo. I was actually calling to say that this is the first I've actually heard of you, Geoff, and to be quite honest, it is really quite wonderful to hear about somebody who starting writing a book about home cooking for their children and for other people's children and getting kids on the right path to eating healthy.

JACOBI mean, I'm a college student and to hear that, I'm enthusiastic about that because I'm very enthusiastic about cooking and that sort of thing and I look forward to purchasing that book and in the next few years, if I have kids, I'm pretty certain I'm going to use it so. But my question to you is this, have you considered the option of, like, educating people about growing their foods in, like, a garden? Like, what about the prospect of people growing their own gardens and (unintelligible) organic foods in that sense because that is an organic option that would be considerably cheaper than going to, say, whole foods or organic...

NNAMDIWell, allow me to have Geoff respond. Running four restaurants, pursuing news stories, raising three children and now grow your own food, Geoff.

TRACYWell, I probably can't do that. I'm not a farmer by trade. I've actually had a garden and the weeds -- I grew more weeds than just about anything else. I grow them very well. But I actually think gardening is an incredibly important process for young children and for parents to help teaching children about healthy, whole foods. And I really think that's a great way to get your kids involved in the process so that they understand what a tomato is actually supposed to look like and how it comes about.

TRACYBringing them to farms are great opportunities to teach your kids about foods. I include my kids in terms of the cooking process as well. We grow herbs at home. They become involved in that process and then when they see these foods, they're more willing to eat them because they're sort of vested in what is being used.

NNAMDIJust to play devil's advocate here, Heather Stouffer, by the way what am I eating now?

STOUFFERWhich one do you have?

NNAMDIMunchy Chicken right here?

STOUFFERThat is the Chicken Munchy, yes.

NNAMDIChicken Munchy. See, I'm reading everything upside-down. The Chicken Munchy, it's very good.

STOUFFERGood.

NNAMDIWell, just to play devil's advocate, why shouldn't we feed our babies food from jars? What’s wrong with it? After all, it's fast, convenient and many brands are organic these days.

STOUFFERThere's absolutely nothing wrong with feeding your babies food from jars and, you know, if you can go an extra step and make it homemade, I'm a big believer in making as much food as you can homemade. And I've used Geoff and Norah's book. I've got two kids and one of mine is just out of baby foods now. And -- but I have to say it's so easy and if, as Geoff said, if you can just pause and make the time for it, it is very easy. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with also purchasing it in the store.

NNAMDIWell, my Cheesy Mac has fresh peas, Geoff. Let's also tackle the fresh versus frozen question. What are the pros and cons of using frozen fruits and vegetables in your cooking?

TRACYThere are some recipes in the book where we do use frozen items and peas are actually one of them 'cause they are very convenient. I think the nutritional benefit of, sometimes, a frozen products is that they can be frozen sort of at the height of their sort of sugar content development and they're sweet and delicious. If I can find the fresh product, I'll take it if I can and if I can find it of a great quality, I certainly would prefer that just sort of from a chef's perspective.

NNAMDIYour book, ''Baby Love'' covers what you call the perfectly basic fruits and vegetables. So give us the lowdown on how to create some of these perfectly basic foods.

TRACYSo what I did is we created seven or eight puree of peas, puree of sweet potatoes, puree of butternut, apple, pear. There's a couple others in there. There’s avocado. These are sort of the core recipes that all the other recipes are basically just variations of. And, you know, once you get those things down, those are the first ones that the kids eat. Once they become familiar with them, you can start incorporating more and more flavors and sort of more complex, you know, dishes.

NNAMDIDo you include peels within these purees?

TRACYSometimes. So, like, on an organic apple, I would, you know. I wouldn't bother with the process of peeling. We don't have a lot of time so just cut it up, throw it right in, steam it and puree it and in about 10 minutes you're done.

NNAMDIHere's Tillman in Washington D.C. Hi, Tillman.

TILLMANYes, hello. Yeah, I'll just actually would disagree a little bit with one of your guests and that is, I think, there is something wrong with food from the jar and that's the taste.

NNAMDIThat was I. It was me who raised that issue.

TILLMANThat is how I ended up -- my kid never got processed foods and that's just because shortly before he was born, I actually tried some food from the jar and was not all convinced by that and, you know, started preparing mostly a bunch of squash, avocado, things like that, depending on what was cheap and in season and never looked back. Easy, fast and, I think, tastes much better.

TRACYTillman, one day I was at the playground with my kids and I was talking to another father about writing this book. And he said he would open up a jar of the peas and hold his nose while feeding it to his child. He's like, it smelled so bad. And I was like, you know, peas aren't supposed to smell that bad so, you know, I fully agree with you. The flavor of a lot of those products, and even just visually, sometimes it just doesn't look -- I mean, you kind of look at that sort of Army green color of a, you know, mass produced product in the stores versus sort of a clean puree like we have in the "Baby Love" book. There's a huge difference.

NNAMDIAnd Tillman, I've had your experience. Unfortunately, Geoff and Nora and Heather weren't along in those days so I had to suffer through it, but you don't. And you can call us at 800-433-8850 if you would like some tips on feeing your babies or your children. Heather, we've all heard that you need to do to is expose your kids to new foods multiple times before they'll accept them, but a lot of parents get frustrated after several rejections and just give up. How do you tackle that problem?

STOUFFERWell, it is -- it's a challenge and it's an ongoing challenge. And just as soon as you've mastered them or think you've mastered them at one age, they'll throw you for a loop a month later. And I'm going through it constantly with my own kids. But I have spoken to well over a thousand parents, at this point, regarding their challenges with feeding their kids and trust me, I think, at this point, I've heard it all.

STOUFFERBut, you know, it's just you've gotta -- it takes constant exposure. I think with my son it took 356 exposures to salad and now he eats salad. And it worked. But there was no pressure involved and he just -- he did it on his own or he feels like he did it on his own, which is the most important. I'm a big believer and supporter of a woman named Ellyn Satter who wrote a book called "Child of Mine." And the philosophy of the book is that there's really delineation between what the parents' role is at mealtimes and what the child's role is.

STOUFFERAnd her theory, and I've practiced it and it absolutely works, is that the child's job is to decide what and how much to eat regardless of their age, and the parents job is to just make mealtimes comfortable and provide a variety of healthy options at meals. And that works.

NNAMDILooking for healthy food options for your babies, toddlers or kids? This is the place to call. 800-433-8850. Or if you have tips of your own for healthy eating for kids, you can also go to our website kojoshow.org and share your tips with us there. Send us a tweet @kojoshow. We're going to be taking a short break. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.

NNAMDIWelcome back to our Food Wednesday conversation on healthy eating for baby and beyond with Heather Stouffer, founder and CEO of Mom Made Foods, which I'm enjoying right now. That's an Alexandria-based organic foods company. Geoff Tracy is also with us. You know him as Chef Geoff. He owns four restaurants in the Metro area, his flagship being Chef Geoff's. He is co-author of the book, "Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler."

NNAMDIHis co-author is his wife, Nora O'Donnell, chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC and contributor to NBC's "Today Show." Geoff, how do you mange that in between phase as babies are just getting their teeth, but they're increasingly disinterested, uninterested in the purees?

TRACYUh, yes. When you have to start going to sort of more solid food where they're...

NNAMDIYeah.

TRACY...starting to chew. You know, I think the best thing for us, going back three years, is you basically sort of hand them the food kind of, you know, sort of chopped up in -- and sort of let them just kind of completely make a mess. You got to buy a little -- one of those, like, you know, small vacuum cleaners.

STOUFFERRight.

TRACYThey're very helpful.

NNAMDIIs that your experience also, Heather?

STOUFFEROh, I got one right now. My daughter is 15 months old, and I'm a big believer in investing in a really good bib. And, you know, every Saturday morning I go in and have to sort of chisel off the food around her high chair. We don't have a dog, unfortunately, who cleans up, but...

TRACYIt's a good reason for a dog, yeah.

STOUFFER...you really gotta just let them dig in.

NNAMDIThat's a good reason for a dog, Geoff?

TRACYThat is a very good reason for a dog. (laugh) It would be a very fat dog.

NNAMDIDog lovers here. Lynn in Fairfax, Va. has what might an unusual request. Lynn, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

LYNNYes, thank you. I wonder if your guests could recommend one of their -- or several of their recipes that would be good for someone who is old and starting to have difficulty chewing and refusing food. It seems to be the purees would -- she might like the purees. She's drinking liquids and swallowing well, but it just seems that they might be really tasty and appeal to her and I was wondering if there were any that you think would particularly appeal to an adult.

TRACYAbsolutely.

NNAMDIGeoff is nodding in agreement, yes.

TRACYThere's a recipe in the book called Alba's Chicken Soup, which is a chicken soup recipe that was created by our nanny and it has tons of vegetables and rice and chicken. It takes a little while to cook, but it's a big batch and it could be frozen and, you know, sort of pureed to whatever consistency is appropriate for the person. And that would certainly be something that would work for someone who is having difficulty with solid foods.

NNAMDIAny recommendations, Heather?

STOUFFERAbsolutely. Take any of her favorite recipes and add some liquid to it, and give it a blend. I've done it with, you know, children recovering from throat surgeries or having their tonsils out or older patients. And any of the recipes in Geoff and Nora's book, I've tried them all and have eaten them myself, too. Those are also recommendations.

NNAMDIOkay. Thank you very much for your call, Lynn, and good luck to you. We move on to Sandy in Alexandria, Va. Sandy, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

SANDYYes, thank you. My husband and I, mostly my husband, have been cooking for our baby. He's nine months old now and it's so easy, I don't know why more people don't do it. But I did read that you're supposed to offer them bitter and sour flavors because those are flavors babies usually don't get and I'm not sure what would be good bitter and sour to offer him.

NNAMDIAny suggestions, Geoff?

TRACYCoffee? No.

TRACYI'm the one who needs the coffee in the morning. You know, let's see, bitter -- bitter, bitter, bitter. On the sour, there's sort of an issue, they say, like, most citruses, that you're not supposed to incorporate until, I don't know...

SANDYRight. Right.

TRACY...10 or 12 months or something like that. So I'm at a loss on the bitter part, too.

SANDYAnd leafy greens because I read that you're not supposed to do leafy greens because of the nitrates, I think. Can you do kale and things like that at this age or do you have any recipes for that in your book?

TRACYThere are -- I use a lot of the Get Your Green recipes. I have three in there called Get Your Greens 1, Get Your Greens 2, Get Your Greens 3. And basically straight, like, spinach or straight kale or something like that is really rough and so I use...

SANDYOkay.

TRACY...cauliflower as sort of the base ingredient, which is really creamy and delicious. And then I incorporate some of the spinach or some of the kale in there. And I think that's a good way to go about it.

SANDYIntroducing those flavors.

TRACYYeah.

SANDYGreat. Well, thank you, and I...

STOUFFERSandy?

NNAMDIWait a minute, Sandy, Heather's...

SANDYI went to your restaurant...

NNAMDISandy, Heather's got suggestions for you also.

STOUFFERYeah. Just -- Sandy, you might also want to think about tomato bases, those being more acidic tend to be more sour and do tend to be preferred by older babies versus younger babies initially.

SANDYOkay.

STOUFFERBut I just wanted to comment on your mention of nitrates. There are nitrates organically, literally organically, in all rooted vegetables and leafy greens. And so I wouldn't, you know, there are thing -- there are articles and things out there that you might be reading, but all the reading that I've done, and research is that there's really, whether it's mass produced carrots or spinach, or produced in your own home, as long as you use fresh water rather than the cooking water, you're cutting down on the nitrates. And the actual risk of any issues with an exposure to nitrates is very, very, very low.

SANDYGreat.

STOUFFERSo, you know, go ahead with the carrots and the spinach and cooking them at home.

SANDYGood to know. Thank you so much.

NNAMDISandy, thank you for your call. Geoff, a lot of parents might be surprised about the kind of spices you start to incorporate into foods and how early you start doing it. What's your philosophy about adding spices to food for children?

TRACYYeah. Ingredients like nutmeg and cinnamon and cilantro and basil, I think these are all -- garlic, I think these are all good flavor enhancers. You know, I tried to -- I introduced them to the twins at seven and eight months, and, you know, in moderation, but, you know, they enjoyed it. You know, it's extra flavor. And I really want to expand the palates of the children, because as Heather and I both know, what they'll eat at age three contracts. Their palates contract at age three. And if you start with a bigger thing to contract, you'll still have actually something that you can feed them when they're three-and-a-half years old.

NNAMDIYour children, Henry, Grace and -- well, go ahead, Heather. You were about to say?

STOUFFEROh, I absolutely agree with Geoff. You know, I think we as Americans tend to think that children's food has to be bland and tasteless and no spices or herbs used. But I totally agree with Geoff the more you expose them, and the younger you start to expose them, and do it delicately, but it will help their palates as they grow to be more open to a wider range of tastes.

NNAMDIMom Made Foods is not deceptive about what's in its products, but do you have cauliflower, squash and sweet potato in your cheese pizza? Do you -- do kids really go for foods with all of these vegetables sometimes hidden within them?

STOUFFERWell, given our foods are essentially mass produced, you know, we had to make choices as to, for example, with our cheese pizza munchies, how to bind it and make it a cleaner eater experience for the child, rather than just a tomato sauce that oozes out. We wanted it to be thicker for that eating experience. And so we chose to use something that was richer in nutrients, like cauliflower puree and sweet potato puree, instead of just a potato starch. And so we have creatively used vegetables and fruits in all of our products, as both whole vegetables and fruits, but also as ingredients.

STOUFFERWe're not into deception by any means but we use them, you know, to improve the overall nutritional value of the product.

NNAMDIGeoff, your children, Henry, Grace, and Riley live in a house with one of our areas top chefs, but it appears they can also be your toughest customers?

TRACYAbsolutely.

TRACYYeah. My two girls, who are three and a half and two and a half, have been very good eaters. Henry's a little tough one. He's at sort of a stage right now. I finally stopped battling with him and I just -- we've come to an agreement that if he doesn't want something that I cooked, he just has to say, no thanks. At least I got the manners thing working.

NNAMDIYeah. Well, you might be able to help Maria in Silver Spring, Md. Maria, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

MARIAWell, thank you so much, Kojo, for taking my call. I love your show and I really appreciate you talking to me. I wanted to share my experience with my three boys, and get some advice from you and your guests on what is it that I can do because I'm very frustrated. My first and third child, they are wonderful eaters. They -- I started with them just feeding pretty much everything to them and making homemade foods when they were very, very tiny, like two or three months old.

MARIASo now they are five and they are wonderful.

NNAMDIBut you have a…

MARIAAnd my second child...

NNAMDIBut you have a Henry of your own. Go ahead, please.

MARIABut my second child, I did the opposite. I followed my pediatrician's advice that I shouldn't give him anything until he's six months old. So I barely fed him anything, except, like, maybe some pureed fruits when he started five months old. And at six months, I started giving him a little bit more and food from jars. I bought, like, organic stuff and all kinds of things and I also stopped breastfeeding and started with a formula. And now that he's five years old, he's a complete mess. A complete mess. (laugh)

MARIAHe won't eat anything. There are, like, four or five things that he likes every day. I also checked with a children's hospital nutritionist. I wasted my time. And I also found out that he has a tendency for OCD so he has trouble with textures, he has trouble with smells, like very, like, strong smells like onion and garlic. He won't tolerate it. And I am so desperate because I don't know what to do.

NNAMDIYou are at the proverbial wit's end. I think this will call for heads on this, both Heather and Geoff. Starting with you, Heather.

STOUFFERMaria, I feel for you, I really do. Because it's -- I appreciate that it's something that you have to struggle with three times a day and there's clearly stress involved, and it sounds like there's stress, you know, for your child, too. There always is from both sides. I would highly recommend the book, "Child of Mine," which I mentioned earlier, and I think you'll get some good ideas from that.

STOUFFERMy one piece of recommendation -- or one recommendation would be to -- for you to try to try and figure out, you know, what are your -- what's causing your hot points and try and -- as hard as this is, turn yourself off so that you're not sensitive to it. Let him...

NNAMDIWe're running out of time, fairly quickly, so we need to finish.

STOUFFER...or her feel like they're making the choices, empower the child, and the less you start to pressure and stress them, you know, the more he'll start to engage hopefully.

NNAMDIAny recommendations, Geoff?

TRACYAs a child, I was a really picker eater. My mom came up with this one dish that we would eat. That's almost all she fed us, you know, for, like, years and I turned out to be a chef. So I think there's hope.

STOUFFERHang in there.

NNAMDISo don't worry about it too much, Maria. By the way, "Baby Love," we mentioned, contains a few adult recipes. If listeners want the recipes for popular dishes of Chef Geoff's like Jumbo Shrimp and Very Gouda Grits, or Spaghetti and Meatballs with Ricotta and Basil, they can find those recipes in "Baby Love," right, Geoff?

TRACYVery true.

NNAMDIAnd Heather, where can we find Mom Made Foods?

STOUFFERThey are in the freezer aisle of stores nationwide. They can go onto our website, MomMadeFoods.com, and type in their zip code and find the stores, and then look in the freezer aisle.

NNAMDIHeather Stouffer is founder and CEO of Mom Made Foods. It's an Alexandra, Va. based organic foods company. Heather, thank you so much for joining us.

STOUFFERThank you so much, Kojo. This was fun.

NNAMDIGeoff Tracy is known locally as Chef Geoff. He owns four restaurants in the Metro area, including his flagship, Chef Geoff's. He is co-author of "Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler." His co-author is his wife, Nora O'Donnell, chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC and contributor to NBC's "Today Show." Geoff, great to see you again, thank you for joining us.

TRACYThank you so much.

NNAMDIAnd thank you all for listening, I'm Kojo Nnamdi.