Along with the wave of ergonomically correct strollers and SAT flashcards for the 5-month-old comes Homemade Baby. This baby food company certifies its products as organic, non-GMO (no genetically modified organisms), fair trade and kosher, and offers services like a Tasting Room and a Meal Integrity System to ensure that your child stays happy and healthy with every bite.
The owners, Theresa Edy Kiene and Matt Kiene, started Homemade Baby after Theresa received rave reviews for the home-cooked baby food she served her own three daughters. Kids and parents (who, when encountering the dishes at the Kienes’ dinner parties, did not realize they were being served baby food) demanded more. So the Kienes left successful careers in television to start the company, armed with a mission: to make fresh and nutritious food available to every child, giving them a “head start toward making smart, healthy food choices for life.”
Products are organized according to “a texture for every tyke.” The 6- to 8-month-olds can choose from four flavors — apple, pear, peas and squash — under the So Smooth label. Good Mushy (9-12 months) and Kinda Chunky (12-plus months) get more complex; flavors include Squapples and Baby Tex Mex. Homemade Baby’s Cordon Bleu chef, Troy Irvin, calls the flavors “taste adventures” perfect for “those little chewing muscles.”
Homemade Baby delivers anywhere in the USA. (If you live in the L.A. area, they guarantee next-day delivery to your front door.) Don’t want to pay for shipping? Not sure which products your child will like? Head to the tasting room at 10335 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Culver City, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., where your child (and you!) can taste test new flavors and pick up an order. The tasting room also offers talks for parents concerning nutrition and other child development issues. Homemade Baby’s kosher certification is from Kosher Overseers of America, under the supervision of Rabbi Zvi Hollander.
For more information, call (800) 854-8507. For a link to Homemade Baby, visit www.homemadebaby.com.
