Review: Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, By Lisa Barnes

Most days I feel like I am feeding Monkey the same snacks over and over. She doesn't seem to mind too much, I am actually pretty sure that she would eat cereal, crackers, and popcorn over and over without a care. I on the other hand and hoping to raise her to eat a variety of foods so I can't help but think that mixing up her snacks a bit wouldn't hurt my cause.

Because I am a cookbook fanatic a I tend to peruse the cookbook section of my library at every visit. On a recent trip I found Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Easy, Organic Snacks, Beverages,and Party Foods for Kids of All Ages By Lisa Barnes. Of course my interest was instantly aroused at a full cookbook dedicated to healthy foods for kids.


About the first fifth of Petit Appetit features information about healthy and organic eating, tips and tricks for getting your children to eat new things, foods to keep on hand for easy snacks and more.

The rest of the book if broken into 3 sections, Eat: Snacks, Drink: Beverages and, Be Merry: Foods for Special Occasions and Everyday Celebrations. At the beginning of each section the author includes ideas and information beyond what is included in the recipes of the section. For example besides the recipes in the Snack portion of the book Lisa Barnes' has included a list of snacks for different situations such as "Day Care," "Care Ride," and "Plane Trip."

I made two of the snacks for My daughter to try from this cookbook. We tried the Apple Crisps and Bagel Bites and plan to try a few more of the recipes before I have to return this book to the library.


With my daughters 2nd birthday quickly approaching I am also thinking about trying out one of Lisa Barnes' cake recipes too.


So what are my thoughts on this cookbook? If you are interested in feeding your children healthy, organic and natural food then this book is a good resource. I would look at this book as a great jumping off point for creating new meals, snacks and drinks for your kids. I like that each recipe comes with nutritional information and symbols to help you quickly identify it a recipe is sugar free, gluten free, vegetarian, or if it is a suitable recipe for your child to help you make for example. A lot of the recipes listed in the pages of Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry also sound pretty yummy to me, so I can see myself eating from this cookbook along with my daughter.

For parents that are not on the "green" bandwagon this book may be a little overwhelming because variety the of ingredients goes beyond what some people may have in their kitchens and the book definitely emphasizes a more green approach to feeding your children. for parents that are already working to feed their children in a more "green" way this book may seem a bit simple and some of the information may seem a bit obvious.

I have at one more library renewal left for this book and I plan to use it to try out more of the recipes for my daughter. Over all I would definitely recommended this book.

*This is an honest product review. All thoughts and statements are the authors and were in no way influenced by any other party.