BCM - How did your life change when you became a mom?

Liza - My life has been relatively chaotic since the moment I had my kids, but it’s awesome and I wouldn’t change a thing!  

BCM - What has been your most memorable moment (s) as a mom?  

Liza -Some of my favorite moments are when we are just sitting around the table and my 3 children interact with each other.  It’s incredible to me. 

BCM - What has been the biggest challenge for you in motherhood.  Any advice for new moms? 
Liza -For me, the biggest challenge in motherhood came when I had my second child, my son Brendan.  He was born 2 months early and was in the NICU for 6 weeks.  We came very close to losing him 1 week after he was born.  It was an incredibly hard and emotional time.  The road has been rough and we really didn’t know that he was going to be okay for a long time.  He just turned 3 in August and I have only just now begun to breathe again.  He is an amazing little boy with a bright future ahead of him and I am eternally grateful to the doctors and nurses at Winthrop University Hospital on Long Island who saved his life.    I know there are so many moms who have gone through the emotional journey of having a premature baby.  One of the toughest parts for us as parents of preemies, is that our babies have such an intense and often painful start to life.  As parents, we just want our kids to be happy and seeing the struggle these babies have to go through and how hard they have to work to catch up can really take your breath away.  The on the flipside, it is such incredible joy we feel when we see our child overcome obstacles, catch up and thrive after such a tough start!  

My advice for new moms would be to trust your own instincts.  There are many different ways to do the right thing and people are always offering up unsolicited “advice” that can make you doubt yourself.  Just let it roll off your back and trust yourself!  

BCM - What surprised you most about motherhood?  

Liza -When I had my first child, my son Royce, I was amazed at the depth of love I felt for him from the very moment I saw him and that I would give anything, do anything or sacrifice anything for him.  I had always heard people say, “You never know how deep love can go until you have a child.”  In an instant, I knew what they were talking about. 

BCM - Congratulations on the launch of Sage Spoonfuls!  What was your inspiration for creating this unique baby feeding system?  

Liza -Thank you!  This has been such an exciting time!  When I started making homemade baby food for Royce, I realized there were no products on the market that made it easy for moms.  That was when I had my initial idea for Sage Spoonfuls.  After Brendan was born and I knew I couldn’t go back to work in the conventional sense for a while, so I started really developing it.    I created Sage Spoonfuls so moms would have a grab-and-go system that makes homemade baby food easy.  As moms, we are all so busy with not a minute to spare.  The main idea behind Sage Spoonfuls is to spend only 1 hour every 2 weeks preparing simple, whole foods in bulk and storing the puree in Sage Spoonfuls jars in the freezer.  That way, you have a constant available stock of healthy and delicious food right in your freezer.  Sage Spoonfuls jars go from freezer to refrigerator to feeding to on-the-go, moms don’t need to worry about messy ice cube trays or popping frozen puree out of cubes and defrosting in other containers.  With Sage Spoonfuls, you put the puree in the jar and it’s done - there are no extra steps involved!  We also made sure our storage system was Made in the USA, that was very important to me.   

BCM - Can you share some benefits of making your own baby food?
Liza - Absolutely!  I could talk about the benefits of homemade baby food for days!  The way I see it, there are 5 main benefits to making your own baby food.  

1.    Homemade baby food is the healthiest.  Store bought baby food, even the organic brands, have a shelf life of about 2 years.  The food needs to be sterilized to achieve this shelf life.  However, that process includes heating the food to very high temperatures which kills nutrients, taste, texture and aroma in the process.  Homemade baby food is only lightly steamed or roasted allowing the food to retain most of its nutrients, taste, texture and enticing aroma! 

2.    Homemade baby food is more cost effective.  Store bought baby food can cost up to 3 times as much as homemade!

3.    Homemade baby food is the “green” choice.  Can you imagine how many store bought baby food jars, lids and pouches get thrown away in a year?  Not to mention the food wasted from an unfinished meal. 

4.     Homemade baby food leads to more adventurous eaters!  You can greatly reduce the chance your child will become a picky eater as a toddler by feeding him homemade baby food. Babies do not need to eat bland food.  They are far more adventurous eaters if given the opportunity.  Commercially prepared baby food is usually bland in color, taste and texture.  Additionally, the smell of store bought baby food is rarely as enticing as homemade.  Babies who are fed a consistent diet of this food have a much higher chance of becoming picky eaters.  They become so accustomed to eating bland food, which they don’t enjoy very much, that they are less eager to try new tastes and textures.  Unfortunately, this pattern often continues into the toddler years and well into childhood.  How many young children do you know who won’t eat anything other than processed chicken nuggets? On the other hand, babies who are fed a consistent diet of delicious homemade baby food often grow to become adventurous eaters who make healthy choices for themselves without even realizing it.  When my boys want a snack, they usually reach for an apple.  They are too young to know that apples are healthy; they just know they love the taste.  This is not to say kids who are fed homemade baby food won’t go crazy for ice cream, cookies and chicken nuggets on occasion, it’s just that getting them to eat well isn’t a daily struggle.   

5.     Homemade baby food puts you in charge! You know where the food came from, because you bought it and you know what’s in the food, because you made it.  You are also able to expose your baby to the widest variety of flavors.  With store bought baby food, parents are limited to the flavors the manufacturer thinks are most popular.  With homemade baby food, the yummy food combinations are almost endless!  

BCM - With 3 young children - How do you manage your work life balance?   Liza - I try to work mostly in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed, usually from 8pm - 2am.  I am grateful that they are really good sleepers!  During the day, I try to schedule meetings and calls for when the kids are napping or at school. It’s definitely not easy and I know all working moms can attest to that.

BCM - What types of activities do you like to do with Royce, Brendan and Hayden?  

Liza - I love the simple things, like going to the park or playing in the backyard.  I call our backyard the “inflatable fun park”.  We have more inflatable pools, bouncers and slides than you could imagine!

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FUN FACTS

I’m totally obsessed with…

Liza -Golden Girls reruns

My biggest influence is…

Liza -My husband Alex - he is the smartest and calmest person I know!

My favorite drugstore buy is…

Liza -Burt’s Bees lip shimmer in watermelon

Products I can’t live without…

Liza -Badger Balm’s Evolving Body Balm, Applegate’s nitrate free chicken hot dogs and Dapple cleaning products

My guilty pleasure is...

Liza -A glass of wine after a busy week

Favorite NYC restaurant….

Liza - I’ve always loved “21”