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meal ideas

hoping to pick your brains ladies,



what sort of meals do you make for your los that can be addapted for the whole family. Freddie is nearly 7 months, he has never had any purees apart from fruit pots, he is now brill with finger foods but i feel like i am running out of ideas and always cooking different things for Freddie than to us, so i am looking for ideas that are simple but we can all have.

at the moment freddie loves toats, cheese oatcakes, spaghetti, mash and veg esp brocolli and i do him fish pie quite often and he has a fair bit of fruit,

doesnt help that i am in the middle of ripping out my kitchen for a new one so my kitchen has limited work surface at the moment.



Thanks in advance.x

Replies

  • Well, tonight I made pasta and pork meatballs in home made veggie sauce. I adapted it to feed me and DH, my 4 yr old, and DS who is 8 months.



    Saute chopped onion and red peppers in olive oil till soft. Add some chopped mushrooms, chopped garlic, a little paprika and some mixed dried herbs and saute a few more minutes, then add two cartons of passata and a tin of chopped tomatoes. At this point scoop off a ladleful of the sauce and pop into a separate small saucepan.



    To your big pan add some worcestershire sauce and dried chilli flakes. To your little pan add a dash of double cream or creme fraiche and a teaspoon of parmesan. Blitz with a hand blender then return to the heat and simmer until thickened a little.



    Grill or oven bake your meatballs. I served pasta twists for me and DH with meatballs and chilli'd sauce, twists and halved meatballs and half the creamy smooth sauce for DD. Then I boiled pasta stars and quinoa (together in the same pan) and mixed this with the remaining creamy sauce and two pork 'hearts' from the freezer- just roast pork from a sunday roast, minced in a mouli and mixed with a bit of the veg water to make it smoother and frozen in snazzy ikea icecube trays! That made two portions for DS, one tonight and one for lunch tomorrow. Everyone loved their dinner! It also made enough for leftovers for DH to take to work tomorrow.
  • I wrote a really long reply earlier then Charlie started crying and I forgot to post it - aaahhh!



    Anyway i tend to prepare big meals that can be frozen in big pyrex dishes such as:



    - lasagne

    - enchiladas (make your own spices using chilli, garlic, herbs etc instead of packets which are salt-rich)

    - cheesy pasta/potato & veg bakes

    - sausage/chicken casseroles (leave out stock cubes if for baby)

    - fish pie

    - chicken/veg curry and rice



    I make the sauces from scratch so try to make batches on a Sunday and freeze the meals for the week. The pyrex dishes can either feed just me and OH for 2 consecutive days or feed us all if Abby eats with us. Anything that doesn't fit in the big dish gets frozen in small tuberwares for Abby.



    The other thing that always goes down well is a good ol' roast. It's Abby's absolute favourite! image Yesterday she had finished her first plateful by the time everyone else had been served and demanded seconds. What a piggy! :roll:



    Hope that helps,

    H xx



    PS If you want the rwcipes just ask.
  • Wow that sounds lovely, can i come yours for tea? lol, thanks for your reply, x
  • thanks blonde friend, how do you flavour the casseroles without stock cubes? tomatoe puree and stuff? thanks for your help.x
  • You can get salt free stock cubes. Boots do their own, or Kallo brand sold in some supermarkets and most health food shops like holland and barratt.
  • Herbs and spices mainly. I often buy fresh herbs such as basil, coriander etc as well as garlic and onions. You can then chop them all up and freeze them in portions in freezer bags. When it comes to making a casserole just throw in the contents frozen, stir it through and the flavour will be released through cooking. Tomato and garlic purees also add flavour, as do many oils. Try leaving whole basil leaves and garlic cloves in a bottle of sunflower oil for a week or so - great for italian foods. Sausages have salt in them anyway so they often release their own flavour.
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