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food!
Hi girls, i will post this in toddler too but it's generally quieter on that forum! sorry if it's long
Evie is now 14months and a good little eater.She doesnt tend to eat huge meals, but eats most things that i give her. Since starting weaning she's had mostly homemade things, starting with purees then getting more adventurous.
She now has the lumpiest foods but i'm starting to become reliant on jars, i do occasionally make a batch of food to be frozen but i feel my home made stuff is getting boring and lacking in imagination. She does eat loads of finger foods like sandwiches, fruit, biscuits... well, anything really!
I just feel like i've come to a point where i need to go to the next stage with her food but i don't know what that stage is! How old is too old to be eating jars of baby food? i know that she'd be capeable of eating anything my OH and i eat, but we don't tend to eat very healthily, more often than not we eat processed junk from the freezer, and i don't want her to eat like us! I don't feel like i'd have the time to make all of her meals fresh at the time she eats it, but if i was to make batches of more adult food to freeze i just would not know what to make i'm at a loss with it!
She's so used to having "saucy" foods that i just don't know where to go with it now. maybe i should buy a book!! help me girls please, i'm starting to feel like she's not getting enough or the right sort of food for her age!
Evie is now 14months and a good little eater.She doesnt tend to eat huge meals, but eats most things that i give her. Since starting weaning she's had mostly homemade things, starting with purees then getting more adventurous.
She now has the lumpiest foods but i'm starting to become reliant on jars, i do occasionally make a batch of food to be frozen but i feel my home made stuff is getting boring and lacking in imagination. She does eat loads of finger foods like sandwiches, fruit, biscuits... well, anything really!
I just feel like i've come to a point where i need to go to the next stage with her food but i don't know what that stage is! How old is too old to be eating jars of baby food? i know that she'd be capeable of eating anything my OH and i eat, but we don't tend to eat very healthily, more often than not we eat processed junk from the freezer, and i don't want her to eat like us! I don't feel like i'd have the time to make all of her meals fresh at the time she eats it, but if i was to make batches of more adult food to freeze i just would not know what to make i'm at a loss with it!
She's so used to having "saucy" foods that i just don't know where to go with it now. maybe i should buy a book!! help me girls please, i'm starting to feel like she's not getting enough or the right sort of food for her age!
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Replies
I have given Eve what we eat for ages now - it doesn't need to be too complicated.
The sorts of things she has are Jacket Potatoes with tuna,cheese,Salmon ( I just half a salmon steak wrap in foil and cook in the oven - really quick and healthy too.
I tend to batch cook from scratch Spag bol ,chilli con carne without the chilli powder for the kids then just add the chilli after I have taken their portions out.
Maccoroni Cheese for lunches - I cook up loads and frezze.
I still use my Annabel Karmel book and cook a few of the rice dishes and freeze and then cook things like homemade chicken nuggetts ,pizzas etc..
Also roast dinners are a favourite and roast potatoes which I just cut in half for her.
You could think of maybe a slow cooker because you could make casseroles in the morning time and have it waiting for you when you get home.
Also Eve will have a boiled egg cut up with some other bits and scrambled egg with some chopped tomatoes and grated cheese on top is a favourite and takes minutes for lunch.
Birds eye do Salmon fish fingers now and the little bags of steam vegs are dead handy if you are in a rush.
xx
I now however after being strict with myself,(and by not buying jars anymore,)I have to cook.
I tend to make spag bol,cottage pie,lasagne,things I can freeze.
Quick meals I find are things like fish fingers,cod in butter(or any sause)I just use micro mash and mix in veg.I want to feed Ben healthly and I make sure he has lots of fruit and veg...He loves apples..will eat an whole one,cored and peeled,and corn on the cob!!so I give him these as "finger foods" in between meals.
I tend to eat alot of spicy food,so cant really give him what I eat unless like other poster says I add spice afterwards.but I find making a big batch up and then freezing in small pots helps..I just get out enough for afew days as and when I need them.
Max is 14 months old now and eats whatever we eat, only sliced into chunks, or mashed up together.
I don't have "our food" and "Max's food" because he's part of the family and we should share all the food and eat the same things. I can't really help too much on this as we don't shop in supermarkets so don't tend to have frozen meals, but like someone else said, it doesn't have to be complicated! IMO, this is something that should be sorted out sooner rather than later. Otherwise you'll end up cooking one meal for you and OH, and one for LO forever! So much easier to cook one meal for everyone. I'd say for dinner, it usually takes around half an hour to an hour to cook. (Usually through Lazytown extra, and nina and the neurons!) And it doesn't have to be expensive either!
Max loves soup, so for lunch I sometimes just cut up some carrots and a sweet potato, boil them in vegetable stock then chuck in some fresh coriander and blend. Simple! Also, grate a couple of fresh beetroot and a carrot and simmer for 10-15 mins in stock, add some ginger and there you have beetroot soup! Full of iron and lovely stuff. But usually for lunch we just have a sandwich. He loves cream cheese and marmite (but only once or twice a week cos of salt in marmite), hummous, mushroom pate. Also ripe pears, berries, bananas, plums etc.
Dinners I cook from scratch. I don't know how much time you have in the evening to cook, if you go to work or not but it really doesn't take long! I started feeding Max jars of baby food when he was about 6-7 months old because it was so easy but most of the things I was giving him were the same as what I was cooking! I think the thing that take longest is chopping up veg. Once its cooking you can leave it for a while and check on LO.
Max loves peas! He loves picking them up individually and chasing them around the plate. I think its good for his dexterity and hand-eye coordination plus peas are good for him. Also veggie sausages are a favourite. I sometimes make sausage casserole. You can buy packets of sausage casserole mix. Get a casserole dish, chop your sausages up, chop up a couple of sweet peppers and onions, maybe some mushrooms, chuck in the mix and some water and put in the oven for an hour. Have it with mash and broccoli or something.
What I do is make a "menu" of what dinners I'm going to make for the week and buy all the ingredients for them. That way there's no waste and I don't spend too much money on shopping.
Sorry about the long post!
We're veggie and try to buy local food so it's quite a big thing to me
TBH the time it takes to cook something from a freezer, you could cook spaghetti bolognaise from scratch.
The internet is great too! You can find loads of recipes and when you get really into it, its quite exciting to discover all the great meals you can cook.
If you want some recipes, I'll be happy to give you some. But you'll probably read this and think I'm some weird hippie wiccan chick
Sorry have no good advice linzi as I'm pretty much in the same boat. Glad you posted
No I'm really not! Thats the point. I just cook like my mum used to. I have a big pile of ironing and toys strewn around the floor like the rest of you!
Once you know the basics its really easy and a lot cheaper to do meals from scratch and healthier!
It just made sense to me, that if I wanted Max to grow up with good eating habits then I should have some too and was surprised at how easy it was!
I like reading these posts - gives me new ideas!!
I think having a bag of frozen mixed veg in the freezer is a must - you can boil it in 10mins or micro it quicker. Matthew (21m) often has this if 'm doing him a from sratch main dinner. I put it with something like ham, tinned fish (like tuna or makerel) or fish fingers. I use up the annoying small potatoes you get in bags with these meals (just cut them into little cubes and they'll boil in 10mins with the veg - and just the one pan!) If i've got no potatoes in, i use quick-cook pasta. I know you said your LO likes sauces - I'm lucky, Matthew will eat a meal even if it's quite 'dry'.
If you are making something that's a bit spicy, you can try something we did to avoid you having to just add your spice later. If i made us chilli or curry and it was a bit spicy, i added some plain yogurt to 'calm it down' a bit. Matthew seemed to quite like the yogurty taste! I have also been known to mix in a dairylea triangle!! This may sound a bit weird or obvious, but i hope it helps someone.
I must say that I found the Annabel Karmel complete baby/toddler meal planner book REALLY helpful. It was a good support to get strarted on weaning and her recipes are pretty easy to follow. Maybe you could get one of these 2nd hand???
Again, sorry if i'm stating the obvious, but tinned tomatoes are a good way to get a bit of 'liquid' into LOs meal, and i think tinned sweetcorn is a good thing to have in the cupboards (you can get it without added sugar and salt). I also use tinned kidney beans in cooking (good source of protein) and lentils (good prtein again and v cheap) and tinned fruit.
I was (still am) a nervous, inexperienced cook, but the AK book help me get a bit of confidence, along with just giving things a try and not being afraid to ask people "stupid" questions about cooking.
I'm rambling on!! Just go for it LinziMc. Me cooking 'healthy' food for Matthew has really helped the 2 of us eat better. And when we have a take away, i just use a frozen meal for him or a quick meal using froz veg etc. Good luck and enjoy!!
[Modified by: Juliette on January 26, 2009 08:45 PM]
However Isaac turned fussy 2 months ago. I think it was his molars cutting and he started refusing everything except pasta. So I've gone backwards slightly, I'll blend our sunday dinner minus the potatoes and pour it over pasta, the same with a lamb hot pot and spag bol. I think I probably rushed him as he doesn't have 4 molars yet to chew, so some foods even mashed were too much for him. Every baby is different, but once he has his molars I will introduce the harder food back to him. For now I'm happy that he's happy and have a constant batch of pasta in the fridge! There's no rush and you have to do what's right and easy for you and your lifestyle, as my HV said you don't see 4 year olds starting school eating jars do you? ;\)
[Modified by: Nimmy on January 26, 2009 09:01 PM]
Another easy thing is to make your own chips of potato or veg, just cut them in strips, par boil them and then cook in oven with a little bit of oil. things like parsnip, sweet potato and carrots works well to and they can pick them up.
Sorry I prob doesnt make sense but I hope you get on ok.
Also never underestimate a quiche!... just mix whatever you have in the fridge with some eggs and cheese pop it in a pie crust and let it bake... yum...
xx