When I started this blog, it was partly to talk about my personal progress (or lack of!) and to provide some support and advice to people who are in a similar situation to me, be that trying to lose some weight or having just had a baby, or both. I’ve tried to write a mixture of diary entry style pieces and some more informative pieces, including food and exercise plans or my thoughts on particular issues. Then I found myself buried under the reality of actually having two small children, trying to keep some form of tidy home, meeting friends, going to activities with the girls, and getting a bit of exercise done in between, which meant my writing took a bit of a backseat. So with a bit of time on my hands today, I want to talk about cooking from scratch, which I believe makes a huge difference to your ability to eat well.
Why is this so important? Quite simply, you know what is going into your food. No added salt, no added sugar, no additives etc. I’ve always been reasonably good at cooking from scratch but I have been known to have a jar or two of curry sauce in the cupboard. But when I began weaning my first baby, I became super aware of what was added to packet food and did not want this going into my child! It is really important to me to raise children who are happy eating healthily, can cook for themselves and who understand the importance of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Since I weaned baby #1, I have made most of our meals and snacks from scratch. It helps that I don’t work so I have time to do this during the day but I can honestly say it doesn’t take much longer than packet meals.
Now baby #2 is 6 months old and I am beginning the wonderful weaning journey again. She has taken to it like a duck to water and wants to eat everything we are eating, which I have just been able to roll with because everything (well, most things) on our plate is suitable for a baby. It’s been so easy this time around because I am in the habit of eating and cooking fresh, healthy meals. I’ve barely even thought about what I’ve got in that will be suitable and there’s been no need to spend hours making special baby meals, I just save a bit of ours to use as finger food and purees. I’ve also invested in a new blender, aptly named ‘the Ninja’ which has a small blender attachment for chucking in mini portions and giving them a blitz.
Here are some of my favourite dishes to share with babies and toddlers. I haven’t linked to a specific recipes for all of them but I’m sure with a bit of googling you’ll find a recipe that suits you.
Soup – soften a few vegetables in a saucepan with a little oil e.g. carrots, leeks, onion, tomatoes, peppers (whatever you have around really), add boiling water and/or a tin of tomatoes once starting to soften, bring to the boil and then simmer until it’s all nice and soft. Then blitz in the food processor.
Pasta and homemade tomato sauce – I use Jamie’s tomato sauce recipe and was lucky to be given an abundance of tomatoes from my parents allotment when I was weaning baby #1. You can add veg and serve with tiny pasta with a spoon or twists / penne as finger food.
Salmon (or other fish) and pesto veg – I use Jamie’s pesto recipe to make my own pesto (once you’ve made your own, you will never go back to a jar!). Then spread a bit on the salmon and cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile steam or boil a load of veg e.g. broccoli, beans, cauliflower. Once cooked, toss the veg in pesto too and there you have it.
Beans, egg and broccoli – Use any beans you like as the base (I usually use a can of mixed beans), heat them up with a little water so they don’t dry out. You can add a bit of chilli or garlic if you like but not too much for baby! Then poach some eggs and steam some broccoli to go on top. You can puree the beans for baby and leave the egg in for a bit longer so the yolk goes hard and you can slice it up for them.
Chicken crumble – Davina’s chicken crumble is new addition to our family menu but was a total hit all round. For little babies< you can separate off some of the butternut squash and leek once it’s soft to make into a puree and/or offer your baby some pieces of squash.
Chicken and vegetable curry – there are loads of curry recipes out there so find one that you like that isn’t too spicy. I like Jamie’s pukka curry and Davina’s Smart Carbs chicken curry. Use vegetables like cauliflower and butternut squash that are nice and soft for baby. You can pick out the meat if baby isn’t quite ready for it (they often struggle before they have teeth!)
Steak and sweet potato fries and veg or salad – This one is a bit of a cheat as I’m not suggesting you serve up a medium-rare rib eye steak to baby! With this one, I use the fries and the veg or salad for everyone then do steaks for the grown-ups and use some of my ’emergency’ freezer supplies for the toddler, usually a pizza or a fishcake.
Sweetcorn fritters – a great little snack for you and a handy lunch to take out and about for baby. I’ve used Davina’s ‘Smart Carbs’ recipe but I’m sure there are others that use normal flour!
Omelette – a nice quick and easy one. Just use whatever you have and make it into an omelette offering strips of it to baby.
Sugar free banana bread – I lived off this with baby #1 and we still love it! It’s basically a healthier way of eating cake (NB if you’re not feeling the sugar free, my friend and I have been known to cover ours in chocolate spread when the toddlers aren’t looking!)
Smoothie / pureed fruit – If you’re pureeing fruit for baby, there are loads of things you can use it for too. I’ve been eating smoothies for breakfast (just put some yogurt and/or normal or coconut milk in with the puree). I’ve also been using it like a fruit compote, pouring it onto my yogurt and granola and using it in overnight oats.
Avocado toast – Good fats! I love avocado with a bit of lemon and chilli with a poached egg on top. For baby, you can just offer strips or puree it and spread it on toast.
Hope that’s helped anyone struggling for inspiration for themselves and baby. Let me know what’s worked for you!
Disclaimer! This is not official weaning advice, just what’s worked for us. I always leave out any sugar or salt in the recipe. I’ve also realised that I refer to Jamie (Oliver) and Davina (McCall) by their first names only, as if they are my mates. They’re not!
PS anyone waiting for the weekly weigh in will have to wait another 3 weeks as I have decided to only weigh myself monthly in an attempt to become less of a slave to the scales, while focusing on general fitness.
WedFit Mum 