The Weaning Thread

nikpmup

Roesy wrote: »

Sounds yum, my little Hoover loves beans. Any chance of a link to the recipe?

It's my own recipe, I just finely diced half a medium onion and a clove of garlic, and gently softened them in unsalted butter and olive oil. Then I added a quarter teaspoon of reduced salt vegetable bullion (the amount of salt per portion of beans would be minimal, but if you wanted to omit this you could) a half teaspoon of smoked paprika, half teaspoon of mixed herbs and two finely chopped grilled red peppers from a jar for sweetness and cooked for a couple of minutes. I then added a tin of cooked haricot beans, and about 250ml passata, and a half tablespoon of tomato purée. I also added a bit of chicken stock cos I had been cooking him some chicken, but you could add water if you need to thin down the sauce. Cook it for about 8-10 mins, until the sauce is the right consistency, add water/stock as required. Makes about 5 portions. Really yummy - if your baba isn't into the stronger flavours, use less garlic and herbs. I've frozen some, so I'll see what way they come out.

kandr10

nikpmup wrote: »

It's my own recipe, I just finely diced half a medium onion and a clove of garlic, and gently softened them in unsalted butter and olive oil. Then I added a quarter teaspoon of reduced salt vegetable bullion (the amount of salt per portion of beans would be minimal, but if you wanted to omit this you could) a half teaspoon of smoked paprika, half teaspoon of mixed herbs and two finely chopped grilled red peppers from a jar for sweetness and cooked for a couple of minutes. I then added a tin of cooked haricot beans, and about 250ml passata, and a half tablespoon of tomato purée. I also added a bit of chicken stock cos I had been cooking him some chicken, but you could add water if you need to thin down the sauce. Cook it for about 8-10 mins, until the sauce is the right consistency, add water/stock as required. Makes about 5 portions. Really yummy - if your baba isn't into the stronger flavours, use less garlic and herbs. I've frozen some, so I'll see what way they come out.

Sounds amazing! Gonna do batches of it for ourselves as well cos I'm obsessed over the amount of sugar in baked beans. For anyone looking for alternatives to stock, boots do a salt free one. Adding a little yeast extract adds saltiness and it's high in b12 apparently.

icescreamqueen

How Strange wrote: »

I gave both of mine cows milk from 11 months without any problems. They were getting some on their weetabix from 6 months so I knew they weren't allergic or anything.

Ok silly question but did you give the milk in the bottle or a sippy cup?

nikpmup

kandr10 wrote: »

Sounds amazing! Gonna do batches of it for ourselves as well cos I'm obsessed over the amount of sugar in baked beans. For anyone looking for alternatives to stock, boots do a salt free one. Adding a little yeast extract adds saltiness and it's high in b12 apparently.

That's good to know. They were actually really nice, I'd happily eat a plate of 'em on toast I used just one large tin of haricot beans, if you wanted to make more and freeze them you would obviously increase the other ingredients accordingly. (BTW - I have no idea if they'll freeze okay!) The smoked paprika gives them a really nice bbq flavour.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Is there any baked beans that are ok to give to babies? I picked up some reduced salt and sugar ones but I think they're almost as bad as the normal ones

nikpmup

Kane Salmon Syntax wrote: »

Is there any baked beans that are ok to give to babies? I picked up some reduced salt and sugar ones but I think they're almost as bad as the normal ones

They're still really high in salt & sugar, I think one serving of the reduced salt Heinz contains more than the daily recommended amount of salt - add toast or cheese and you're really pushing it up.

Roesy

It's funny because our phn was pushing baked beans the other day. I don't give the ones with artificial sweetener so my baby has never had more than a tsp or so of them on toast mashed to go further. Apparently there are ones that you can get in the health food shops which are salt free and sweetened with apple juice but I think I'll give nikpmups ones a go first.

nikpmup

It's a pity, cos the beans themselves are so good for them, as would the tomato sauce if it wasn't full of cr@p.

cant26

Any tips on getting a 14 month old to eat.. In the last week my usually great eater will eat very little. Breakfast is still fine. For lunch he will only eat cheese and rice cakes or toast.. Dinner he has refused every day. It's seriously stressing me out! Just had another battle with dinner. I don't know if I should give him other choices or not. He only gets a bottle in the morning and before bed so he's not filling up on milk. Any tips would be appreciated.

Millem

Hi guys, we have been weaning for around a month now. (Baby is 6 and half months) Tbh I don't really know if I am doing it right! We are not doing the baby led way just the old way with purées.

For breakfast he gets porridge (the boxes you just add water to) with 7oz formula, lunch he gets baby fromais frais or banana or fruit with 7 oz formula, dinner he gets veg puréed eg mashed potato/carrots or a veg combo and a 7 oz bottle and his supper he gets 6oz formula.

We have to start meat next week. I have never used jars but did get a free Ella's kitchen banana from tesco and dear god it was so vile (the colour/smell/taste) I threw it in the bin! It did not resemble a banana to me! Are all jars like this? My sis swears by the Heinz ones.

Basically my question is....is he getting enough? Do I start making him dinners now and keep him on the same amount of milk? Also can I used frozen veg? As a lot of recipes I see use frozen peas?

kandr10

I had the same questions as yourself a few months back when I started weaning herself. I think the best advice that was given to me is to take your cues from the baby. My girl was breastfed so I don't know about quantities of milk however she started to slowly take less and less before dropping a feed. She got unusually fussy and needed a lot more breastfeeds after a month or so and started waking at night when she didn't usually. At that point I knew I needed to start adding more protein and bulking up her meals more. I tried that and within a week she was on less milk and sleeping again. There's no hard and fast rules cos every baby is different but if your baby seems happy then you're on the right track I'd say! When you introduce meat you'll naturally be moving more towards dinners anyway.

I agree with you about the banana flavour pouches but that's not typical. Bananas are just best eaten fresh out of their skins! I personally never bothered with the fruit ones cos it's so handy to mash a bit of fruit but the savoury ones are a god send when you're out and about. I always leave one or two in my changing bag in case I'm out longer than expected or that. Just check the ingredients list and make sure you're happy with it.

Frozen veg is great. I use it all the time! Spinach, peas, sweet corn are all handy to have there for adding to meals. You can get frozen squash in tesco it's a bit dear but handy to have there.

Have you tried the anabel Karmel book? She's got good suggestions for meal planners which I found helpful to see if I was on the right track at various stages. Good recipes too. I bought it when I was at the stage you are now and it helped clear my head up a bit anyone else finding they can't think straight with baby brain lol

Millem

kandr10 wrote: »

I had the same questions as yourself a few months back when I started weaning herself. I think the best advice that was given to me is to take your cues from the baby. My girl was breastfed so I don't know about quantities of milk however she started to slowly take less and less before dropping a feed. She got unusually fussy and needed a lot more breastfeeds after a month or so and started waking at night when she didn't usually. At that point I knew I needed to start adding more protein and bulking up her meals more. I tried that and within a week she was on less milk and sleeping again. There's no hard and fast rules cos every baby is different but if your baby seems happy then you're on the right track I'd say! When you introduce meat you'll naturally be moving more towards dinners anyway.

I agree with you about the banana flavour pouches but that's not typical. Bananas are just best eaten fresh out of their skins! I personally never bothered with the fruit ones cos it's so handy to mash a bit of fruit but the savoury ones are a god send when you're out and about. I always leave one or two in my changing bag in case I'm out longer than expected or that. Just check the ingredients list and make sure you're happy with it.

Frozen veg is great. I use it all the time! Spinach, peas, sweet corn are all handy to have there for adding to meals. You can get frozen squash in tesco it's a bit dear but handy to have there.

Have you tried the anabel Karmel book? She's got good suggestions for meal planners which I found helpful to see if I was on the right track at various stages. Good recipes too. I bought it when I was at the stage you are now and it helped clear my head up a bit anyone else finding they can't think straight with baby brain lol

Thanks sooo much I forgot to say we are trying meat next week, I was thinking chicken first. I was so shocked with Ella's pouch as I know people rave about them and I saw aldi do their version which look exactly like hers.

What do you think of Heinz jars? I was going to buy a few for emergencies. Sorry now TMI...... But the baby was grand with all foods except anytime he has carrot his number 2 looks exactly like the purée is this normal? With any other food it is solid

I will order anabels book, I got a few of her recipes from tesco booklets that they send me

kandr10

Millem wrote: »

Thanks sooo much I forgot to say we are trying meat next week, I was thinking chicken first. I was so shocked with Ella's pouch as I know people rave about them and I saw aldi do their version which look exactly like hers.

What do you think of Heinz jars? I was going to buy a few for emergencies. Sorry now TMI...... But the baby was grand with all foods except anytime he has carrot his number 2 looks exactly like the purée is this normal? With any other food it is solid

I will order anabels book, I got a few of her recipes from tesco booklets that they send me

I've used the Ella's kitchen, the plum brand ? m&s ones and they're all the same tbh! The 'dinner' kinda ones are actually pretty tasty. I've been known to rob a spoon or two of the cheesy veg one Once there's no salt or sugar in the ingredients I'm happy enough. Eh with the poos i tend to just let them be what they will be and as long as she's not uncomfortable or that I'm sure they're fine. I guess they do take on the colour of spinach sometimes...ok tmi!
I don't follow the book to the letter (or even the paragraph!) it's just a handy reference and if you want to try something new the recipes are good.

lolademmers

Just about the homemade baked beans where can I get haricot beans? I was in a large tesco today but they didn't have them. Aldi or lidl?

How Strange

icescreamqueen wrote: »

Ok silly question but did you give the milk in the bottle or a sippy cup?

Sorry I totally missed your post. I gave it in a sippy cup as I didn't want to start introducing a bottle at 11 months. It worked out fine with both of them. It's very messy at the start but they got the hang of it quite quickly.

kandr10

lolademmers wrote: »

Just about the homemade baked beans where can I get haricot beans? I was in a large tesco today but they didn't have them. Aldi or lidl?

I've found them hard to get before. Cannellini (not sure of spelling) are similar they're just slightly bigger but you can get them in tesco and dunnes.

nikpmup

I got them in Dunnes. Epicure brand. I think Supervalu have Bunalun organic ones. I'm sure the health food shops would have them if the supermarkets didn't.

Millem

kandr10 wrote: »

Sounds amazing! Gonna do batches of it for ourselves as well cos I'm obsessed over the amount of sugar in baked beans. For anyone looking for alternatives to stock, boots do a salt free one. Adding a little yeast extract adds saltiness and it's high in b12 apparently.

Is the boots stock cube called "baby stock cube"? I just noticed it the other day but I didn't know what the crack was with using stock?

I am a devil not not eating fish and I don't want to pass this on, so I decided I am going to make up this anabel salmon recipe! This is probably a stupid question but the recipe says to use milk, I presume it is baby formula? Or does she mean cows milk? http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/salmon-baby-puree

How Strange

You can use cows milk for adding to food, breakfast cereal etc after 6 months.

Roesy

nikpmup wrote: »

I got them in Dunnes. Epicure brand. I think Supervalu have Bunalun organic ones. I'm sure the health food shops would have them if the supermarkets didn't.

Just watch the Bunalun ones, some of those are in salted water. I picked up a can the other day for your recipe and realised when I went to use them that they were in salted water. Bubs had already had cheese that day so I didn't want to push it with the beans.

nikpmup

Roesy wrote: »

Just watch the Bunalun ones, some of those are in salted water. I picked up a can the other day for your recipe and realised when I went to use them that they were in salted water. Bubs had already had cheese that day so I didn't want to push it with the beans.

Didn't realise that. I picked some up in Fallon & Byrne the other day that are in plain water, so I have a stock.

nikpmup

Millem wrote: »

Is the boots stock cube called "baby stock cube"? I just noticed it the other day but I didn't know what the crack was with using stock?

I am a devil not not eating fish and I don't want to pass this on, so I decided I am going to make up this anabel salmon recipe! This is probably a stupid question but the recipe says to use milk, I presume it is baby formula? Or does she mean cows milk? http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/salmon-baby-puree

I make a salmon dish for my lad that he loves - I boil baby pasta, and put a small piece of salmon fillet in with it for the last few minutes. In a separate pan, I sauté finely diced onions in unsalted butter and olive oil, add some mixed herbs, then add passata. I'll throw in some broccoli or spinach, or sometimes grated carrot or courgette, and cook till soft. (Add a bit of the pasta water if you need to thin it) I then add some mascarpone cheese, melt it through, then drain the fish & pasta, mix it all together and mash up the fish with a fork. This would work well with cooked pureed chicken as well.

Millem

nikpmup wrote: »

I make a salmon dish for my lad that he loves - I boil baby pasta, and put a small piece of salmon fillet in with it for the last few minutes. In a separate pan, I sauté finely diced onions in unsalted butter and olive oil, add some mixed herbs, then add passata. I'll throw in some broccoli or spinach, or sometimes grated carrot or courgette, and cook till soft. (Add a bit of the pasta water if you need to thin it) I then add some mascarpone cheese, melt it through, then drain the fish & pasta, mix it all together and mash up the fish with a fork. This would work well with cooked pureed chicken as well.

I usually cook for us with a spray eg "fry light". Can I use this for babies? Or do I need to use unsalted butter and olive oil? Also can I use fresh adult pasta? Or do you have to buy baby pasta? Do I puree it?

nikpmup

I use unsalted butter & olive oil to soften the onions, they are sweeter when they are able to cook slowly in butter - the oil is to stop the butter burning. I personally wouldn't use the fry lite spray for the baby, I only use a small amount of butter and oil and babies need the fat. As for the pasta, I use De Cecco brand #75, it's adult pasta, but it's tiny - I think it's for soup. Fresh pasta would be fine too, but you'd need to cut it up small. I don't puree it at this stage, I just make sure the pasta is soft and flake the fish well, he's ten months, but you could if you wanted to.

Chattastrophe!

Millem, re the baby food brands, my rule when I'm buying them is that I look at the ingredients - if I could (hypothetically, if I weren't so short of time!) recreate the same dish at home, I'll buy it.

I find Ellas pouches fantastic. I love that I can use them to introduce random stuff we'd never usually eat, like pumpkin, swedes, mangos. I usually buy the mixed pouches. He loves them! He gets fresh homecooked meals at creche, and then his Ella pouches at the weekends.

I've never yet found a Heinz jar where I could easily recreate the same dish at home using the ingredients on the jar - which is why I don't use them.

I always taste his Ellas before I give them to him, and they are delicious!

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

I find Ellas pouches fantastic. I love that I can use them to introduce random stuff we'd never usually eat, like pumpkin, swedes, mangos. I usually buy the mixed pouches. He loves them! He gets fresh homecooked meals at creche, and then his Ella pouches at the weekends.

THIS ^^^^^^

I was worried I wasn't giving my small fella enough variety, he was basically getting a rotation of pureed apple, carrot, potato, turnip and banana. Ellas are great for trying out the more exotic stuff that I wouldn't generally buy for ourselves. I was only giving him the fruit pouches but last week I thought I'd try a few of the more textured dinners and he loved them (and so did I yum ) They're the only baby food I've tried that actually taste like what they are supposed to be

Millem

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Millem, re the baby food brands, my rule when I'm buying them is that I look at the ingredients - if I could (hypothetically, if I weren't so short of time!) recreate the same dish at home, I'll buy it.

I find Ellas pouches fantastic. I love that I can use them to introduce random stuff we'd never usually eat, like pumpkin, swedes, mangos. I usually buy the mixed pouches. He loves them! He gets fresh homecooked meals at creche, and then his Ella pouches at the weekends.

I've never yet found a Heinz jar where I could easily recreate the same dish at home using the ingredients on the jar - which is why I don't use them.

I always taste his Ellas before I give them to him, and they are delicious!

I must buy a few just to have as emergencies I saw ones that looked exactly like them in aldi but they were aldi own brand. I am I don't mind cooking up loads of dinners and I will freeze them it's just getting started

nikpmup

I bought Cow & Gate pots there yesterday, he had a chicken & tagliatelle one. The ingredients list is impressive, and it actually tastes like food. Heinz stuff always has sugar in it, I never buy it. He seems to be totally gone off mushy stuff now, wants to feed himself. Omelette is a firm favourite.

Roesy

I must be the odd one out, don't think the savoury Ella's ones I've tasted taste of anything much at all. Saying that, bubs tends to Hoover up their spaghetti bolognaise one with gusto. Also think they are very slow to add texture. The Plum and Boots Organics from 7 months do seem to have bits in them. The pouches are handy alright though, wish she was more into them sometimes but usually she's fairly insistent on feeding herself. They are very useful for if you are out and about and unsure if there will be anything on the menu to suit baby. The fruit ones are handy too for throwing a bit into porridge or Ready Brek too.

nikpmup

Roesy wrote: »

I must be the odd one out, don't think the savoury Ella's ones I've tasted taste of anything much at all. Saying that, bubs tends to Hoover up their spaghetti bolognaise one with gusto. Also think they are very slow to add texture. The Plum and Boots Organics from 7 months do seem to have bits in them. The pouches are handy alright though, wish she was more into them sometimes but usually she's fairly insistent on feeding herself. They are very useful for if you are out and about and unsure if there will be anything on the menu to suit baby. The fruit ones are handy too for throwing a bit into porridge or Ready Brek too.

You're right on the texture - they're very smooth, even the 10mts + ones.