Parsnip Mash

I came up with this recipe for Parsnip Mash on my new blog but thought I'd would share it here as well because it would be absolutely fantastic for babies too.

Vegetarian Cottage Pie for all of the family

Sometimes you just need vegetables.  My son loved this!  He'd had a week of nothing really home made and was a touch bunged up if you don't mind me being crude so I was determined to get him a full on meal of delicious vegetables without either of us noticing we had no meat.

Porridge for Babies, Toddlers and Grown Ups

Why don't more people eat porridge?  I think part of the reason is people think it's difficult.  It's not at all but if you make it on the hob it makes no sense to cook it for 1 and the pan ends up pretty mucky.  Making it in the microwave solves all of that.

Root Vegetable Mash for Babies, Toddlers and Adults

A great recipe for the whole family this and an awesome recipe for the reluctant vegetable eater in your life (baby, toddler or *ahem* adult).

Monster Mash - great for babies, toddlers and older kids

Ok, your kids might be off eating their body weight in sweets tonight, let's sneak in some vegetables before they go...

How to wean your baby onto solid food

Wow.  I've set myself a challenge here!  Just to clarify up front, I'm not a health professional and so all of this is what I've learned and from personal experience of 1 child and talking to friends.

There are a lot of 'rules' when it comes to weaning.  I will tell you what people say and why and then like any other information source it's up to you to investigate, digest and make your own choices with the support of your local health visitor or doctor.

Why do people start on solids?

Well I've been there.  It's common for a child to have a growth spurt at around 4 months.  For some kids this passes, for others it doesn't.  Unfortunately mine was the latter.  So people start giving solids thinking that it will help their babies sleep.  Generally it doesn't in the experience of my friends and my child.  It was only when my son started to eat a lot more that it helped.

Some people start because of peer pressure or excitement.  I once overheard someone with a 12 week old waiting to see the health visitor telling her friend "I'm going to start him on solids this week I think".  Fortunately her friend urged her to talk to the health visitor about it.  If you are in the situation of having a 3-4 month old, I'm certain at least one member of your family, perhaps your mum has suggested weaning him / her soon.

Fish Pie for Babies, Toddlers and the Whole Family

There's something about fish pie which is great when it's so cold outside.  It's a warming cuddle of a dish.

Top 10 Potato Recipes for Babies and Kids - in praise of the humble spud!

Sometimes it's time for a review and a catch up.

Let's face it, if you're anything like me, there are times where you need to go to the supermarket but you just don't have the time or energy.  Chances are you will have at least one potato in the house.  Read on because that potato might just become a meal...

Swede and Carrot Puree for Babies, Toddlers and Adults

Puree?  For adults?  Toddlers too?  Are you mad?!

Well possibly but this puree recipe is neither the cause nor the symptom.

Beef Stew for Babies, Toddlers and the Whole Family

I like to think I am the kind of person who doesn't need meat for every meal and I like to think the vegetarian section of this site has the odd recipe or two but at this time of year, slow cooked beef just feels right.

There are adaptations in here for adults, toddlers and babies (baby led weaning or traditional approach) so read on!

Apple 'jam' tarts for babies and toddlers adaptations from 6 months

These aren't really jam tarts as there isn't anything quite so sweet in them as jam but it is a cunning (if I say so myself) and tasty way to have a nice pudding without adding sugar to it.  My son and I had two each at lunchtime with a bit of cream (oops!)

There is an adaptation for younger babies so read on...

Sausages and Lentils (or just Lentils) for babies, toddlers and adults

When my son was first weaning, I used to make a meal which was very loosely based on Annabel Karmel's lovely lentils recipe.  My son always used to love it and so I thought about making something similar for all of us to serve with sausages.

There are variations below if you're wanting to serve it to a baby.  The vegetarian baby version is suitable from 6 months.  I would include the garlic even for babies, you'd be surprised how adventurous they can be!

Cauliflower Cheese

If you've been a reader from the start you may have a certain sense of deja-vu, however, as is life with these things, you start a blog, you start writing and develop and hopefully improve. Then months down the line you read your initial posts and think "perhaps they need a little work..."  I have occasionally gone back and revised things; sometimes including photos but to make wholesale revisions seems a bit pointless as if I'm honest the earlier threads are barely read by anyone including me so it would only be pandering to my sense of being a perfectionist.  

Pear and Vanilla puree and Relationships

Facebook has changed the way we interact with friends and acquaintances.  Do I really have over 100 friends in my life?  Probably not.  In that list of "friends" are people I would have (and in some cases had) lost touch with had social networking sites not existed.  So why am I friends with as many people on there as I am?  I suppose I feel like it keeps people updated on what's going on in our lives without having to update each person in turn.  But what does this say of me as a person and of my friendships?


One thing that has surprised me though is, taken in a different format, communicating through emails, instant messaging, posts and photographs has changed some of these relationships.  People who I spoke to infrequently now know (and care) more about what's going on with me than people I previously talked to a lot.  Also having that step removed, being reduced to text makes people braver somehow.  Like being hidden behind a screen enables a display of vulnerability which would have been more difficult to show in person or on the phone and I think a degree of vulnerability only strengthens relationships.  People who say everything is tickedy-boo all the time are just better liars.


So, anyway, I've come up with a new fruit puree combination.

Pear and Vanilla Puree

4 Pears
1 tsp vanilla extract (not essence).

Method

Peel and core the pears.  Add a tiny amount of water and put on a hob with a lid on the top.  Cook until softened.  Add a tsp of the vanilla extract and mix.  Puree with as little amount of water as needed to puree them (you may find none is needed, pears are quite juicy.)  Freezes well and mixes well with yoghurt as a pudding.

Pears were less than 70p a bag in my local supermarket last week so it makes the above recipe really economical.


Oh, by the way, despite my lofty reasoning above, the real reason I joined facebook was for the scrabble.  

Some more fruit purees

As I've said before, I don't buy commercial flavoured yoghurts or fromage frais because of the added sugar in many of the recipes.  Here are some more flavours I've come up with recently with an overall "basic" recipe:

Fruit puree

Dried fruit (e.g. raisins, sultanas, chopped dried apricots) - optional but good if the fresh fruit is tart
Fresh "bulk" fruit (e.g. apples or pears peeled and chopped, plums)
Fresh or Frozen "flavouring" fruit (e.g. raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) - optional
Spices (e.g. cinnamon, mixed spice, vanilla extract) - optional

Method

Boil the dried fruit in a minimal amount of water for a few minutes.  Add any other fruit and ground spices and boil until soft.  Puree with as little water as you can to get a good puree (you want it thick and some fruits will puree with no added water).  Serve cold with full fat greek yoghurt.  Freezes well in ice cube trays (silicone ones are best as they don't crack.)  Put into a freezer bag once frozen and label up.

Recent successes include:

Apple and cinnamon
Plum and sultana
Cherry (used frozen cherries) and raisin
Pear and blueberry
Apple, blueberry and strawberry
Apple, sultana and mixed spice
Apple and apricot
Pear and vanilla

Fromage Frais and yoghurt

Well my son has currently got his first dose of man flu according to his Dad.  Seriously he has a really sore throat which is making him very grumpy and reluctant to breastfeed.  I'm frantically trying to hand express to maintain my supply but in the meantime he's eating a lot of yoghurt (as well as other foods) in the hope it will keep his calories and calcium up.  Sadly I've also bought some formula for this evening in case I can't express enough.
Call me cruel but I have never given my child commercial fromage frais or flavoured yoghurt.  I suppose I took the guidance to heart and having read on the packets that it contains sugar, I was determined not to give them until he was one.

There is a reasonably quick alternative though.  If you make your own fruit purees you can easily mix them with full fat yoghurt (for flavoured yoghurt) or cream cheese (for fromage frais).

Some popular purees with my son are:

• Apricot and apple (simmer dried chopped apricots in water for 5 mins then add diced peeled apple and cook until soft, puree)
• Plum
• Pear
• Mashed banana (raw not cooked)
• Raspberry (sieved) and apple
• Mango

If the fruit is a bit sour (often a problem at this time of year) use apple juice instead of the water but make sure the fruit is pretty dry before pureeing otherwise it can be a bit too runny otherwise (apart from the one containing dried apricots).  You can use frozen fruits as well and all of the purees apart from banana can be frozen.  I reheat in the microwave until boiling then allow to cool to a safe temperature to feed my baby and mix in a little yoghurt or cream cheese.

It is rather surprising how many foods contain sugar which are targeted at babies.  I suppose it did me no harm to be munching away on rusks at 8 months but it's not something I want to do with my little chap.