Has anyone tried the £10.99 a day baby food?

[Northstar26]

Has anyone tried the V&Me baby food? It’s £10.99 a day which is so much but I’m absolutely at the end of my tether trying to cook 3 meals a day for my 8mo. The cooking, the clean up takes forever and it feels like I’m wasting so much time I could be spending properly with her.

she’s also mildly allergic to egg.

I could afford it every now and again if it’s actually good? I have ADHD so does make all the meal planning, shopping and cooking a million times harder, I feel like I’m drowning and it’s making my days quite miserable which is gutting as my DD is so lovely and I generally enjoy our days (before/outside of feeding!)

www.vandme.co.uk

Thanks

I’m sorry if I overwhelmed you earlier by talking about leftovers… we rarely have them during the week but I try to make the most of them from the weekend cooking. And honestly it’s normally only a bit of mashed potato or something…

try not to worry about doing everything perfectly - your baby is a human not a robot, and so are you. I got totally overwhelmed by nap time/weaning/laundry/school run and that’s when I ordered the Lune & Wild which was a lifesaver as it really is great quality. Then I know she’s had a good lunch and then if tea time goes upside down then it’s no stress.

the rest of the time, I try and concentrate just on one food ingredient and keep it simple. Eg: salmon. I’ll buy a piece of salmon, now what do I do with it… Stick a piece in the oven for 20mins, no seasoning necessary. Mash some with cream cheese for baby and loosen with milk, with toast fingers. And then I’ll have the solid version. Or sweet potato and cottage cheese. Scrambled egg. It’s really minimal cooking, minimal washing up, and just focussing on individual ingredients rather than looking at whole cooked meals.

nut butters are easy ways to add new nutrients - a spoon through some Greek yoghurt, for example.

Thank you, this is helpful once we’ve cleared fish as allergen I think salmon will be a good one.

Maybe I’ll look into Lune & Wild as a somewhat cheaper alternative. Good to hear you like them. I think I just need something to give and maybe one meal like that a day for a while would give me the mental space, or a few days a week.

Op have you tried the minute frying steaks?
They literally take a minute to shallow fry then cut it into strips.

I also had a steam box thing for the microwave, steamed frozen vegs

just makes life easier, the supermarket is full of ready cooked stuff without weird ingredients now so make the most of it!
I don’t eat chicken now but when I did I would strip the chicken and use it for all sorts of meals - chicken pie, salads, sandwiches, mini roast

I empathize. When my twins were that age, I barely had time to breathe, never mind cook.

The advice that annoyed me most was “give them what you’re eating”. I had a chicken Caesar salad for dinner 6 nights a week, since I was too exhausted and had no time to think of anything else to cook. My 8-month olds didn’t want a salad.

I used to batch cook for the kids - bolognese, lamb and lentil stew, etc. And batch cook butternut squash, carrots, parsnip, sweet corn, peas, broccoli, peppers, etc, so there was always a pot of something in the freezer and I just had to add potato/rice/pasta.
They had porridge and fruit for breakfast, batch-cooked hot lunch, and the same picnic dinner every day (selection of things from toast, eggs, hummus, olives, cherry tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, cheese, cold meats, smoked salmon, tuna, etc). They ate way healthier than me.

Now age 6, they eat most things but hate most vegetables (even though they loved all vegs as toddlers).

I recommend the Joe Wicks “Wean in 15” book for lovely kids recipes if you’ve the time to cook them.

I haven’t - though am very nervous to give her whole meat since she doesn’t seem to have got the hang of chewing/swallowing properly as it is! Maybe she’d manage though! Thanks

Twins! Feel a wimp for complaining with one easy baby now it’s my head that’s the problem!

Glad not just me that doesn’t get on with that advise - if only it were that easy! Thanks for your suggestions

Don’t forget the jacket potatoes that are cooked and frozen. They would be ideal for a little one.

My youngest was a nightmare, totally un impressed with all baby food, he kind of forced me to skip that stage.

Hes now 9 still doesn't touch soft babish food, mince, mash, bananas, mango, fruit yoghurt, he will do mullar crunch corners but I wouldn't do them for a baby.

One of his favourites is broccoli 🥦 dead easy, either boil it or steam it.

I'm honestly not being facetious, it's a genuine question - why didn't you eat that stuff as well? So, rather than "give the kids a bit of what you're eating", it's "eat the same as what you're giving the kids"?

Bolognese, lamb and lentil stew, smoked salmon on toast, it all sounds delish. Why couldn't you eat that too rather than making yourself something different (extra work for you)?

My kids are teenagers now but that does seem an extortionate amount for an 8month old. I remember health visitors saying food is for fun up until one when my DC were younger. At this age they are still getting almost all their nutrients from milk.

A book I also used and still make some recipes from today - Baby Led Weaning cookbook. I also started meal planning when DC were babies. 20 minutes one day saved time and mental energy later in the week. I used a diary and would just check that and know what to cook that day without having to think as it was already planned. It helped making sure we had a variety of meals and veg etc too.