Help me sort my eating/cooking habits for the sake of my ds!

[BabiHapus]

Me and dh were together for 10 years before we had our ds, which gave us plenty of time to develop some bad habits eating wise! Our idea of cooking is putting some processed beige food in the oven for 30 minutes. Delicious and fine by me but we have a baby now who is weaning and i don’t want him to eat like this all the time! Now and again is fine of course, everything in moderation! We have a lot of take away which we are working on before ds gets old enough to understand fully what we are eating.

AIBU to ask you for your easiest healthy meals, ideally 4 ingredients or less for a lazy girl who wants to do the right thing for her baby?

Until now I’ve been cooking single veggies, fruits etc and freezing them in ice cube trays as you do...but he’s soon going to need more than single foods!

Any recipes/easy ways of cooking much appreciated!

It sounds silly but I wouldn't make different things for baby, just change way you and dh eat and give him a smaller - perhaps pureed - portion.

Bolognese/chilli (with chilli powder left out for lo)
Sausage and mash
Roast dinner
'things' on toast - egg, beans, cheese, boiled egg and soldiers etc
Pasta is so versatile - my fave is to fry off some chicken and mushroom, In a separate pan melt Philly, add milk, keep adding and stirring til right consistency, add in meat and veg, serve with pasta
Curries are surprisingly easy - meat and veg, curry paste, water, milk if want it a bit creamy
Even things Like stir fry would be ok
As winters coming it's great weather to be doing soups and stews, warming and full of goodness

Chicken & Beans

chicken pieces (these could be chopped boneless chicken thigh or chopped breast or even whole pieces)
1 chopped onion (red is nice, but white is fine)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400g tin mixed beans
2tsp olive oil

Heat 2tsp olive oil and fry onion (preferably using a low-med heat so it doesn't brown but softens instead).
Push onion to one side of the pan, away from the heat. Turn heat up a bit and add chicken pieces to brown. Add tomatoes, a tsp or two of mixed herbs (or buy chopped toms with herbs), beans, salt & pepper. Simmer until cooked.

Original recipe for this adds 2tsp balsamic vinegar too, but I seldom remember that. Smoked paprika is nice in it though.

You need veg prepared in trays, drizzle with olive oil. Eat with grilled mackerel, chicken, pesto topped salmon. Whatever you fancy in oven.

Prepared roasting veg. Cover with honey and mustard eat with chicken ect. Another easy oven meal.

Buy a lovely cookery book. Teach yourself healthier cooking. It will taste better too.
Plan a couple of weeks food and shop for it online to avoid buying prepackaged junk.
Ideas
Stir fry chicken, onions, Juliane carrots, peppers with a homemade sweet and sour sauce (easy just ketchup, brown sugar, pineapple juice, vinegar and soy sauce). Serve with plain rice or noodles.

Cottage pie is delicious and very easy. (Maybe not for summer though).

Fajitas are very very easy. Toddler can have pitta strips rather than wraps. Do homemade guacamole to go with it.

Risotto. Finely chopped onion and celery sautéed. Cook arborio rice for a couple of minutes. Throw in carrots or other veg. Add stock and tomato purée. Simmer in cool over until liquid absorbed. Throw in peas or asparagus for last few minutes. Grated cheese atop.

Baked potatoes and fillings.

Fishcakes with corn, carrots and peas or broccoli.

Omelette and sweet potato fries.

The obvious bolognese, carbonara, chow mein, homemade pizza, homemade pie and mash.

Nice salads.

www.amazon.co.uk/Ellas-Kitchen-Easy-Family-Cookbook/dp/0600631850/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ref=plSrch&keywords=ellas+kitchen+cookbook&dpPl=1&dpID=51PCoZAXZyL&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1534282700&sr=8-2

This book is good

Not adding any more ideas - there are loads of good ones here! Just wanted to say remember to be careful with salt content while he's still very little - pre-prepared sauces and stock cubes can be very salty. There's a brand called Kallo who do a range of very low salt stock cubes which are good.

Stir fry (frozen stir fry veg +sauce and boil noodles , add meat of wanted)
Same with curry but frozen med veg and kidney beans and boil rice

Pesto salmon - get a couple of salmon fillets and make a "pocket" lengthwise. Put a spoonful of pesto sauce in the pocket. Bake in the oven at 190 degrees for about 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet. You can have it with mash, potatoes, rice or flaked over pasta.

Chicken pesto spinach pasta - chop a couple of chicken breasts into cubes and brown in a pan. When the chicken has been cooking for 10 minutes or so, stir in a handful or two of washed spinach and let it wilt, then add a few tablespoons of creme fraiche and mix over a low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in half a jar of pesto sauce. Add to cooked pasta (I like it with fusilli)

My dc also love pitta pizzas! In their simplest form, use the pitta bread as the pizza base. Spread tomato puree over and then grated cheese. Add herbs and other toppings as required. Cook in oven at 180 degrees until the cheese has melted.

Chicken pieces (drumsticks and thighs), 2-3 large handfuls of froze or fresh sliced mediterranean veg (peppers, courgettes onion etc.) Toss in some oil with some rosemary and garlic puree. Put in a roasting dish/baking tray. Add cherry tomatoes and olives if you want. Pour in one glass of white wine or water or chicken stock around them. Bake for 35-45 mins, depending on oven. Serve with a bag of bag of leaves and crusty bread. Prep time - 5 mins.

I was the same til my dc came along. I found doing a meal plan helped. Batch cooking also so that you just take out the freezer and it's simple and quick to prepare. Once your dc is eating same meals as you it's easier I think. I do a batch cook once a month, using a steamer, slow cooker and every pan in the place, the oven is full and it takes from morning til night (I get a babysitter in so it's over with in one day!) I literally batch cook pasta, rice, homemade sweet potato fries, snacks like fruit winders and oat cakes. Having a meal plan helps massively because it's all there to see, easy for shopping, easy for portioning and easy on the day so you're not scratting about and reach for the easy nuggets and chips!! I'm happy to share my meal plan if you drop me a message

Get a pressure cooker. It will change your life!

Following with interest as I could have written your post OP. I have a 10 month old DS who gets lovely fresh Annabel Karmel recipes made by DH but our own diet is utter, utter shite