jars and sachets - MIL is disgusted

[Murphyslaw21]

Bit of a back story...

My house we bought before baby is very old, found out I was pregnant so did bedrooms, and living room. We have no heating or water, having run out of money we have had to put kitchen old hold.

House is warmed by a wood burner. Now my kitchen is disgusting. Mould, damp no water (outside tap only). We only use it as necessary. Pots and pans are washed in bucket with kettle water. Therefore I only give baby jars and sachets. Now I spend a fortune she has mango breakfast, porridge, roast dinners all fruit and veg. I wash her pots and sterilise them. I would not think of risking cooking as I'm not convinced pots and utensils are clean enough. We won't be doing kitchen until next year as we have to put in heating in this year. We don't have a dishwasher as no space for one.

My MIL has raised concerns and insults that it's because I can't be bothered to cook and that the jars are full of preservatives and additives. But I read them and they are 100% organic with nothing added. I'm so cross.

I give baby 3 good meals a day. I would love to cook but it's an awful kitchen. When we go out with her and I pull out a packet I get rolling eyes and sarcastic comments. The other day I said well buy me a kitchen then. And she moaned that I spent the money on doing bedrooms first. But my logic was baby needs a nice clean bedroom . We had been sleeping for six months on an air bed. Not fun whilst heavily pregnant.

I'm so angry but I'm wondering if the jars and sachets are bad.

I usually just rub mine with mix of garlic and rosemary and olive oil salt and pepper and I use a little bit of beef stock (cube plus water) and a splash of red wine. there's usually alot of juice that comes out so I don't place too much in. a while chicken I put in without anytbing at all. just a bit of salt and pepper.

The thing to remember with a slow cooker is that the water doesn't evaporate much. If you use the amount of stock you would for an oven cooked dish, it'll be watery.

what about things that don't need cooking! My 7 month old loves banana and avocado mashed together with a fork. Again mango doesn't need cooking! What about boiling veg in the microwave (put in a bowl of water with a plate over the top) and then mushing it up? I work on the theory that one pouch a day is probably fine but try and do the other 2 meals fresh! Hope that helps... good luck with the renovations

I've just flicked through the thread. Some people have been quite mean.

Op, my DS is a similar age to your DD. He has either porridge or weetabix for breakfast, usually with some mushed raspberries, strawberries or blueberries. For lunch he has toast with hummus, avocado or peanut butter, bits of cucumber and carrot, bits of banana and Greek yoghurt. For dinner he usually has an Ella's kitchen pouch. I don't feel a bad parent for giving him this. He is thriving.

For some reason people think they become superior parents because they cook meals from scratch. Just like if they BF. They need to come into the real world. You clearly love your baby to bits and are doing the best for her, it doesn't matter if something is homecooked or not at this point. Babies should get most of their nutrients and calories from milk until they are one. Worry about a kitchen at that point.

As a pp said, you don't need much liquid in the cooker as it doesn't go anywhere. Try putting a whole chicken in there with lemon and and garlic/ herbs in the cavity. No need to add anything else. The chicken cooks in its own juices.

Some good ideas I'll try the chicken

Thanks guys so much

Going to Aldi today - let's see what I can find!!!

How is it going Op?

Ok (ish)

Went full hog into using slow cooker which great for main meals. Baby girl seems to like them. However see receip for fruit and gave it ago it tasted ok but made so much that I had twenty plus tubs of it for her and too be honest you don't want the same thing every day so now what I'm doing is

Breakfast - Elle's kitchen mango breakie. Porridge or banana mashed into tub with yoghurt

Lunch is left over slow cooker meal so nice variety there ( as I have loads left and freezing it) oh yeah bought a little three draw freezer

Evening is fruit or veg Elle's kitchen again

Although other day she had houmous and loved it.

So we are doing mixture of pre made and homemade. To be honest until kitchen is done I'll probably keep to this regime. I'm still not comfortable about preparing too much food for her in our kitchen. The thought of her being ill is not worth it

Felt very disheartened with some of the nasty replies I got. But after talking to people who have been to my home they agree her room was priority and so was lounge and they feel that they would have done the same. So feel much more positive . It's a struggle but she can play and sleep in comfort.

Murphy its irrelevant as to what came first, the wee ones room or the kitchen, because its done now so I'd just let it all go over my head.

Dont forget you can cut down on the quantity of ingredients in your slow cooker and if you really do want to make a small amount of something you can get one of the very tiny cookers that are suitable for one person meals.

Re your kitchen - you don't have to have the slow cooker in your kitchen. It could even go on the landing or in the sitting room.

Im sorry you found some of the posts harsh.

Sansoora have slow cooker in lounge - smells lovly.

Buy prepared veg already cut etc so I just sit on sofa plop it all in and see what happens

So far so good

I haven't RTWT but I think you were right to do the living and sleeping areas first OP!

I imagine that you don't want to prepare baby food in your 'kitchen' though you probably manage to feed the adults, and sachets and jars won't do any harm, though they are really expensive.

I'd probably do the kitchen before the heating, but wonder if you could do a bit of the kitchen early on eg get it gutted, insulated etc so that you have a serviceable clean room (even if it's not a kitchen) - stick in a cheap or 2nd hand cooker, a table and a dishwasher. It doesn't need to be a full fitted kitchen straight away.

Hi fluffy

The kitchen is attached via a lean too. So the lean too and kitchen need knocking down and attaching to main house. Unfortunately it's more of a shed than a kitchen and it's a huge job as its not physically attached to house

Ah I'm with you.

Glad to hear you're on top of it xx