Cooking novice to wean baby = tins and jars! Help!

[Lisa78]

Okay ladies, I am the goddess of frozen food but have now bought a food processor, which is sat on my very clean work surface in my very clean kitchen (purchase of item of kitchen equipment led to spring clean of kitchen... my hands may never be flexible again!)
The idea is to use it for baby food since I thought I would go all earth mother and not fill him up on Hipp and Heinz. It took me ages just to figure out how to put it together, then it took me ages to work out how to actually use it
I've just had a go at grating cheese in it and very exciting it was too - not to mention scary, all that noise and whirring blades. But then it has to be able to do more than that if I am to use it to wean DS2 in a short while - I seem to have had it in mind that if I bought a food processor, food would magically appear in it, all mushed up and ready (the cheese is for us BTW, not him)
Erm, supposing I boil some carrots, what do I do then? Do they go in the liquidiser jug bit? And whilst I am on the subject, what else do I do to wean him... Mashed potatoes?
Am useless I know, but I don't do kitchens.... I should just stick to tins
Seriously, help!

Wouldnt it be easier to just use a cheese grater?

As for baby - I have been weaning DS on carrots, swede, sweet potato, courgette, pear, apple, mango, pea, green bean.

In the early days I just did carrots, sweet potato, pear and apple.

All very easy to cook then puree although the sweet potato its best to push through sieve as might go funny consistensy in a blender.

Just whack it in and blitz it, save back some of the cooking liquid to adjust the consistency - then pour into ice cube trays, stick in freezer and transfer to bags when needed.

Then you just get out how many cubes you need at a time.

Far less waste than having to open a jar each time and chucking the waste.

I use a handheld blender thing.

You sound just like me Lisa
I did exactly the same thing when weaning ds. It's never sen the light of day since.

Boil them and liquidise them. Add a bit of cooking water if it all seems a bit solid.

Ditto pears and apples.

If it all gets too much, mash up a banananana.

When you're feeling more adventurous, try frozen spinach (that chopped stuff is fine) and possibly some sweetcorn.

I hate to suggest Annabel Karmel but her Baby and Toddler book got me off to a decent start with dd1. Nigella's How to Eat has some good suggestions as well, principally about mashing up baked potato (not the skin) with milk.

Good luck!!

I've never cracked ice cube trays. Or rather I have, literally, as I bashed them in frustration to get the sodding cubes out.

a mouli (silver coloured sievey type thing, just a few pounds in eg John Lewis) is fab for mash of any kind, and eg pureeing peas, when you don't want the skins.
I started dd with baby rice but it's just like wallpaper paste, so quickly moved onto purees of pear, apple, carrot etc and mixtures

The flexibly ones are sooo much easier than the hard ones - go for them Lisa.

Going the frozen way means just a few hours in the kitchen lasts for ages so if your not much of a cook day to day you will still have plenty in for baby. When he starts progressing you can mix the cubes too to give variety - it really is very easy and cheaper too!

So I cook stuff as I normally would, then throw it in the liquidiser jug bit with some of the cooking water and wait for it to turn to mush? (Nutty, I AM going to use this blasted thing, I cleaned my kitchen for it )

I could cook several different vegs, freeze them, then get assorted ice cubes out for him?

With fruit, do I just chuck it in then? Can't really boil an apple can you?

Becca, whats a sweet potato when its at home?

JennH - are you reading and taking notes here? Our babes would be on tins forever without MN

agree re: flexi ones beccarollover, they do a huge one in ikea

peas have skins???? Don't they just mush in then?
Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God

With apples, peel, core and chop them, then cook them in boiling water for about 10 mins till they're soft, then liquidise.

peel, core apples, pears etc. halve plums and steam or boil them and carefully peel off any skin. then they usually just mush, or you can whizz/sieve.
sweet potatoes are those orange elongated tubers you see in the supermarket, they taste fabulous roasted for grown ups as well as babies.mmmmmmmmm

Yes you peel mango, pears, apples etc and stew or steam them then chuck them in the blender - fruits need to be cooked until over 6 months apparently (easier to digest)

Sweet potatoes are lovely - they are basically, erm sweet potatoes!! Found near the usual potatoes but arent shaped like them, not as round as normal white ones - they have an orange skin and bright orange flesh.

my little one loves butternut squash

Go on bundle, I'll bite - whats butternut squash?

ooh it's about 8 inches long, sort of butterscotch coloured, kind of pear shaped and you peel, halve, take out the seeds & roast with a little olive oil (or just boil/steam). it's lovely mushed up or served like roast potatoes

bnut and chilli soup is v nice

message withdrawn

for my baby becca?

hehe maybe not

twiglett I love AK's chicken/apple meatball thingies (mine have cornflakes rather than cheese n onion crisps, ie the healthy version )

Be careful with potato, it goes like glue in blender.

this is great we are starting to talk about miss e and food

Are the jars of food really terrible ? should we not use them at all?

Go buy Annabel Karmel from Ebay or Amazon best money you'll ever spend
DD loves all recipes from there it is veritable bible!

Beware even of the flexible trays. But clearly that's just me.

And never think "oh I'll just sterilise those rubbery flexible trays by boiling them in a saucepan" They melt!

If you really are a complete novice, and don't mind being spoken down to, get Gina Fords book of weaning. Idiot proof instructions on quantities, timings and how to cook things. All given in her own inimitable style "mashed banana must not be given to babies younger than 23 weeks"