Quick, easy veggie meals to share with DD, 6mo

[MeadowHay]

DD is a nightmare baby tbh, constant crying etc. Our diet has been pretty crap since she was born as she's so intense that I haven't been able to start cooking until DH gets home and especially if this is 7pm+ we are both shattered and DD is either falling asleep, or crying, or whatever (usually crying...). On the days when he is not in til that late I am probably going to feed her a pouch or something cold/easy and we will eat later in the hopes that she will be asleep by then but his getting home time is erratic and sometimes he is home for 5 or 6pm. I need to get back to cooking things especially now we are weaning her. I used to cook a lot and I feel like my brain is mush and I just can't think of any good recipes to include her with the food that I can make in 20/30 minutes max - this has to include the prep, might start buying pre-prepped veg though even though more expensive but if we eat better as a result then it's worth it. We are vegetarian.

I did pasta bolognaise one night which went down well. I used to make curries but I'm unsure of any good curry recipes that aren't spicy for DD. Also do stir fries but I use pre-made sauce for that which I bet has tons of salt, and also often spicy, so not suitable for DD? Any other recommendations that aren't just stuff from the freezer shoved in the oven as we are eating too much of that atm .

How about fritata, easy to knock up quickly and easy for her to eat either hot or cold.
I make batches of baked butternut squash falafel and serve with pita and salads.
Stuffed mushrooms can be quick could use different cheeses to top with for you and dd if you what something with a bit more taste.
Not quick but minimal prep- root veg casserole, particularly if you buy the ready chopped root veg stew packs. Can then just be left to do it’s thing in the oven.

Take out a portion of stir fry for DD before adding the sauce?

Will she be able to eat stir fry though? I think like small pieces/thin strips of stir-fried veg, and noodles, would be too hard for her to eat, or even hold easily?

I don't know how to make a fritata but think it's mostly egg? will look it up. How do you make the butternut squash falafel, that sounds nice? I don't like mushrooms but could stuff peppers instead. Casserole is a good shout especially with pre-prepped veg as you say.

I see this recipe for the falafel but I cheat and use frozen, chopped butternut squash.

Veggie chilli but put the actual chilli on the table.
Quorn sausage, mash and veg. I prep the veg earlier in the day.
Deep med veg quiche with roast potatoes ( again prepped durring the day)
Thick home made soup
Pasta and tomato sauce
Veggie Shepherd pie
Dahl and rice
I generally find things where I can prep bits through out the day, slow cooker and make in bulk and freezer are best. BBC good food lentil ragu is good for this.

Definitely agree slow cook things etc which she can eat earlier if she is tired.

Gnocchi bake www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7192/gnocchi-and-tomato-bake
Chickpea curry www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2141649/spinach-and-chickpea-curry
Quick bean stew simpleveganblog.com/15-minute-cannellini-bean-stew/

Cook dinner in the morning. That’s what I did - easier than trying in the evening.

What’s stopping your partner from cooking?

Don't have a slow cooker but I have a feeling my parents might have one that they never use so might see if I can scav it off them...if not then will look at buying one lol.

Believe Oh dw he would definitely cook when he came home from work if I wanted him to - I actually prefer to cook so that he can take DD off me when he gets in. If she is asleep when he gets in and I'm doing dinner then he helps me cook it/set the table/whatever. But if he's awake I would rather he take her and I cook as I've been with her all day and need a bit of space and also think it's important for him to spend as much time with her as possible too.

Been doing better the last week or so, she's had naps a few times just before tea time so I've managed to start the cooking/prepping or even cook the whole thing before she's woke up which has been good, and a few times have been able to stick her in Jumperoo for 15 mins while I prep stuff. We are really low on food supplies atm though as well, we don't drive and I can't carry that much with the pram and am not v. organised so I really need to make a good shopping list and sort an online shop asap...not sure what we will have tonight...probably Quorn meatballs in some kind of sauce I will invent , with couscous maybe. The Quorn website actually has some great easy recipes, I made Quorn Pad Thai the other day off there which was lush and super easy and quick.

I think at 6m, making ahead and reheating is the key. With any stew or soup you can either do it chunky and pick out pieces for her, or add a bit of baby rice to the sauce to make hers a little easier to manage. I used to stick a couple of potatoes into the stew which would do for the little one's tea if DH and I were having something she couldn't manage, like rice. It might also be handy to keep mashed potato or veg in the freezer. I also used to do a few chunks of veg in the steamer for her, to last a couple of days, to make her meals a bit more finger friendly.

I know people say it's a faff to do different stuff for her, but I found that middle way easier than constraining all our meals to what a baby could eat.

These days I do a lot of 20 min meals so pasta, gnocchi, fajitas, baked chicken or grilled meat with couscous and veg. Ham egg and chips - do wedges coated in a tiny amount of oil - takes longer to cook than 20 mins but not much prep. Frozen chopped onions are useful at this age, whether you buy them like that or chop them yourself and freeze. I always found chopping onions and bread were the most hazardous things when trying to cook with a baby on your hip.

Dd1 ate nothing 😩 dd2 ate anything and still does (except now sprouts and broccoli). Dd2 also seems to prefer my veggie food to rest of the family non veggie.
She will eat her own body weight in lentil lasagna
Stuffed peppers and stuffed tomatoes
Quiche (sometimes even with broccoli)
Stir fried kale and mushroom (you could substitute) with Nutritional yeast sprinkled on
Quorn steak strips done with stir fried veg (again often with nutritional yeast)
Root vegetable bake
Basically anything involving butternut squash

I've been doing this recently, at 6m we'd only just started weaning so she had one food at a time (if you stick veg/fruit sticks in a bowl of water in the microwave they cook in no time. 2 minutes will cook apple sticks soft enough to gum, 3 and you can mash them).

Now she's 7 months we're on to meals. Scrambled egg and toast, homemade vegetable soup, quinoa balls, egg rolls and vegetable muffins (from a website I found, link below), dhal, vegetable cottage pie (you can make a cheese sauce to go with it)... Lots of options.

www.healthylittlefoodies.com/vegetable-savoury-muffins/

Agree with PP, make a load and freeze into ice cube trays then store in freezer bags.

Oh and avocado and banana are awesome (unfortunately my DD currently won't eat banana ) to mash and serve with toast, rice cakes or similar.

Homemade sweet potato chips have also been a recent success.

She still won't eat anything mashed, and she's 7 months and probably been on solids about 6 weeks now. She gums basically anything I give her as finger foods though. Tonight I made a thai green curry but without the chilli but then I thought the pieces of quorn chicken and courgette might have been choking hazards and they were too small for her to really self-feed so tried her with the tomato and lentil bake Ella pouch which she didn't like, but I think it was the texture of the thick puree rather than the taste as she's fed herself tomato before and had tomato pureed and liked both. She just doesn't seem to be able to manage any kind of thick puree, or mashed texture yet. Is that normal after this length of time on solids? I know food before 1 is just for fun so not worried about her actual intake of solids quantity-wise, just I thought she might have mastered the thick purees/mashed textures by now but she still isn't impressed with them .

It's easier to cook atm as DH has finished his last placement so is back at uni and often finishes earlier now, today he was home around 4.30pm, so he can take DD so I can cook and we tend to eat tea around 6pm.

I’m veggie as are my 3 children. I would say be careful not to go too heavy with the Quorn stuff - it’s quite salty and low in calories. Just make sure it’s offered with fresh veg and other foods that are full fat.
I always find the first weaning bit tricky to be honest - we end up relying on dairy a lot for protein until they can chew better!