can i give a 7mth old things like fishfingers chicken nuggets and stuff like that help

[babyjjbaby]

either blended or cut into small chunks i give him sausages and he likes them but need more stuff as we can't afford to eat meat all the time i give him chipsif we have them as long as they ain't too crispy and he loves them i'm not talking about giving him it all the time but once or twice a week probably

[sandcastles]

True, Colditz. He wouldn't care!

[glaskham]

bug spag bol???...dont know what that should have been exept just maybe spag bol....

[needmorecoffee]

babyjjbaby - the Ann? Karmel book on baby and toddler recipes is brilliant. Someone here will know the proper title.
Isn't your HV suporting you? I wouldn't expect my 16yo to know how to cook for a baby or know that babies can't do salt etc £90 a week is a decent amount of money for food. Plenty of fruit and veggies there. Babies like bananas too. Do you know how to stew apples? Makes a nice pud. Bits of cucumber - remove the hard green skin as I wouldn't expect a 7 month old to chew well.

[sandcastles]

Lol @ bug...I read it as big!

[glaskham]

it might have been big....i dont know...read it back and thought ergh, a bug spag bol!! though i'm sure my 3yo would love that!!haha!! his grandad made the mistake of telling him he was having worm butties in the summer and he's asked for them since!!- a true boy eh!!

its annabelle karmel isn't it? i used her books, even if you just borrow from your local library, wont cost a thing out of your budget then!!

and where abouts are you? do you have a surestart nearby? maybe contact them and get someone to come round....

[CharlieAndLolasMummy]

" i definitly won't be rehoming any of the pets coz i had them so it's my responisbility to look after them to the dasy they die "



and your baby comes WHERE in the pecking order?

£90 is shed loads for food. We spend around £60 on 2 gannet like kids and 2 adults, and we eat bloody well, 90% organic and local. With 1 small baby and 2 adults you should be laughing with that amount to spend.

But really, you need to prioritise. From what you have posted, your baby is eating way too much salt. At 7 mo, they shouldn't have ANY salt. If you can't afford for the baby and the dog to eat well-the baby comes first.

here is what a seven month old baby should be eating. Not bloody Asda SmartPrice sausages. Even if it does mean that the dog doesn't eat so well

[colditz]

And I'm sure you would have known exactly what you were doing when you were sixteen, Charlieandlolasmummy.

[CharlieAndLolasMummy]

eh? is she 16?

Ok I missed that, was possibly a bit harsh then.

[colditz]

She's 16 and looking after her sick mum who is in and out of hospital - but she didn't say that in the OP, so not immediately obvious.

babyjjbaby, let me know where you live in the country (just vaguely) and I'll try to find some cooking classes for you - I wish they had been around when I had my first baby because I really needed them.

[babyjjbaby]

CharlieAndLolasMummy i put the baby in that stament to if u read it i don't cre for my animals more than my baby yes i love my pets but i love my baby too and there is 3 adults and the bay and the pets not just 2 adults and my bus fares have to come out of that aswell upto £10 a week and even weetabix has got salt in if u read the pack my dogs eat the cheap dry dog food what do u think i should feed them air i'm sorry but i do not think i am wrong in saying that there my animals and my responsability when we got the animals we had a differant lifestyle we could easily afford everything and we had spending money we would just go to asda buy what we want when we want but things have changed thank you to the lady who has given me the recipe for lasange i knew how to do spag bol but not lasange

[colditz]

Porridge doesn't have any salt in, babyjjbaby, it's easy to make too. (and it tastes nice to me, unlike weetabix which taste like soggy cardboard!)

[cadelaide]

Ooh, babyjjbaby, I notice you make your own bread. You can get dried apricots, soak them in boiling water until they're soft, then whizz them up with a hand blender. Add this to the breadmaker with the liquid, about 3 big tablespoons. Dried apricots are a good source of minerals and they sweeten the bread and make it scrummy, my lot love it (including ds2, 18m).

[sandcastles]

Oh & dd loved mashed banana mixed into her porridge or weetbix.

BUT when you have given your ds banana, be aware that the seeds do expand in the tummy, so will come out in his nappy looking like little black worms...gave me a fright when I first saw them!

[cadelaide]

And Colditz is right, babies need fat.

[glaskham]

my 2 love porridge aswell and thats very ceap aswell!! i have £60 a week to spend on food for 2 adults a 3 yo and a 20mo and feed 3 cats....so a similar amount is needed to feed my house (as both my kids eat nearly an adults sized plate of tea!!haha!!)

your very welcome, and so if you know how to make spag bol, just double your quantitys and then it saves you cooking the same mix 2 days in a row!! and to be honest the bolognaise tastes nicer when left for 24hrs!!we all love it!! and its so much nicer to have homemade lasagne where you know exactly whats gone into it!!

[babyjjbaby]

will try the porridge and mashed banana what can i put in babyrice i got one box of it but he won't eat it plain and don't want to waste it

[lulumama]

you could give him finger food

steamed carrot sticks, broccoli and cauliflower florets, chunks of apple and pear

lidl often have half price fruit and veg

zap a potato in the microwave until soft , scrape out the potato and mash with a little butter and some cheese, or cream cheese...

a 7 month old will still be getting a lot of nourishmnet from milk and does not need 3 big meals a day

rice cakes or porridge for breakfast with some dried or fresh fruit

a mashed banana, avocado or some yoghurt for lunch

a bit of penne pasta, or mashed potato with cheese for dinner

cheap as anything, and a lot less salt and preservatives etc than are in cheaper meat

lentils are good to bulk out minced meat to make things like spag bol

as long as he is getting milk and some food, he will be fine

really at this stage, it is more about tastes of food and getting used to different textures than eating 3 meals a day

have a look here for ideas on finger food for your baby www.babyledweaning.com

[Maveta]

i made the lentil bolognaise from aitch´s blog here

Gently fry:

1 x large chopped onion
1 or 2 chopped carrots
1 or 2 sticks of celery
1 x red pepper
2 cloves of garlic
oregano
bay leaf

Then add chopped mushrooms. Once they wilt a bit, add:

tomato puree
150ml red wine
150 ml soy sauce
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 cans brown lentils (or about 800g).
Parsely.

Let it all come to the boil for a bit (this will burn off the alcohol), then cover, turn down, simmer for 40 mins

This kind of thing is really easy and really cheap to make, you just fry the first list gently like it says and then dump all the rest in together, stir around and let it cook. If you don´t have things like bay leaves or red wine or soy sauce around don´t worry, just make it with what you have and over time you´ll learn to add things to make it tastier for you.

If you have tinned tomatoes, lentils, pasta, kidney beans and things like that lying around you can learn to just mix them together to make dead cheap meals. Also pasta with pesto is great, I buy the teeny tiny pasta and add peas and some cheese on top. Veggies like courgettes are really popular with my ds, slice them into sticks and stick them in a microwaveable dish with like 1cm of water and cook for 2 mins or so, they can either eat them as they are or you can grate it into pasta or whatever.

Butternut squash is really great for babies and so so easy. You just stick it in the oven whole. No peeling, no slicing, nothing. Just put it in at 180 for 1.5 hours. When it comes out slice it in half and you can use a spoon to scoop out all the flesh. It´s a ready made puree! You can give it to your baby like that or use it as a pasta sauce. If you want you can add some creme fraiche (or a dairylea triangle!) to it while it´s warm to make the sauce creamy. And this will make loads so you can freeze it for other meals.

[CharlieAndLolasMummy]

ok

If you are 16, it is very likely that there will be support avaliable with both cooking/nutrition and budgeting. Your local council is likely to run some classes with a free or very cheap creche. Your HV SHOULD theoretically be able to hook you up with this but they can be a bit useless. There are normally classes like this aimed specifically at young mothers.

I went to some of their stuff on baby first aid and a few other things (was, just about, a young mother ) and it was really very good, but what was also good was meeting people who had also had kids before they hit 35 . I had a degree and several years in the workplace but still felt utterly out of place in, say, the NCT. It did make a difference and I made some really good friends.

(Not much point getting into a debate on the pets, I think. No I don't agree with you here, but its none of my business.)

[sandcastles]

Add banana to it or any fruit puree really.

[Maveta]

that was a big x-post.. just saw you know how to make bolognaise, well just use your usual recipe but lentils instead of mince.. it really is yummy and will be so cheap.

[HonoriaGlossop]

There's some brilliant advice on here so I won't duplicate, but I just have to say, get rid of the animals if you are struggling financially. Sometimes being a parent means making nasty choices but there should be absolutely no contest - feeding your child and you and your sick mum properly comes first! That is alot of animals you have, too. My DH and I both work and only have one child and we are just THINKING we might this year be able to afford one kitten.

[carmenelectra]

OMG Some of you are being unbelieveably rude to babyjjbaby!!! or is it just me?

Just because some of are middle class, excellent cooks who feed you kids lovely organic, how is it thats its ok to take the piss out of how someone else feeds their baby.And saying get rid of your pets!Is that a joke?

babyjjbaby,i think there are many, many things you could feed your baby. mUCH of what you are doing sounds fine. Scrambled eggs are good with toast or cheese. Pasta is really easy and dead cheap. Buy a massive bag and give it with some grated cheese, easy for him to pick up himself too. AND I really dont think half a dozen chips is going to kill him. Im sure i fed my ds them occassionally. YOU do have to be careful with salt but the odd proccessed thing would be ok. Its all about balance.

If you want some more ideas, why not look online. Just type it recipes for babies or something similar and you will get loads.

And as for getting rid of your pets, no way!£90 isnt a lot these days, there are only 3 of us, one dog and 2 fish and i can easily spend that!

[Maveta]

I kind of agree about the animals.. I love animals and have 2 cats and sometimes I find them hard work with the attention they demand. And they´re cats, they practically ignore us! lol So I can imagine with all you have it must be pretty demanding. I really admire your sense of responsibility towards them but you have a lot on your plate, just make sure you aren´t making things harder for yourself than they have to be, you know?

Would you even consider rehoming some of them? The rabbits, guinea pig, hamster, birds and fish could all find nice homes and let´s be honest, they probably would barely notice and that would save you so much time and hassle re. cleaning out cages and tanks. I can understand the dogs would be harder. Well, whatever, don´t get cross with people suggesting it, we´re only trying to help but of course it is your decision and only you know what you can cope with.

[babyjjbaby]

i just had some scrambled egg with cheese it was nice