Real food....scary

[newmum2Jack]

Hi guys,

My little one is 6 and a half months old and has been weaning since 4 months. Eats really well, baby rice, porridge, cow&gate purity, ellas kitchen and formula.

I want to start giving him real food, but not sure. If I mash up potatoes, carrots etc, how long can I keep it for, or do I have to make fresh for every meal? Thanks x

at 6 and a half months he can have finger foods, basically whatever you are eating (minus salt!)
my preference is to cook fresh, if i was cooking for everyone else it's no bother to do a bit extra for the baby.
but if you want to do things in advance you can keep it for a couple of days in the fridge

I froze mine, and defrosted in the microwave as I needed to use it. You could keep it in the fridge for a day or two, but freezing it in ice cube trays (or poncy Annabel Karmel weaning trays if you're like me) is much easier and avoids wasted leftovers.

Get yourself a couple of these:
www.amazon.co.uk/ZEAL-J251-SILICONE-BABYFOOD-TRAY/dp/B00309H9CK/ref=pd_sim_kh_1

• far easier than any of the pots or trays I tried with ds1. Freeze the tray and pop the cubes out into a labelled freezer bag the next day. Annabel Karmel reckons that foods last for 8 weeks but I've read elsewhere that 3 months is fine and I'm sticking to that! Dd2 is now 10.5mo and eats 2 cubes of savoury and 2 cubes of fruit for dinner. Dd2's favourites and easy things to make include:

Roasted sweet potato with some cheese grated in
Red lentils and spicy root veg (carrots, parsnips)
Red lentils with fried onion and coconut milk
Shepherd's pie - also made a mildly spicy version with Morrocan spices
Bolognese
Carrot, tomato (blanched to remove skins and deseeded), and onion
Broccoli, cauliflower cheese
Broccoli and carrot with a little cheese sauce - used as a pasta sauce with tiny pasta shapes or penne to hold and chew

Easy fruits to puree which don't need cooking and can be mixed:

Peach
Mango
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries (skins are indigestible so come out in their poo!)

Hope that helps! It's satisfying to watch them eat things you have (lovingly!) made.

Thanks guys, going to give it a try :)