Is this okay?

[sparkle101]

Hi

I have been weaning DD (7mths) for 6/7 weeks now, we started dinner a few weeks ago and lunch today (breakfast started at the beginning) is it okay to give her shop bought jars for lunch and dinner (with finger foods such as carrot etc). Cost wise it seems to work out and there is so much more varity than I could ever make and I'm a crap cook!

I know as she gets older I will have to cook (am having cooking lessons) but am going back to work FT in next few weeks as well so it would be easier at the moment.

Hello Sparkle, we have been weaning for last 6-7weeks too and using a mixture of purees/mashed food and finger food. I have found that the pouches are a God-send but i think that over the week they will be more expensive for you. You could save the jars and then whenever you make food for you you could put some away for your DD (salt-free etc) and put in the freezer for later.
There are some great recipes in Annabel Karmel's books and Tesco had this book at £5 recently/you could borrow it from library.
Please don't berate yourself for using jars. They are useful but Iam sure your food will be even better for your pocket and ofcourse your DD.

I used jars a lot and they were a godsend. Obviously it is great if you can cook your own stuff but I wouldn't worry about it.

Finger food can be easy too with no need to cook.

Banana, satsuma, sandwiches, carrot, tomatoes, cucumber etc.

I used jars with dc1 as I was not confident about cooking meat or fish (I'm veggie) but when I read the jar and the actual meat/fish content I stopped as the jars were almost as veggie as me. It is really easy to cook baby food like the jars.

e.g. cauliflower cheese
put 3 golf ball sized pieces of cauliflower in a pan with one heaped dessertspoon of rice, cover with water and boil until tender. Drain and while till hot mix in some grated cheese and a little milk. Blend with a hand blender adding milk if needed. if you need lumps keep some aside and mash or chop and mix in after blending.