Weaning Help - What are you feeding your 7 month old?

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I'm struggling to vary dd's diet, she's 7 months and I've realised (shamefully ) that I'm not varying what she eats

Every day

Morning - 8oz formula & baby porridge (made with formula)
Noon - 8oz formula & fruit puree
Evening - Cow & Gate Stage 1 Jar (ugh) & juice/water
Bedtime - 8oz formula

She loves it, she is a healthy weight and I'm pleased with her development but I'd love to (and of course need to) vary her diet more and I'd most certainly like to move away from jars....

I'm struggling for ideas to be honest and that's why I'm asking for some advice.

wow - don't leave me hanging here ladies....please :)

dd2 is 6.5mo
no brekkie yet, but will soon be getting cereal when i can be bothered
lunch - strips of toast/muffin/crumpet with cream cheese or peanut butter as finger food, falafels, hoummus and pittas. mashed banana or segments of orange afterwards.
dinner - whatever dd1 is having. Sometimes i spoon feed her (fish pie, stews, baked potatoes, all mashed with a fork), sometimes finger foods (strips of frittata, potato wedges, stems of broccoli)

I don't use purees so maybe no help but DD gets toast or porridge for breakfast, pasta/sandwich/oatcake/ricecake with cheese and cucumber and whatever else is on the go, and for tea whatever we're having.

TBH the easiest way to vary it would be use finger foods, I reckon. But there's no reason she can't just have whatever you're having (just don't add salt or stock cubes to cooking). Much simpler then :)

at that age she can have most things e.g. pasta, rice, potatoes, toast, meats, yoghurts, etc. You can also use normal porridge, ready brek, weetabix, etc - add fruit puree to vary the flavour if you want.

Today Boy aged 8mo has had:

Breakfast: Weetabix mixed with soya yoghurt and raspberries - easy for him to pick up but can also be spooned (he doesn't let me though)

Lunch: half a ricecake, quarter of a plum, part of my chicken salad sandwich

Will have for tea: a fishfinger probably with a piece of carrot to chew

Later I will be making a huge spag bol for me and DH, with loads of veg in it, and will freeze a few portions for Boy to eat with varying things for lunch/tea.

I'm doing roast chicken at the weekend and will use leftovers in a chicken and leek stew to use with mashed potato or rice etc. I just make it up and freeze it again.

Risotto rice is good, it goes nice and thick/gooey and easy for babies to pick up with bits of veg etc in it.

Scrambled egg ditto.

He usually has what I have during the day for lunch, dinner isnt til he's in bed so I make large portions to allow a few meals for him.

Thanks for all your input - apart from the finger food, do you just mash everything so that its easy to swallow?

With the finger food - do they just suck on them effectively until it's mush and easy to swallow?

I can't imagine giving dd a fishfinger...

Oh dear - I've a lot to learn haven't I?

The fishfinger (minus most of the breadcrumbs) flakes apart in his mouth. Easy to swallow then. The fingerfood I made sure was cooked well at first, now he's quite adept at steamed broccoli, green beans etc.

Roasted carrot is quite good because it goes quite soft inside, but has a slight skin outside so not slippery to hold.

Babies gums are quite hard really as the teeth are sitting underneath if they haven't started erupting so you'd be surprised what they manage.

Most of it falls back out anyway at first until they learn what to do with it. Dont worry about that. Eat at the same time facing her and she will copy you.

You could try mashing some stuff on a ricecake.

Can only speak for us obviously but I don't mash anything, just let her feed herself. Did it with her brother and it was easy, relaxed, and apart from the mess it was fun. Having seen babies being spoon fed the mess isn't much worse though, long-sleeve bibs are your friend. Search for "baby led weaning" or "BLW" for more ideas. Sounds really wanky, I know, but makes sense to me, if only because I get my own dinner in peace! :)

Dd3 is just 7 months. She isnt keen on breakfast offerings so far but today's meals have been.
Breakfast- egg & soldiers
Lunch- cheese, avocado on bread, cucumber, tomato & pepper
Tea- sausage casserole
Snacks- rice cake, pear.

Most of her food so far is chewed & falls back out but she has eaten quite a lot today.

Pretty much what the others have said. We're BLW.
DD is nearly 7 months.
Breakfast - weetabix / banana / pear / yogurt / strawberries / mango
Lunch - veg sticks / rice cake / fruit / yogurt / avocado or dairy lee on toast
Tea - fish fingers / pasta / chicken / steak / omlette / plus veg

DH feed her last night as I went out and gave her fish fingers & potatoe waffle!! I was vaguely horrified but once I'd checked the salt content realised she was still below 1 gram for the day and apparently she loved it and ate and swallowed the lot! He said the potatoe waffle was a lot easier for her to pick up than the boiled potatoes I'd been trying her with and I suppose I can see his point. As long as it's not every day!!!