Simple veg and chicken/fish puree combinations?

[dekari]

Hi

I've been weaning my 6-month-old LO on purees for almost 4 weeks, loosely following the Annabel Karmel plan. It's going well so far - she's had lots of different fruit and veg and a bit of dairy and I'm planning to start her on chicken/fish this weekend.

I have lots of frozen veg cubes in the freezer (got a bit carried away!) and want to use some of these up while introducing chicken and fish... before I stock up the freezer with pureed casseroles etc.!

Does anyone have any suggestions for good combinations and tips on the best/simplest way to cook chicken/fish in order to add it to pre-prepared veg (or fruit) purees?

Thanks in advance!

Debs

At six months you don't have to rigidly puree everything anymore. You can poach the fish in milk for 10-12 minutes with a bayleaf and a clove added (take them away after cooking) then mash that in with the vegetable puree. Chicken I would just roast one for you and give her a bit to play with as finger food. Or cook it in very thin strips and make a simple risotto with the veg puree as stock mixed in about half a pint of water. Add a bit of garlic and onion and some cheese at the end and its a lovely mushy meal.

Thanks Pascha! She's not great with lumps yet (tends to cough them up) and is still getting to grips with finger food, so I'm trying to introduce new foods in pureed form, gradually making them thicker. What veg do you reckon goes best mixed with chicken/fish? I have courgette, broccoli, cauliflower, potato, butternut squash, carrot, swede, sweet potato and pea.

Totally agree with Pascha. Just cook the chicken or fish how you would normally have it and give it to her that way.

MN has some great information on weaning here including this useful timetable.

Agree though that the simplest way is just to cook the fish/meat and mash together with a fork or to offer strips of meat and spoons of the existing puree.

MN also have some great recipes here and you can always add any left over fruit purees to Ready Brek in the morning or offer as pudding after a main meal.

x-posted with you there. If she is still getting to grips with finger food, keep offering it and offering the meat as finger food is fine. At this age weaning is more about exploring tastes and textures rather than how much you can cram into them .

How about just doing different combinations and see how it goes? Just pick a random 2 and go from there. It doesn't have to be strict rules and rules for grownups just don't apply. Fish, courgette and broccolli might sound awful to you but she might love it!

Chicken with butternut squash and sweet potato was one of my DD's favourite purees.

Fish with sweet potato and a little orange juice mixed in to moisten it up.

Chicken with peppers, mushrooms, courgettes and chopped tomatoes all puréed up.

Chicken or fish with mash, sweetcorn, leeks and onions.