I have some potato...now what?

[missbluebird]

We got the go ahead today to start weaning DS on purees. He had a bit of baby rice, some banana custard (from a jar) and some apple purée and loved it. we're allowed to do baby led as DS has motor delay.

Anyway I have in lots of baby food jars and the health visitor came this afternoon and pointed out how much sugar they have in.She told me to give him home cooked. I have saved some mashed potato from tea tonight and ready to go with it tomorrow but need ideas as to what to mix it with. I was thinking something to make it sweeter? But can't think of anything other than fruit and fruit and mash don't naturally go together....

*not allowed to do baby led weaning

It should say!

Does it need to be sweet? I would just give it plain now, maybe a bit of cheese mixed in? Doesn't need to be much to start with.

Carrot maybe! I did blw but read a few books etc in making the decision.
Potato isn't a great food for nutrition but can bulk other things up. Eg Ds for example has spinach soup but I make it thicker by adding potato so it stays on his spoon.
Do you have a hand blender - really just soften veg then hand blend to desired consistency I think.
I'm sure you've found some of the usual purée recipe sites but I always thought sainsburys had some nice recipes
www3.sainsburys.co.uk/littleones/weaning/recipes/category/weaning

I suppose not. I was thinking that breast milk is naturally sweet so if the potato was mixed with something sweet he would be more likely to take it

You might not need to make it sweeter, try giving just a bit by itself first as it will be so much less effort if you don't have to sweeten all your veg.
However the best sweeteners will be a root veg like sweet potato or carrot or otherwise some apple/pear.

I found DD responded well to just one taste at a time but then I gradually introduced a mix of flavours in the same meal, but that's just her!

You can get baby stock cubes (no salt) from boots etc & that really boosts flavour, Annabel Karmels purée book is great for ideas.

I went on a weaning course & the advice on puréeing anything is pretty much the same. You can either steam or boil your fruit or veg, if steaming then just chop up, pop in the steamer until cooked & purée using a little of the liquid from the steamer.
If boiling then chop up the fruit or veg quite small to speed up cooking time, just enough water to cover the food, bring to boil & then simmer until cooked & purée. Again you can use a little of the cooking liquid to help, which'll have any lost nutrients left over.

I prefer to batch cook something & then pop it into ice cube trays overnight & then pop them in a freezer bag. People who eat healthier meals than DH & I seem to just give the leftovers to their kids.

Thanks for the link. I have done zero prep or reading (I normally over prepare) as I am so short of time I was just going to be lazy and buy the jars. I have been given a steamer and purée machine so I will give it wash and get going tomorrow. Carrot sounds good to me.

Wow that was overly long!

I didn't worry so much about sweet (and neither did DS). Buttery mash with some cheese sauce? Add a bit of parsley for flavour. A good base for adding some fish later on.

I found that it didn't really matter if I was giving savoury or sweet - there seemed to be few rules about what he liked or didn't on any given day. Have fun!

Not overly long smallbee really helpful. I did two BLW courses and took along DM and DH and then got told purees only. Should have spent the time and money reading annabel karmel!

I don't think you need to sweeten it at all. If you were doing BLW you'd just give DS a chip or chunk of boiled/roast potato. So the puree equivalent is plain mashed potato. Or add some butter, olive oil or cheese for added flavour and fat.