Changing from jars to "proper" food-advice needed!

[mum2aidan]

I want to stop giving my 11 month old jars and start giving him the kind of food we eat. The thought of this scares me as I am a first time mum and don't know where to start!

One thing that I would really like to know is what kind of sauce to put with foods. Like if I cooked pasta, chicken and vegetables, what sauce would I mix in with it? The baby jars all have sauces and I assume the sauces we eat would not be suitable for him (jars of dolmio/homepride, cans of baxters/heinz, etc). Again, with say potatoes, lamb and vegetables, does it need a sauce?? Very confused and as I'm not a great cook I don't want to try anything too complicated!

He currently eats 3 meals a day, half a jar each meal with either half a jar of pudding or a yoghurt or fruit puree pot. Does anyone have any examples of what and when he should be eating? Like should he have his main meal at lunchtime, what should he have for puddings and should he be having a sandwich for tea or something more substantial??

Thanks!

Hi there. I've always sworn by the receipes in Annabel Carmel Meal Planner book, very easy and good. It tells you exactly what and when.

If you can master a basic white sauce (melt butter, flour and milk), you can do cheese sauce for fish, veggies or pasta. It freezes well in small portions.

He might enjoy the texture of your food more than the jars - I put the veggies and potatoes through a potato ricer (like a big garlic press, about £6 from Ikea, does great mashed potatoes) for texture.

I poach fish in milk (2 mins in microwave) and make a cheese sauce. Mash (I make a batch and freeze in small portions) and a few veggies. Takes 3 minutes to put together.

I could go on for ever, but if you can buy or borrow the book, I found it to be a big help.

Good luck!

Don't worry about needing sauces - bought stuff can be v salty so is best avoided. Your ds will enjoy feeding himself and saucy food is very messy! If you are really not a great cook, start with things you know you can manage - porridge for breakfast,omelette cut into strips, pieces of fruit or veg, cheese, toast/bread, breadsticks, pasta with passata etc. My dd at the same age had a lighter lunch eg scrambled egg, sandwich, then something bigger for tea, but that is just the way it suited her. I never give puddings, just cheese or fruit sometimes (she eats fruit as a snack during the day). It is really not difficult, so don't panic!

I think maybe it would help to start slowly - maybe one meal a day or every other day at first. I would definitely try things like mashed potato and cauliflower cheese. Does he have finger food?

I would say it was up to you which you choose as his main meal, whichever is more convenient. For me, it was evening because we all ate together, but when they go to nursery they get it at lunch time.

The problem with the sauces you mention is that they tend to be high in salt/additives. I would have a go at simple homecooking and see how he does. Could you make a shepherd's pie without using any packets? or a spag bol but use tinned tomatoes or passata instead of dolmio?

i would start by passing him things from your plate. so if you're having a roast or something just put a bit of everything onto his highchair tray and let him play with it.

you don't have to do sauces at all, but most children do seem to like cheese sauce. you should try to cook from scratch where possible so you have control over what he's eating, especially with salt, additives etc. have a look for some basic cook books. the dinner lady is a good one (the one from jamie oliver's programme).

You could just puree or mash what you eat (watching the salt content of course) and if it is too stiff, thin it out with a little stock.

My ds (now 14 months) has since 11 months been enjoying: fish pie (fish, cheese sauce, mashed potato, veg), pasta with tomato sauce, shepherds pie (make the mash quite soft with lots of milk, and some gravy round the mince), lentil casserole (red lentils and veg simmered in chicken stock), chicken casserole (cooked with a tin of tomatoes and a tin of Campbells condensed mushroom soup), roast dinner (meat veg potatoes and gravy). I just chuck these things in the food processor and blend coarsely so there is still lots of texture.

If you use bought sauces yourselves, apparently the Ragu ones are good, low in salt etc.

As for puds, I'd stick to fruit and yogurt or cartons of rice pudding etc. Give him as much as he wants, if this means two cooked meals a day fine, or if he only wants something smaller at teatime that's fine too. My ds is a total dustbin and has two course cooked meals at both lunch and tea.

Hi

Could this be a good time to look at your own diet? If you are eating a lot of pre-prepared sauces etc, you are likely to be eating a lot of salt, sugar and additives and that's not going to be doing you a lot of good. When your DS gets to the age where he has exactly the same as you, are you happy for him to have that too? Maybe you could start to learn to cook more meals from scratch, especially if you are already cooking lamb and veg you can already cook perfectly well

Not meaning to sound preachy BTW, but I have had to look at my own diet a bit with my DS too and I thought it was better to start now rather than try to change his diet when he's older IYSWIM.

Thanks all!

fluffyanimal, when you say stock and gravy can I use OXO and Bisto or do you mean make them from scratch?

I have just ordered a baby meal plan book by Lorraine Kelly, had some good reviews, so hopefully will be good for me!!

It's difficult to give him what I eat as I don't eat any fish and mainly eat Quorn products! I read that children under 2 years shouldn't have Quorn because it is low in fat and essential nutrients.

If I freeze a dinner for him, do I take it out to defrost the morning I want to use it and heat it as normal? Do I put it in the fridge to defrost?

Other mums may disagree, but once he is over 1, I would think it OK to use an oxo or bisto but not add any other salt in the rest of the meal. I did manage to find an organic salt-free vegetable-stock/gravy powder in Sainsburys which makes quite nice herby flavoured gravy, and I used that for a while.

It's really easy to make your own veg stock however. Onion, carrot, celery, black peppercorns, bayleaf, sprig of thyme, pour over boiling water, simmer, bobs your uncle.

If you don't eat meat, your lo will be fine with lots of veggies, lentils pulses and cheeses / dairy.

Freezing: the portions I freeze are quite tiny so I just nuke them from frozen in the microwave until piping hot then leave to cool for a few minutes before feeding. But again, maybe other mums would tell me this is no good .

Whats that reduced salt stock called? Marigold? Oh I can't remember, but there is one and you can get it in sainsburys.

I pretty much agree with Fluffyanimal, and make the stock very watery.

If you can do fish, I would. Its a great source of protein and omega 3&6 and is so quick and easy to do.

My diet vastly improved when I weaned my first lo!

try your library, they are full of Anabel Carmel and Gina Ford's books. Also try him on finger foods first, small bits to start him off. You might want to do toast fingers, bits of cheese etc. also go to Aitch's blw blog for some ideas . here