Pretty please BLWers - help me get veg into my baby

[GerrardWinstanley]

DD is nearly 9mo and BLWing is going really well apart from I just don't think she's getting enough veg inside her. The only veg she reliably has is tomatoes (isn't that technically a fruit?), spinach in pasta, cauliflower/broccoli in cheese sauce and grated raw carrots in anything I can think of.

I have tried lot of different veg with her and she hasn't outright rejected anything but she just has a little a nibble on steamed veg and soon loses interest. I think the problem may be my cooking . My attempts at roasting vegetables lead to them being mushy, burnt or somehow both. I've lost all confidence now, hence the butternut squash glowering at me every time I open the fridge door.

Have any of you got any (easy ) ideas for vegetables which she might find appetising?

my dd2 loved roasted sweet potato , done with lots of garlic olive oil and cinnamon and then rather partial to a creamy sour cream dip of some kind with them!!!

sweetcorn was another good one

If you can get hold of edamame frozen bags , dd2 loved those podded as theyre so sweet and savoury

frozen peas, i swear to GOD, are the best thing since sliced bread if he's got a pincer grip. dd loved the cold on her teeth when she was that age. try one in your mouth first, you'll be surprised at how quickly they melt (i was a bit frightened that they would be a choke hazard until i tested one).

apart from that, get better at roasting veg... and have you, er, looked at any of the recipes on the blog? veggie moussakka is good imo. and the lentil sauce that goes with it is a great thing to have int he freezer. also sweet potato chips and roast butternut squash risotto.

but tbh i think it sounds like the baby is eating a good amount of veg (imho) and it's really just the repertoire you want to increase, which i'm sure will happen over time, especially if you get the hang of roasting things. try to make sure that you're not roasting weeny soft things like peppers with hard things like carrot and you can't go too far wrong.

h melsy we have JUST found some frozen edamame pods in the chinese superstore, i am so excited. dd has a bowl to herself in wagamama these days...

ohhhh they are just the gawd damn best , I love them too, but we have to have 2 bowls one with loads of malden sea salt and one with nothing. We can eat them in a day all of us !!!!

I forgot d2's ove for them until we took my mum for sushi for her birhtday this week and she must have eaten the whole bowl no joke.

See frozen peas she just refused, poncey child,(poncey parent I spose), its the edamame only for her oh yes lol.

how do you cook them for best results, mels? i've never done them before (other than the birds eye ones which i normally stick in the micro).

You two are making me so hungry!! Love the sound of those sweet potatoes. Perhaps I was going wrong by keeping the veg too plain. Herbs and spices might be the way to go as she loves your cumin flavoured pittas Aitch. I had the idea in my head that she had to learn to like to unadulterated flavour of the vegetables. Is that nonsense? It's certainly not how I eat vegetables

I'll definitely try the frozen peas thing if only for the look on my mother's face. Sweetcorn should be good for exercising her newly-discovered pincer grip too. Will look for the edamame but don't hold out much hope. This is not a cutting-edge gastronomy kind-of town. It was 1999 before we got our first fromage frais .

Right, I'm going to tackle the butternut squash today and will look at that lentil sauce recipe. She loves lentils. As long as they're spicy obv.

My own hard learned lesson this week is to chop spinach before feeding it to your baby. I had to pull a whole spinach leaf out of DD's bum this week - looooooovely ........

Any more ideas very welcome

I boil some water and throw them in for about 5 mins if that. If salting or seasoning for self ,do so before they dry off, it all sticks then.

this is the brand weve bought in the past I get them from Oriental city in Colindale, but alas its due to close soon , such a shame.

Someone said they sell them already podded in sainsburys frozen bit??????

dd also eats frozen sweetcorn as a snack after nursery btw. [lazy]

dd loves herbs and butter ans all sorts on veg, always has(as do wee). there's a good recipe on the forum for glazed carrots as well. the lentil sauce is in the moussakka recipe on the blog. good luck with the squash. but if it's been sitting around for a while just chuck it as they taste horrible if they're too old.

yep melsy, birds eye do them too. but it's not the same, is it? dd LOVES all the business of getting the 'baby beans' out.

here online . Think these may be already podded.

ooh yer the pods is the fun of it , Ive tried to sell them broad beans in the same way , but all I got was a sneering face from my 4.5 yr old!!!

oohh herbs and butter just make it that much more interesting. I do garlic, olive oil and a dab of sea salt on my boiled french beans, although dd2 19mths isnt sold yet, but my older one loves them like that.

Do try the wedge style sweet tats Gerrard , theyre yum, I eat them with a creamy bean salad and some tuna mixed in.

before I get gagged for going on and on about food. I didnt do the salt thing with dd2 at 9mths.

need a zip mouth emoticon really

really? i sometimes pour boiling water over them if they need separating... i might do that all the time from now on. presumably that will make them okay on the surface and still frozen on the inside? although why would the peas have been podded before the yucky stuff was removed? we should send Big Cook Little Cook to inivestigate.

DS loves roasted parsnips and they are so easy to do.

Get one parsnip, slice lengthways into two and then into four. Heat oven to 200c, but in a dish with a small amount of oil and whizz them around so all sides are covered. Shove in the oven for 30 mins, turn at 15.

Lovely for baby to hold and nice and crispy on the sides.

veg curry?

I make it with coconut milk, mild curry power [lazy emoticon] and tinned toms.

use mushrooms, green peppers, aubergines and onions. Keep it chunky so that she can pick up the bits easily after it has reduced down.

perkin do you just chuck all the ingredients in together or is there a method.

roasted parsnips also a great idea as she loved them at Christmas which is the only time they tend to get made round here.

I'm feeling all inspired

fry all veg in a deep pan until a bit softer
spoon in curry powder and stir
add toms and milk
simmer until whenever it looks a bit less liquid and a bit more solid! I make a big batch and freeze in portions to eat on nusery/work days.

I have made courgette and sweetcorn fritters for my LO and they went down very well. i served them with tomato sauce also sometimes. I haven't got the exact recipe to hand, but you make a basic pancake mixture, (not too runny, quite a nice thick consistancy). Then in another bowl add some grated courgette, thinly sliced spring onion, and sweetcorn, I think I also put in come grated cheese. Then add the batter mixture.
From there gently fry in a little veg or olive oil. I made a batch, part cooked them, then have frozen them. everytime I need one I just pop it in the frying pan, no need to add more oil and gently heat until it's cooked through. It's very convenient! Must find the recipe. But I'm sure it's on the recipes section of www.babyledweaning.com

have you tried courgette and green beans? DD loves them because she can suck them with great satisfaction! you've probably given them a whirl but just thought i'd throw it in...