Baby Led Weaning Tips - Part Two

A while ago, I did a post with some tips on baby led weaning.

I finally got around to writing another post on this.  It's a real learning experience for us all - a wonderful one!  Tabitha is learning about new tastes and textures, and her fine motor coordination is increasing dramatically every day.  She can pick up a few grains of rice in between thumb and forefinger, making it quite easy for her to eat rice now.

I apologise in advance if I have already mentioned any of these on the blog!

• I find I steam or roast a lot of vegetables - every day or two, I prepare a bunch (2 - 4 different veggies, normally, such as roast zucchini, roast pumpkin, steamed carrot and steamed green beans).  She eats some for dinner, some the following day for lunch, and generally some more for dinner.  As long as you refrigerate the cooked food straight away, it's fine - just make sure you reheat it (only once) to piping, steaming hot, then allow to cool to baby-friendly temperature.  To mix things up, try mashing (or pureeing) about half to one cup of mixed vegetables, and using them as a simple filling to some homemade filled pasta.  Just make a small amount of pasta dough, roll out very thinly (one click thinner, on the pasta roller, than regular pasta), then pop little balls of mixture on a sheet of pasta, use a damp finger to moisten around each filling piece, lay another sheet over the top, carefully squeeze out any air bubbles, and cut into ravioli.  These cook really quickly - just a few minutes, maximum.

• Pop a side plate in the freezer while you prepare the family meal - then you can put the baby portion on the icy plate, straight away, and it should cool down sufficiently by the time the meal is dished up and brought to the table.

• Make a simple cheese sauce (just a basic white sauce with a good handful of grated cheese melted through) to mix with vegetables (or pour over them and bake in a hot oven until the top is browned).  This adds calcium, protein and calories to simple vegetables.

• Please do NOT be afraid of fat!  Most vegetables contain fat-soluble (and crucial) vitamins: without some butter, oil or fat, you cannot get the maximum food value out of most vegetables.  Some lovely fresh olive oil, butter or meat fat makes vegetables taste delicious, and allows your baby to absorb more vitamins from her food.  Babies need fat!  So do adults!

• On the topic of fat - I am constantly trying to get more good fats into Tabitha and my diet.  We both seem to trend towards slim, and it's important to keep something 'in reserve' - for her, because babies can loose weight so quickly if they get sick, and for me, because I am still breastfeeding 6 - 8 times a day.  Our diet includes lots of avocado, extra virgin olive oil, nut butter spreads (such as almond, brazil and cashew), sardines, oily fish and, yes, butter and animal fats (great sources of vitamin A).

• Beans are great - so nutritious, and perfect for practicing fine motor skills (and keeping baby occupied for a little while!).  You can buy dried beans to soak and cook, but I just get good canned organic ones - kidney beans, butter beans, edamame (buy frozen), fava beans and cannellini beans.  Rinse them, then either serve cold or heat with some olive oil in a saucepan - toss with some chopped parsley for a little extra colour and flavour.  Corn kernels are also great for fine motor.

• Gnocci is great for BLW!  It cooks in just a minute or two, and you can toss it with all sorts of sauces - pesto from the fridge, tomato passata, some cheese sauce, even just some ricotta and chopped herbs.  It's a great 'emergency' meal - stash some in the freezer - and can be taken, cold, out as a snack or lunch-on-the-go.

• Stewed meats are a real favourite of Tabitha's - so flavourful, and she finds them easy to eat, as they melt in the mouth.  She loves Chicken Provencal, Paprika Chicken, mild Chicken Curry, Beef and Red Wine Stew and Coq au Vin.  So do The Daddy and I, incidentally - everyone's happy!

• Dumplings are one of the ultimate BLW foods - carbohydrates, protein, lots of interesting flavours, all in a neat little easy-to-hold parcel.  I like to think of them as a sort of diminutive, scaled-down version of an adult pastie!  Prawn and sweetcorn, seafood, gyoza, they are all good in Tabitha's eyes.

• Tuna and avocado handrolls are a standard lunch when we're out (I buy them from Sushi Sushi, who I trust).  I cut one in half, and offer her half at a time - she really devours them.  Of course, they are quite messy, with rice sticking everywhere, but they are a simple, quick and nutritious lunch.

• Toasted sandwiches are brilliant - the melted cheese helps stick everything together, so you can try all sorts of fillings (roast chicken, roast veggies, tuna, corn etc) with cheese.  These are good warm, or cold for a portable lunch.  I cut them into 8 small fingers, generally, for ease of eating when out.

• Savoury scones and muffins (feta and herb, pumpkin, zucchini etc.) are easy to batch-cook and freeze.  Defrost in the microwave or a moderate oven for a quick snack or lunch.

• Make a large batch of chicken stock, and reduce significantly to obtain a concentrated broth.  Freeze in small amounts - you can dilute and use to poach chicken or vegetables, adding flavour and nutrition, or add a little to meatballs, stews, mashed vegetables etc.

• Packets of frozen vegetables are handy for emergencies - I always hated the idea of them, but sometimes, a few bits of frozen beans/babycorn/broccoli are better than no veggies!

Here is a little flashback for y'all - Tabitha's first ever solid food!  You might recall that this was some lovely rare steak and green beans at Luke Mangan's Melbourne restaurant, The Palace.  She found this fascinating, and spent ages examining and tasting her food.  We were so thrilled, I recall The Daddy and I just kept grinning at each other!