Weaning With Archer- Avocado Baby Puree

Archer has been trying "human food" as we like to call it, for around a month now. He's been having tastes here and there of loads of different foods and has got on with them all so well.

On days when breastfeeding doesn't seem to be satisfying him, he'll get 1 or 2 oz of a baby puree that I've home made (or some of a pouch if I'm out of stock!) and it's been doing wonders for his mood. Once he's six months, I'll start giving him small tastes and meals on a more regular basis, bringing him into a routine of meal times like I did with his sister.

So far he has tried:

Apple
Carrot
Avocado
Parsnip
Banana
Sweet Potato
Oat Porridge

This week we've been all about Avocado as I had a decent sized one in the fridge that needed using. Keep reading to see how I prepared it to be suitable for a 4-5 month old baby in the early weaning stages.

Avocado Baby Food Recipe

Ingredients:

1 medium sized avocado
Breastmilk/formula (optional)

(Yes, that's really it!)

Avocado is a brilliant first food as you don't even have to cook it before hand. Just select a nice ripe avocado and make sure it isn't too firm as I've found the firmer ones don't puree as well and are prone to tiny lumpy bits need picking out.

Peel and dice the avocado (mind the seed) and throw it all in the blender.

As with all baby food I make, I added in 2oz of breast milk. It adds a familiar taste, nutrients and calories, and also makes the puree so much creamier. If you formula feed, I'd mix it in before serving rather than in the blending process as it will make your puree last longer- it still has the same affect!

Blitz it till creamy and smooth and then scoop into small pots. I use freezable pots from Vital Baby as once Archer is eating more, I plan on batch cooking!

That's it! You can heat a little on serving if it's got cold in the fridge. Or serve cold- Archer really likes cold puree at the moment as he is teething up a storm.

Let me know if your little one enjoys it!

Weaning with Archer- Apple & Carrot baby food recipe

Archer hit 4 months at the start of October, and along with his age and the signs he's been giving us for weeks now, we've decided to start introducing him to purees! How exciting!

Isla was early to be weaned as well- we started her at 16 weeks. They're both just exceptionally hungry children and even with me breast feeding this time around, there was no denying Archer felt ready to join in with the good stuff.

So, I'm inviting you to follow along with our weaning journey. I'll be sharing recipes, tips and tricks, and how he gets along with it all.

This past week, Archer has had tastes of avocado pureed with breast milk, bananas, and parsnip puree. I've been homemaking all of his food so far and once he hits around 6 months I will start mixing in some elements of baby led weaning.

Apple and Carrot Puree Recipe

Ingredients;
- One medium Gala apple (Gala apples have a mild, sweet taste)
- One medium carrot
- 1.5 oz breast milk (optional, to make a creamier texture. You can mix in formula when serving if you prefer)

Start by peeling, and then chopping your apple and carrot. I choose to steam most of the fruit and veg I work with so chopping it as small as possible helps with cooking times- it also helps when blending later.

Steam the carrots for around 10 minutes before adding the apple- the carrot cooks faster and you'll lose a lot of the apples juices if you put them in too soon. Once the apple is added, steam for around another 10 minutes.

If you have a low capacity blender like mine, add in around half the steamed bits and blitz on low before adding in the rest. Keep stopping to mix in the larger lumps until none can be found, forming a puree.

I prefer purees to be a bit creamier and I find they blend smoother if I add in breast milk- plus, it makes the flavour a little more familiar for Archer. Add in around an oz to two oz, dependant on how thick or thin you need the mixture.

(Alternatively, add in some formula when serving if that's what baby drinks, it will also make it creamier and add the familiar taste!)

I put around 1.5oz of food in each storage pot for now as that's around what Archer eats. Once he's eating more, I'll start making enough to freeze and store.

What was the first thing your little one ate? If they try apples and carrots let me knw how they get along!

Steph xo

Cheap & Cheerful Lunch Ideas for Toddlers

Now I'm juggling a newborn and a toddler- who, I might add, like to tag team me and both decide they are hungry at the same time- I've had to start making Isla lunch during her morning nap. She is a good eater, but I worry about her getting bored or having the same thing every day.

I find that a lot of the foods branded towards her age group, and designed to be fun, can be quite pricey when added to the weekly shop, so I've been trying her out with my own little plates and lunchtime is a hit now! (They're super satisfying to put together too...must invest in some cute bento accessories and more cutters.)

Below are some quick, easy and cheap idea's for your toddlers lunch. All took less than 20 minutes including prep, cooking and presentation. As you will see, I'm lucky Isla is a huge fruit and veg fan!

 "The Moana"

We call this lunch Moana lunch because it is VERY loosely based on Isla's favourite movie. We have Heart of Te Feti cucumber slices (which I used a play dough cutter to make...very classy mummy), Hei Hei's Egg Cake and Island berries.

The egg cake was super easy to make and Isla helped me out with it. We just beat 3 eggs, chopped up some cherry tomatoes, added them together in a cupcake mould and sprinkled on some cheese and pepper to taste. A quick blitz in the oven cooking by eye and they are ready to eat.

Telling your toddler that their food is somehow related to a book or movie usually has a great influence on their enthusiasm when trying something new.

 Pesto Pasta

Pretty self explanatory- pesto is always a winner in this house. Its quick and easy and super cheap t throw a jar onto your shop. You only need a teaspoon and going on with the theme of weird toddler food explanations, we like to pretend they are a mossy environment for the dinosaur cheese to roam across. We add blueberries for the fruity element, You'll notice we add them to pretty much every lunch. Can you tell they're her favourite?

 Sandwich Swirlies

Isla doesn't really like bread. It's kinda dry sometimes, hard to chew..I think a lot of toddlers feel this way. She always gets along better with bread when I squash it a bit with my hands and make it doughy.

I'd seen pinwheels done with tortilla bread (quite popular in America I think) but I didn't have tortillas and I didn't really want to buy any since we have bread... so I just squashed her sandwich, rolled it up and cut it up. You could give it any fun name and I'm sure your fussy one will try it. Bug lover? Sandwich Snails. Mermaid lover? Sandwich Sea Shells. You get it!

 Ham Fairies

Fairies. Or butterflies. It was actually random play dough cutter- but she finally ate ham. Isla is notorious for picking the ham out of things and she is such a huge fruit and veg fan I really try to make sure she gets something meat based too.

We've added in some microwave vege rice- you can make this SO easily but when tag teamed by a two year old and two month old, sometimes good old Uncle Ben has to come in and save the day if you want to shake lunchtime up a little bit.

Dino Platter

Lots of little bits to pick at- this really is the key to getting Isla to eat some of everything on her plate. If we just give her a big sandwich, I think she gets bored of the taste. I mean, as an adult I love lots of little different things on a buffet or a platter compared to one big meal which gets a bit boring after a few bits. It's also a great way to try sneaking something new in to their plate and to use up the bits which will expire soon or don't have much left.

Oh, and tell her that if she doesn't eat it quickly, the dinosaur will. That works.

Tiny Heart Trio

How cute are those tiny sandwiches? They've got a little cheese inside and yes I was back at it again with the play dough cutters... but she ate them! Bread success. Mum win. Mum of the year. I also encouraged her to crumble her biscuit into her yogurt, dip blueberries- get messy yes, but she really loved mixing the flavours up.

Toddler lunches don't have to be a battle. Or expensive. Or super fancy. I hope this post has given you some ideas for making lunch time a bit more fun without taking hours or costing the world!

If you have any ideas you'd like to share, please do! 

Steph xo