Top tips ... lots of weaning ideas

Weaning was so not a success for us!

I'd already gone back to work, I bought and tried to follow a really stupid book that made us miserable - it shall remain nameless - and I just didn't get us into a place where preparing, sharing and eating food was enjoyable for me or little one.

Looking back, I wish I'd:
1. Started earlier -little one was just so hungry at night by 6 months

2. Combined purees with lots of baby led stuff

3. Just chilled out about both what we ate and how much was eaten"

4. And had two really simple lists of lots and lots of easy purees & hand held food

So this is the list of over 50 puree and mash ideas that I wish someone had written for me.  You can download, edit and print the full list of purees but I've also summarised below.  I've covered baby led ideas in a separate post.

As ever please do add your comments, ideas etc and I'll update the list with them. And do come and talk new babies with me on Facebook and Twitter and do ...

50+ Purees & Mashes

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Basic Fruit

• A sweet apple simmered with cinnamon before pureeing
• Steamed pear - good to combine with apple
• Mash banana with milk - don't freeze
• Ripa papaya blended with milk
• Dried apricots - brown not bright orange ones - simmered for 5 minutes and put through mouli to remove skin and stone before blending with cooking water or milk & baby rice  
• A ripe skinned peach pureed in own juice - good with banana
• Ripe mango - doesn't need cooking - good with banana
• Any kind of ripe melon pureed in own juice
• Mashed up ripe avocado mixed with milk

Basic Vegetables

• Carrots steamed until very soft and pureed with water or milk - can add a little baby rice
• Boil or baked potato blended with milk in mouli
• Swede dry roasted and pureed
• Parsnip treated like carrot or dry roasted like swede
• Butternut squash steam for 15 mins or dry roast & puree
• Courgette steamed for 10 mins - doesn't need water to blend but can add rice to make creamy
• French beans washed, top-tailed & steamed for 10 minutes
• Roast beetroot, remove skins and puree with water
• Peas good combined with sweet potato or potato
• Roasted, skinned & deseeded peppers blended with a little water
• De-stalked spinach wilted in pan with butter - good with potato & basil
• Skinned, de-seeded & chopped tomatoes fried in butter & pureed - potato & cauliflower good for thickening.  Very acidic so avoid if bad wind or reflux.

Fruit Combinations

• Apple cooked in orange juice & moulied raisins to remove skin
• Simmer peach & banana with a little juice & puree
• Simmer apple, pear & dried apricot & puree
• Simmer blueberries for few minutes & blend with banana
• Saute bananas in butter with cinnamon & then puree

Vegetable Combinations

• Florets of broccoli & cauliflower blended with milk & a little melted cheese 
• Boiled potato with steamed courgette & broccoli blended with milk
• Roast & puree carrot, swede and butternut squash
• Baked sweet potatoes blended with orange juice and a little milk
• Roast lightly boiled cauliflower florets with oil, lemon juice, parmesan & thyme
• Scoop out baked potato and blend with wilted spinach & basil
• Boil peas with garlic and blend with butter
• Cauliflower soup from cauliflower, potato, onion, garlic & celery
• Root veg soup thickened with breadcrumbs, cheese or baby rice
• Veg curry as long as very mild can be blended

Dairy
Try each dairy item in isolation first, after 6 months before combining:

• Mango & rice pudding
• Blend mango with yoghurt
• Blend banana with yoghurt
• Blend very ripe or baked peach with yoghurt
• Add yoghurt to any fruit or veg combinations
• Grate cheese into savoury combinations
• Add cream to fruit purees
• Add a little chopped hard boiled egg to savoury combinations
• Cauliflower cheese - just blend white sauce with grated cheese & cauliflower
• Cheese & spinach - blend white sauce with wilted spinach & grated cheese
• Cheese & broccoli - blend white sauce with steamed broccoli & grated cheese

Bread, Rice, Grains & Lentils

After 6 months try each item in isolation before combining:

• Add breadcrumbs to savoury purees
• Add baby rice to sweet or savoury purees after 6 months
• Add pudding rice to sweet purees
• Add risotto rice to savoury purees
• Blend spelt or pearl barley with sauteed onion & wilted spinach
• Add cooked red lentils to any veg combinations 
• Fried onions blended with simmered water cress & red lentils cooked with garlic
• Mashed or pureed pea risotto 

Meat & Fish

• Boil & simmer chunks of skinless, boneless chicken pieces for 10 mins. Add rough chopped lettuce & simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until lettuce wilted, then blend
• Pureed or mashed salmon risotto once salmon tried in isolation
• Spag bol as long as have tried all ingredients in isoltion, fine to have pureed

Pudding

•  Mash or puree any crumble with cream
• Fruit cobbler - rub butter & flour together, stir in sugar, beaten egg & milk to form soft dough and put blobs of dough on top of any pureed fruit good for crumble - cook for 35 mins at 190c and then mash or blend with cream

If you're looking for more ideas on introducing solids, check out these posts from other mummy bloggers below ... and if you've got your own weaning posts do link them up ...

Introducing Solids