Hello there,
My daughter is now nearly 8 months old and has been on solids since she was six months. My question really is do you feed your LO's homemade food or jars? Or a bit of both?
I try to make as much homemade food as possible but sometimes (maybe every other day) she has a jar. She seems to enjoy both just as much and i feel that she gets a little more variety.
The problem is, I feel guilty when I am giving her a jar and sometimes even think other mums must be looking at me in the supermarket when I am buying them and are thinking that I should be making her food. I just don't like not knowing how and where they have been cooked.
I find that when I am making homemade food, she has less variety as there are only a certain amount of variations you can make at one time. Does anybody have any lovely recipes?
I know this is a senstive subject but I would really appreciate your views?

I do both. Homemade for when we are at home (or somewhere with a microwave) and jars for out and about - they are so much easier, you don't need to heat them to piping hot to make them safe, and you can chuck the lot in a bin when you are done. xxx

Tbh both of mine hardly ever had jars (except for puddings which don't count ) BUT that wasn't so much because I thought there was anything wrong with them so much as because the smell of them always makes me feel sick! They both had nearly all homemade and I used to use the plum baby and organix pots when we were out. Some sort of ready preprepared food is definitely easiest when you are out, I even used to keep a couple of pots in the changing bag incase we were out unplanned.
xx

i mainly feed him home made, but if we're gonna be out, or only getting back just in time for his dinner then i have jars at the ready, i always have a few in the cupboard for emergencies, say power cut and can't defrost or heat any i've already made. its also easier for me to give him a varied diet by doing hoem made as he's got milk allergies so i can make him things in cheese sauce (soya) for example but the jars obviously are made form the real stuff. i find annabel karmel is great for ideas and she even has a few on her website so u don't need to buy her book but mainly he has whet we're having or i tweak it abit if we're having dairy. xx

THese are Abby's fav home cooked meals - if you want any recipes - let me know! :-)

Cottage pie
Bolognaise Sauce and Baby Pasta
Fish Pie with peas and carrot
Vegatable casserole
Chicken casserole
Chicken with Apricots and carrots
Chicken with apple and sweet potato
Baby pasta in cheese sauce
Potato and leek in cheese sauce
Broccoli and cauliflower in cheese sauce (sometimes with baby pasta).

Sorry - that's all I can think of.
Nx

Have you tried the Annabel Karmel book - it is excellent!

I see jars as the equivilent of ready made meals for adults, and i dont eat ready made, so i wouodnt give it to my baby.

x

I'm hoping to make most of Toby's food, well basically give him what we eat. We need to change our eating habits tho, stop using ready made sauces etc...!
I have given him one jar but he HATED it... he's had quite a few Ella's Organic pouches and 2 Organix pots of fruit when we've been out and because weaning is new for us and didn't get off to a great start. He loves them and so I am def. going to let him have them when its "easier" i.e. for many of the reasons a previous poster said!
xxxxx

I mainly give home cooked but when we are out and about for a long time I do use a pot of food (she will only eat organix pots - which is fine by me as they actually taste as they are supposed to!) as she has to eat things at room temperature, and if I heated my food when we were out it would take ages waiting for it to be cool enough! Re recipes - I am still new so am trying different things all the time - but I have discovered my lo loves pasta, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, pesto sauce and cheese!!!

Sounds like you're doing a great job giving mostly homemade food to your lo! Don't feel guilty for buying and giving jars sometimes. There's no harm in it! My lo will have the occasional jar or ellas pouch if we're out and about. Any good recipe book will give you ideas for meals for your LO, minus the salt etc. My lo 9 months usually has the same as us now xx

My lo is 8 months and I've never given her anything out of a jar. I use Annabel Karmel recipes and also blitz what ever we're eating. I know it takes a lot of time but I think its worth it as I prefer to know what she's eating. I don't eat any ready meals and don't feel my lo should either. Not had a problem when out and about - We have a little cool bag so I know her food stays nice and fresh. Its a personal choice at the end of the day, I've got friends whose children only eat jars and they seem perfectly healthy but I do enjoy cooking

I had every intention of making ALL my own food for lo and on the whole, he has whatever we have but probably twice a week i'll use a cook-in jar of sauce or we'll get a takeaway and i'll give lo a jar. I think a bit of both can't do any harm, i actually read a post here once where a mummy had only given home cooked and she wished she had used some jars occasionally as lo refused to eat ANYTHING ready prepared eg,baked beans, spagetti etc.

nikkiand niel-would you mind posting your recipe for chicken casserole, haven't tried that yet, thanks xx

Riley always has homemade, never tried him with anything ready made yet as I've never needed to and its cheaper to make it myself. I make the Annabel Karmel recipes and they're very quick and simple to make, he's eaten more types of fruit and veg than I have! x

Can I gate crash and ask a q??

We have only been doing the food thing for a few weeks....

I have been making in bulk and freezing. Now I know that after defrosting, I have to re-heat thoroughly and leave to cool until suitablt temp.... but how do I do this when out and about (haven't braved it yet... too messy!!!).

Can she eat straight from defrosted or do i need to heat and leave to cool before Ieave the house?!?!

When Lyla was first weaning, I made all her food - did big batch of different purees and froze them in ince cubes. But now that she's older (nearly 10 months) and I'm back at work full time, I find it so much easier to give her jars. During the week when she's at nursery, they give her home made food. But I only get weekends with her and I want to make the most of that time, not spend it all cooking and doing chores. So I give her a jar for her main meal at lunchtime, and then for tea I give her finger food which I've made. I don't feel guilty about it at all - I can't beat myself up about being human and only having such a short amount of time to try and get everything done.

In an ideal world, my hubby would be on a good enough wage that I could only work part-time or better still be a SAHM and I'd have time to make food for Lyla myself. But I'm working so that we all have a roof over our heads, and some things have to be sacrificed so that I keep my sanity and can be a mummy in the evenings and at weekends.

Hi mel7,

I've always heated the defrosted food before leaving home and then served it at room temp when out. My lo is fine with his food at room temp when out or you can heat when food when out and about x

thanks bellah!

Mel7 - You can heat it to piping hot, and then put it into a thermal bag to keep it hot, but you need to be a bit wary of doing this - as bacteria breads well in warm food. I prefer to take it out the freezer as we are leaving, put it in a cool bag and then defrost/heat to piping hot while out, but that is a right faff (especially if you are going to the park!) which is why I keep a couple of jars in my bag (which Abby will eat cold - so all I need is a jar and a spoon - lots easier!),

Pixibob - There are lots of ways to make Chicken Casserole - but this is what I do.

Fry the chicken and onion in olive oil, until the onions are soft and the chicken has browned.
Peel and chop the vegetables (I use whatever we have in, carrots, sweede, sweet potato, Butternut squash, peas, parsnip - anything really. I also add an apple if I have one to hand).
Make some chicken stock - I use the baby stock cubes from boots organic range because they have less salt in than Oxo - but use whatever.
Chuck everything into a casserole dish.
Bang it in the oven for a couple of hours at about 200 degrees - it depends how thick the chicken is cut - use your judgement.
Drain of the excess liquid.
Blitz in a blender.

With the excess liquid - I make chicken gravy (and freeze it in ice cubes - for if I need to water down any of her chicken meals) by melting butter in a pan, adding some flour (to make a rue) until it goes to a caramel colour/consistency and then gradually adding the excess iquid, take of the heat and stir, return to a low heat and stir until you get a gravy consistency.

Hope that makes sence! :-)
Nx

I make all my own as thats what I do for me and Hubby so it's easy just to make a bit extra (- salt) for LO.

When we are out and about I have a baby thermos flask so I will heat the food to piping at home, put it in the thermos and come lunchtime its still nice and hot and ready for him to eat.

The only thing I have against jars is the smell! I just couldn't eat that myself so wouldn't give it to LO as my rule is never give anything I wouldn't eat myself! I do understand how they can be a lifesaver to people though.

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I'm so pleased that it isn't just me who can't bear the smell of jars, thought I was a bit odd!! I used to do the same thing when we were out, heat the food up till piping hot and stick it in a thermos to keep it hot, then cool it down when we needed it.
xx

I know bedhead, the thing is they all smell the same to me! And look the same too.

I used to run a weaning group at work and do a demo on homemadeVjars and when I was preg I had to run out of the room heaving at the smell of them!

Thanks for the recipe,sounds dead easy-will whack all that in my slow cooker this week,it's about time I learnt how to use it!!xx