Ten easy baby food recipes

Feeding your precious bundle is always a concern, first during pregnancy you think what am I allowed to eat, is my growing baby getting all the nutrition he/she needs?

Believe me - even if you have 9 months of morning (noon & night) sickness as I did - your body will take from you what it needs to grow your baby. Therefore eat sensibly, hydrate well, no alcohol and all those things you already know.

As your pregnancy develops you will start thinking about breast milk or formula, then before you know if first foods loom onto the horizon!

I know that I read up as much as I could about making sure to go through all the stages to test for allergies - starting with rice cereal, then onto oatmeal, wheat based cereals and through the whole range. (I will admit that a lot of the 'older stage' baby cereals I only used for the three days - to test, as these were very high in sodium, sugar and other badness. I am not a wasteful person, but it's what I felt was right.)

Before you know it you are then looking to puree everything you see! I made all our little boys food and he was so used to homemade, that when we took a trip and had to take some jars of baby food for travelling (I chose organic ones with pure ingredients for e.g. carrots and water) he turned his nose up at them! I was astonished - maybe the heat treatment the products have to go through also affect the taste as well as the nutrient level? [In the future I will maybe have to make and can my own baby food for easy travelling!]

Whilst it was inconvenient that he did not like them, there was something comforting about him choosing his mummy's meals over these.

I highly recommend everyone to at least try to make some of their baby's meals, it really is simple, great to do and will save you a fortune. I am not someone who is confident in the kitchen - I can make a range of meals and I can make almost anything in the slow cooker, but it is my husband who does the cooking when we entertain (I may contribute a dish or two) when it comes to a roast Sunday dinner - he's right there and I am running for the hills!

It really is easy and quick and you can make a number of batches - I personally recommend making a couple of recipes at a time, then freezing your output, but keep a couple of days worth fresh in the fridge - ready to serve. My main pointers are: hygiene - clean and sanitise everything, all surfaces, any knives you will be using. Your little one is precious and has a developing digestive and immune system and bad germs and bugs multiply fast! I have a home made sanitiser in a squirty bottle and I make the baby meals once the kitchen is clean and I start by sanitising all work surfaces and utensils that I plan to use. The other key area is ingredients - you are saving so much money by making the food if it costs a little bit more to get the organic carrots, or the organic banana and you can afford it - then do. Always go for the best, the freshest ingredients that you can. If you have been down to the local farmers market and purchased from an organic grower that day - then fantastic.

Budget is always a factor in our household - for our baby raising years we have chosen to downgrade our careers and work shorter hours & from home, which means less money, but less stress and more precious moments with our son. These moments do include growing veggies in the garden. If you compare the cost of one bag of carrots to the price of a packet of carrot seeds, which you can sow in succession (a small quantity, then 2 weeks later a bit more and so on) therefore having a fresh supply emerging throughout the summer. Now this year I have my heart set on a root cellar, so that we can store and eat over winter fresh homegrown veggies, but more on this another time.

We are currently giving away 'ten easy baby food recipes' whilst there are so many more I'd like to share and you can create many more based on these, you can also take inspiration from jars of baby food and create concoctions such as roasted root veg etc.

Then freeze your results into ice cube trays/ other containers, once frozen then tip into labelled freezer bags and then each night take out and thaw in the fridge your selection for the next day.

The amount of water/ formula or breast milk that you add to the recipe will change, as your baby grows you will want to introduce more texture. I find that by making it with just a little water, then once the ice cube has thawed you can then add to it as much as you need and you won't in later stages be throwing away food that is too soft and lacking in texture. I also in the early days would add some baby cereal to each recipe and over time I reduced the amount that I added. However here is a useful tip - if you accidentally over dilute when making up the meal ready to feed, rather than feeding your baby what now looks like soup, or throwing away good food, tip some of the excess liquid away and then blend in some baby cereal (plain like oatmeal/ rice) to add texture, hey presto - rescued the situation!

I do intend to do follow on pieces to this - menus for as your child grows, more recipes etc, so do watch out for those. Good luck with these recipes and feel free to provide your feedback and your own recipes if you like and do remember a baby's taste buds can and do change, take for example when my son was 8 months old I introduced chicken - I could have done so sooner, his first three bites he loved it and then turned his head away (my son does not refuse food - so this was odd, but definitely showed he had an opinion.) A couple of weeks later and mixed with a bit of baby cereal he ate is all happily clapping whilst doing so! I have read from more than one source that it can take 10 or even 18 times to introduce a food before your baby takes to it.

One note - don't ever make food a fighting point, never force feed a baby, don't make it a power struggle. We have been lucky enough that a few times (apart from the chicken) that when our wee one pulled a really bad face when eating we would pretend not to see it and add lots of yum yums and good boy and lo and behold he would start loving it.... All babies are different and whilst I do think attitude of the parents is important it is down to your little one too!

Good luck, enjoy and we look forward to hearing from you!