I'm pretty exhausted this week. After being away for the whole weekend, crazy old me had organised a cake sale for Tuesday so I spent Monday baking. The cake sale went really well and raised nearly £50 for the Sands (stillbirth & neonatal death) support group I am starting. Even better than that though, I now have a committee formed so the wheels are in motion to get off the ground. There is a desperate need for such a group around here so I am humbled by and very grateful for the response. Sometimes help comes from unexpected places as well as from those people in your life who you know are there for you.
Ethan Bear is a bit off his food this week (due to having a nasty cold) so not much going on food wise. He has had banana, bread, broccoli and cauliflower but has not been as experimental as usual. I am making chard lasagne tonight so hopefully he will try that. Recipe and photos to follow!
Alfresco dining the BLW way!
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
Homemade Challenge Debrief
Just spent the weekend in the Midlands as my sister was getting married and then her gorgeous baby Matthew was getting baptised so a very busy and lovely time was had. From the point of view of the homemade challenge...well it's a bit impossible to do when you're not at home but Ethan ate quite well most of the time which was amazing seeing as we stayed in a hotel Friday & Saturday night.
Having the tupperware tub full of carrot and cheese pretzels meant if Ethan wanted a snack I always had something to hand plus I took a stash of his favourite food of the moment - bananas! Dinner on Friday was a carvery and Ethan tucked into lots of vegetables, roast turkey, cauliflower cheese and some melon. The buffet breakfast the next morning meant he had toast, scrambled egg, sausage and satsuma segments. Ethan happily ate some of the pretzels for lunch followed by a banana but there was a bit of trouble at tea time. We were tired and hungry in a strange town (Walsall) looking for something to eat. Frankie & Benny's was fully booked, Pizza Hut had long waits plus a rowdy party of 8 year old girls and we couldn't find any other restaurants. We ended up in that shrine to all that is wrong with consumerism McDonalds. Me and Stevo had burger and fries each and offered Ethan some of our buns. EBC did us proud...he point blank refused to even taste any of the bun! We both looked at what we were eating through Ethan's eyes and realised if he didn't even register it was food then we probably shouldn't be eating it either. So we left there and Ethan was getting a little grizzley so we bought him some corn thins and he was well excited as he hasn't had them in months. Today he had some toast for breakfast and a banana followed by some breadsticks and tomato pieces at his cousin's baptism. I bought some apple rice cakes for him in Asda for convenience. So we are back home and I feel pretty proud of how Ethan mainly ate very healthy food on our little mini break. Staying in hotels with no facilities for preparing or cooking food limits you massively but it is possible to do a mainly homemade/fresh food weekend away with a little planning. Next time I would take a knife and a chopping board though. Looking forward to reacquainting myself with the cooker tomorrow!
Having the tupperware tub full of carrot and cheese pretzels meant if Ethan wanted a snack I always had something to hand plus I took a stash of his favourite food of the moment - bananas! Dinner on Friday was a carvery and Ethan tucked into lots of vegetables, roast turkey, cauliflower cheese and some melon. The buffet breakfast the next morning meant he had toast, scrambled egg, sausage and satsuma segments. Ethan happily ate some of the pretzels for lunch followed by a banana but there was a bit of trouble at tea time. We were tired and hungry in a strange town (Walsall) looking for something to eat. Frankie & Benny's was fully booked, Pizza Hut had long waits plus a rowdy party of 8 year old girls and we couldn't find any other restaurants. We ended up in that shrine to all that is wrong with consumerism McDonalds. Me and Stevo had burger and fries each and offered Ethan some of our buns. EBC did us proud...he point blank refused to even taste any of the bun! We both looked at what we were eating through Ethan's eyes and realised if he didn't even register it was food then we probably shouldn't be eating it either. So we left there and Ethan was getting a little grizzley so we bought him some corn thins and he was well excited as he hasn't had them in months. Today he had some toast for breakfast and a banana followed by some breadsticks and tomato pieces at his cousin's baptism. I bought some apple rice cakes for him in Asda for convenience. So we are back home and I feel pretty proud of how Ethan mainly ate very healthy food on our little mini break. Staying in hotels with no facilities for preparing or cooking food limits you massively but it is possible to do a mainly homemade/fresh food weekend away with a little planning. Next time I would take a knife and a chopping board though. Looking forward to reacquainting myself with the cooker tomorrow!
Friday, 5 November 2010
Day Four of the Homemade Challenge
Still doing well and have just baked two batches of carrot and cheese pretzels (with added fresh basil which makes them even yummier!) as won't be near by cooker all weekend. I am getting pretty nifty with the pretzel shapes now but did half pretzels and half shooting star cookie cutter for variety. I used the food processor to mix everything tonight and it turned out so much better than by hand...I wish Ethan Bear didn't hate the noise of that thing so much or I would use it more often! Am loving my silicone bakeware from Aldi...if you have one near you I would recommend seeing if they have any left - it's a couple of quid and nothing sticks to it so it's one less thing to have to scrub at after you've finished baking - everything just slides off.
We had roast duck for dinner and Ethan LOVED it! The cauliflower cheese side dish went down well too. I love to see him sitting there tucking into the same dinner as us, he seems so grown up. I had to shred a few duck bits up as they were slightly too chewy and we had a few gagging and coughing up moments but mostly Ethan just showed all our guests what a grown up boy he was eating everything put in front of him with relative ease.
It's that time of night again...the boys are both in bed so I'm off to collapse is a heap beside them to do it all over again tomorrow. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
We had roast duck for dinner and Ethan LOVED it! The cauliflower cheese side dish went down well too. I love to see him sitting there tucking into the same dinner as us, he seems so grown up. I had to shred a few duck bits up as they were slightly too chewy and we had a few gagging and coughing up moments but mostly Ethan just showed all our guests what a grown up boy he was eating everything put in front of him with relative ease.
It's that time of night again...the boys are both in bed so I'm off to collapse is a heap beside them to do it all over again tomorrow. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Day Three of the Homemade Challenge
Today has gone really well. Ethan is still loving his chewy breadsticks and they last longer than the shop bought ones and are less likely to disintegrate all over the place. I did get a bit sad when a homemade pretzel fell from Ethan's hand whilst we were out with the buggy in a way that I wouldn't care with processed stuff and then I realised the main bonus of homemade stuff. You know they are made with love. I cared when I rolled and shaped each one of those in a way a machine in a factory doesn't (some might say couldn't! ;O) ). The main difficulty with switching to homemade seems to be the need for planning so there are enough snacks to hand for when Ethan wants a little nibble of something (which is quite a lot!). In the tupperware tub we have carrot and cheese pretzels, breadsticks and now fruity fingers but supplies could do with restocking so tomorrow I will bake some more. Baking is a real pleasure, a nice way to unwind after a day spent chasing my little monkey and a way to be creative and useful at the same time. But it's pretty exhausting too so up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire go I!
Fruity Fingers
These taste absolutely blinding and happily contain no refined sugar so they are a very healthy treat for little bears! Refined sugar is bad because it sends our blood sugar levels sky high in an instant (unlike naturally occurring sugars like those found in honey and fruit juice) whilst containing no vitamins, minerals or nutrients. Freshly squeezed orange juice is best as it won't have any refined sugar added to it - you can squeeze it out the orange yourself and know exactly what's in there!
Prunes are dried plums (which makes them sound much nicer!) and contain high levels of vitamin A (good for eyes, skin, hair and growth), B and C as well as fibre, magnesium, calcium, potassium, protein and carboyhdrate.
Makes about 20 fingers depending on size you cut them into.
Ingredients: 120g/4oz butter, Juice of 4 Oranges, 2 Free Range Eggs, beaten, 250g/8oz grated apple or carrot, 2 Bananas, mashed, 180g/6oz Self Raising Flour, 120g/4oz Dried Prunes (with no stones) chopped into slivers.
Method: Preheat oven to 200'C/ 400'F/ Gas Mark 6. Place butter, orange juice, eggs and flour in a mixing bowl and blend together using an electric whisk. Fold in apple/carrot, bananas and prunes. Add a little flour if need be until spoon stands upright in mixture. Turn into a square cake or brownie tin and level. Bake until golden, about 25-35 minutes. A skewer will come out clean when ready. Cool slightly before scoring into fingers. Allow to cool completely then divide into fingers using a sharp knife.
Prunes are dried plums (which makes them sound much nicer!) and contain high levels of vitamin A (good for eyes, skin, hair and growth), B and C as well as fibre, magnesium, calcium, potassium, protein and carboyhdrate.
Makes about 20 fingers depending on size you cut them into.
Ingredients: 120g/4oz butter, Juice of 4 Oranges, 2 Free Range Eggs, beaten, 250g/8oz grated apple or carrot, 2 Bananas, mashed, 180g/6oz Self Raising Flour, 120g/4oz Dried Prunes (with no stones) chopped into slivers.
Method: Preheat oven to 200'C/ 400'F/ Gas Mark 6. Place butter, orange juice, eggs and flour in a mixing bowl and blend together using an electric whisk. Fold in apple/carrot, bananas and prunes. Add a little flour if need be until spoon stands upright in mixture. Turn into a square cake or brownie tin and level. Bake until golden, about 25-35 minutes. A skewer will come out clean when ready. Cool slightly before scoring into fingers. Allow to cool completely then divide into fingers using a sharp knife.
Pancake Lasagne
Makes enough for 3 adult portions and 2 baby ones
Ingredients:
For the pancake batter: 110g Plain (All Purpose) Flour, 200ml Whole (Full Fat) Milk, 80ml Water, 2 Free Range Eggs,
Cheese Sauce: 25g Unsalted Butter, 25g Plain Flour, 200ml Whole Milk, 50g Grated Cheese.
1 Carrot (75g), 75g Chard, 100g Cabbage, 100g Cauliflower, 100g Passata, Grated Cheese to top, Bunch of Fresh Basil, Vegetable oil for frying.
First mix together ingredients for pancake batter and leave to cool in fridge.
Chop carrot into thin sticks and cauliflower into trees and stir fry for a few minutes. Shred cabbage and chard and add to pan cooking for a few more minutes until just cooked.
Grease a non stick frying pan with vegetable oil and once it is very hot add some batter. You'll need to experiment a bit to work out the best quantity of pancake mix for the thickness of the batter, the size of the pan and the thickness of the pancake you like. Immediately tip the pan from side to side to get the pancake mix to evenly coat the base of the pan. Keep the pan on medium heat. If the pan is hot enough, the pancake should take just 30-40 seconds to cook. Flip the pancake (I do this with a spatula, safer and less chance of problems!) and cook the other side for around 20 seconds or so. Repeat process until you have used all the batter up. Set pancakes aside whilst you make cheese sauce.
Place butter in a saucepan over a high heat, add flour and mix together to form a paste. Slowly add milk stirring continuously and then add cheese. Keep stirring until a thick sauce is formed and remove from heat.
Add stir fried vegetables to cheese sauce.
Put two pancakes (depending how many you have got from your batter) in bottom of lasagne or casserole dish, add a layer of cheesy vegetables, then a layer of pancakes, then some passata and torn basil leaves. Repeat the process finishing with a sprinkling of basil and cheese on the top layer of passata.
Ingredients:
For the pancake batter: 110g Plain (All Purpose) Flour, 200ml Whole (Full Fat) Milk, 80ml Water, 2 Free Range Eggs,
Cheese Sauce: 25g Unsalted Butter, 25g Plain Flour, 200ml Whole Milk, 50g Grated Cheese.
1 Carrot (75g), 75g Chard, 100g Cabbage, 100g Cauliflower, 100g Passata, Grated Cheese to top, Bunch of Fresh Basil, Vegetable oil for frying.
First mix together ingredients for pancake batter and leave to cool in fridge.
Chop carrot into thin sticks and cauliflower into trees and stir fry for a few minutes. Shred cabbage and chard and add to pan cooking for a few more minutes until just cooked.
Grease a non stick frying pan with vegetable oil and once it is very hot add some batter. You'll need to experiment a bit to work out the best quantity of pancake mix for the thickness of the batter, the size of the pan and the thickness of the pancake you like. Immediately tip the pan from side to side to get the pancake mix to evenly coat the base of the pan. Keep the pan on medium heat. If the pan is hot enough, the pancake should take just 30-40 seconds to cook. Flip the pancake (I do this with a spatula, safer and less chance of problems!) and cook the other side for around 20 seconds or so. Repeat process until you have used all the batter up. Set pancakes aside whilst you make cheese sauce.
Place butter in a saucepan over a high heat, add flour and mix together to form a paste. Slowly add milk stirring continuously and then add cheese. Keep stirring until a thick sauce is formed and remove from heat.
Add stir fried vegetables to cheese sauce.
Put two pancakes (depending how many you have got from your batter) in bottom of lasagne or casserole dish, add a layer of cheesy vegetables, then a layer of pancakes, then some passata and torn basil leaves. Repeat the process finishing with a sprinkling of basil and cheese on the top layer of passata.
A Rough Guide to Baby Led Weaning
Not very long ago if you'd said baby led weaning to me, I would have stared at you blankly so I thought I would include a little explanation about what it means. Basically, it is all about letting your baby feed themselves and trusting that (provided you offer a selection of healthy food) they will pick what they need. If baby doesn't seem hungry or to want a particular food then you don't stress or try and play games involving aeroplanes and we hope this will lead babies to develop a healthy attitude to food that is not connected to emotions.
As is the current advice in the UK, solids are not offered until 6 months and by the time your baby is ready for solids they will be able to feed themselves. The 3 signs to look for are...being able to sit upright unsupported, being able to bring objects up to their mouths and whilst watching you eat becoming interested in food. Days before weaning officially started with Ethan he grabbed a piece of flatbread from my plate at a restaurant and ate it whilst I had kittens! The first few times are pretty scary...I was convinced Ethan was going to choke but he was absolutely fine picking up food I put in front of him and eating it. With BLW there is no need for purees or spoons (or bowls for that matter...if I give Ethan food in a bowl, the food gets tipped out and the bowl gets played with!) you just chop up fruit and veg and offer if it in little sticks big enough for baby to hold in their hand and chew on (you will soon work out the right size for your baby if you see them struggling cut bigger or smaller). In Ethan's first week he ate cucumber (brilliant for teething), mango, pancakes, pasta, noodles, cheese, avocado on toast, banana, spaghetti bolognase, baked beans on pitta, scrambled egg, sweet potatoes, strawberries and curry! It's a myth that babies only like bland food...Ethan always has a bit of what we're having now and he loves most things. We don't buy in bland cheese specially for him, he digs into the mature cheddar with us and you won't find a bigger fan of his Dad's curries. I can heartily recommend Baby Led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food by Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett. Here's a description of the book:
"Contrary to popular belief, there is no research that supports the current mainstream view that babies should be weaned by being spoon-fed purees. Self-feeding allows babies to use their natural abilities to explore taste, texture, color and smell. It encourages independence and confidence by allowing them to experiment with foods at their own pace and helps to develop hand-eye coordination and chewing."Baby-led Weaning" is a practical and authoritative guide to introducing solid food, enabling your child to grow up a happy and confident eater. It shows parents why baby-led weaning makes sense and gives them the confidence to trust their baby's natural skills and instincts. With practical tips for getting started and the low-down on what to expect, "Baby-led Weaning" explodes the myth that babies need to be spoon-fed and shows why self-feeding from the start is the healthiest way for your child to develop. Your baby is allowed to decide how much he wants to eat, how to eat it and to experiment with everything at his own pace. Baby-led weaning is a common-sense, safe, easy and enjoyable approach to feeding your baby. No more purees and weaning spoons, and no more mealtime battles. Simply let your baby feed himself healthy family food."
One thing to bear in mind is that babies gag reflex is quite far forward in their mouth when BLW begins so you may get worried thinking that baby is choking on something when actually they are just clearing their mouth because it's overfilled. If baby is coughing and making a lot of noise then just leave them be - they are dealing with it. Always feed your baby sitting upright in a high chair or on your lap as this will ensure that they are able to cough anything up that is too much for them. Avoid feeding babies nuts, cut cherry tomatoes and grapes in half. If they are actually choking then babies will not make any noise and will be unable to breathe. In this instance follow this advice:
Lie the baby face down along your forearm or thigh, with their head low. Support their head.
Give up to five firm slaps to the baby’s back between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. (The heel is between the palm of your hand and your wrist.)
Stop after each slap to check if the blockage has cleared. Look inside the baby’s mouth and remove any obvious blockage. Do not poke your fingers into the baby’s mouth unless you can see and reach the blockage. You may push it further in.
If the airway is still blocked, give up to five chest thrusts.
Stop after each thrust to check if the blockage has cleared.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2300.aspx
Baby led weaning has been a really fun and positive experience for all of us. Meal times are a fun shared family experience and one we look forward to. 3 months since we started and I can't imagine feeding Ethan any other way.
As is the current advice in the UK, solids are not offered until 6 months and by the time your baby is ready for solids they will be able to feed themselves. The 3 signs to look for are...being able to sit upright unsupported, being able to bring objects up to their mouths and whilst watching you eat becoming interested in food. Days before weaning officially started with Ethan he grabbed a piece of flatbread from my plate at a restaurant and ate it whilst I had kittens! The first few times are pretty scary...I was convinced Ethan was going to choke but he was absolutely fine picking up food I put in front of him and eating it. With BLW there is no need for purees or spoons (or bowls for that matter...if I give Ethan food in a bowl, the food gets tipped out and the bowl gets played with!) you just chop up fruit and veg and offer if it in little sticks big enough for baby to hold in their hand and chew on (you will soon work out the right size for your baby if you see them struggling cut bigger or smaller). In Ethan's first week he ate cucumber (brilliant for teething), mango, pancakes, pasta, noodles, cheese, avocado on toast, banana, spaghetti bolognase, baked beans on pitta, scrambled egg, sweet potatoes, strawberries and curry! It's a myth that babies only like bland food...Ethan always has a bit of what we're having now and he loves most things. We don't buy in bland cheese specially for him, he digs into the mature cheddar with us and you won't find a bigger fan of his Dad's curries. I can heartily recommend Baby Led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food by Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett. Here's a description of the book:
"Contrary to popular belief, there is no research that supports the current mainstream view that babies should be weaned by being spoon-fed purees. Self-feeding allows babies to use their natural abilities to explore taste, texture, color and smell. It encourages independence and confidence by allowing them to experiment with foods at their own pace and helps to develop hand-eye coordination and chewing."Baby-led Weaning" is a practical and authoritative guide to introducing solid food, enabling your child to grow up a happy and confident eater. It shows parents why baby-led weaning makes sense and gives them the confidence to trust their baby's natural skills and instincts. With practical tips for getting started and the low-down on what to expect, "Baby-led Weaning" explodes the myth that babies need to be spoon-fed and shows why self-feeding from the start is the healthiest way for your child to develop. Your baby is allowed to decide how much he wants to eat, how to eat it and to experiment with everything at his own pace. Baby-led weaning is a common-sense, safe, easy and enjoyable approach to feeding your baby. No more purees and weaning spoons, and no more mealtime battles. Simply let your baby feed himself healthy family food."
One thing to bear in mind is that babies gag reflex is quite far forward in their mouth when BLW begins so you may get worried thinking that baby is choking on something when actually they are just clearing their mouth because it's overfilled. If baby is coughing and making a lot of noise then just leave them be - they are dealing with it. Always feed your baby sitting upright in a high chair or on your lap as this will ensure that they are able to cough anything up that is too much for them. Avoid feeding babies nuts, cut cherry tomatoes and grapes in half. If they are actually choking then babies will not make any noise and will be unable to breathe. In this instance follow this advice:
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2300.aspx
Baby led weaning has been a really fun and positive experience for all of us. Meal times are a fun shared family experience and one we look forward to. 3 months since we started and I can't imagine feeding Ethan any other way.
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