What age is to old for jars?

~Chameleon~

claire16c wrote: »

Home made lasagne is the best, when you make all the sauce etc yourself but it does take a long time.

But it takes no longer and isn't any more complicated to make than a cottage/shepherds pie, yet people make these frequently. I wonder what makes a lasagne appear so scary to some people.

angelil

I agree that a lasagne does take a long time to make. However, that's why you should make a huge one and then freeze the extra portions for another time

Good to see that you're looking at changing the whole family's diet for the sake of your baby OP

shortdog

Get yourself a slow cooker - Asda and Tesco both do one for £8 (ish) that will do for 3 of you.
Throw in some meat (any sort - cheap and cheerful is best, although mince needs to be browned first, or it goes a horrid grey colour), some veggies (fresh, frozen, tinned, whatever), potatoes chopped up smallish, and a bit of water.
Switch on slow cooker sometime round about breakfast and ignore for the rest of the day (you can give it a stir if you want, but not necessary).
About 30 minutes before teatime, give it a stir, add some dried herbs (if you want), a bit of cornflour or gravy granules to thicken (again, only if you want), stir again and recover.
Dollop into bowls and enjoy.

Veggie soup is the same idea, just without the meat, and some extra water. Liquidise if you want a smooth soup, or eat it chunky.

You don't need any stock cubes or anything cooking in a slow cooker, as all the flavour comes from the ingredients - make sure you pop in the blood from the meat too!

claire16c

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

But it takes no longer and isn't any more complicated to make than a cottage/shepherds pie, yet people make these frequently. I wonder what makes a lasagne appear so scary to some people.

That's a good point as you're essentially swapping the arm ache of making the white sauce from the arm ache of mashing potatoes!

Hmm I might make it more often now you've pointed that out. I put red wine in the mince sauce & it tastes great.

claire16c

Slow cooker is a good idea and so is a steamer.

You can put in some salmon, new potatoes & veg, switch it on and wait, you can buy them from about £20.

paulineb_2

I have a steamer, its excellent, also a wok. Id say that google is a fab resource for recipes, I got a lot of books from play.com, some of them very cheap.

Gillyx

Can not recommend the River Cottage Baby and Child Cookbook enough. Also agree with Jamies Ministry of Food.

Jars tend to be expensive too, if you make up a freezer stock itl be more economical. One tomato based sauce can do bolognese and chilli and potentially a curry and youl make them all cheap as chips.

my LO loves spicy stuff and can polish off spicier food than most adults so I wouldnt worry about that.

Id also concentrate on getting him to feed himself (unless he already does.this with jars) for lunches we do things like omelette, scrambled eggs, soup with bread, beans and baked potato, wedges with LO chilli, pitta pizza, savoury muffins (BLW cookbook) Dinners tend to be cottage pie, shepherdess pie (quorn and lentil based) pasta bakes, enchiladas, curry, quesadillas, stir fry, savoury rice.

I also make my own bread (takes 10 mins prep) and I will cut a thick slice and do toasted cheese, its v filling and so quick.

Bella73

I would recommend a little cookery book called "How to Boil an Egg" it was written by a Mum for her child leaving for university so they could cook basic but cheap meals instead of living off take always. It assumes no prior knowledge so is really good, another book I've got is called "The Dairy Book of Home Cookery" another great simple cookery book which will explain all sorts of terms that other books expect you to know. Both were my saviour when I started out many moons ago at cooking for myself.

From these you will then be able to build your confidence.

Good luck Bella x

cutestkids

Don't be too concerned about not giving spicy foods etc to a baby or toddler there is no reason not too really.

If I was doing a curry or chilli when my kids were that age I would take add a bit of natural yogurt to their portion to make it a bit less spicy.

A slow cooker is the best thing I have bought as you just put everything in and leave it.

Don't forget simple things like boiled eggs, scrambled egg, omelette, french toast, jacket potato, home made soup served with toasties are all simple to make healthy and filling.

flipper_72

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Wow I really wasn't expecting so much response!!! I'm really grateful for everyones help. I have some little pots but not alot so will def get some more in for freezing things.

..

You don't need lots of tubs, I freeze in tubs then once frozen tip them into a freezer bag so that I can reuse the tub. Just remember to write on the bag what it is or go for the lucky dip approach as I used to do.....