Weaning

  • Breakfast, Food

    Toddler-Friendly French Toast

    Something I love about moving on from the initial weaning process when it comes to first foods is that an entire world of easy food opens up as they get a little older. We started with baby-led weaning and found it suited our lifestyle and the way we wanted to feed our daughter so much better, even though I will be the first to admit that I was a little nervous to start, but once we got going and I saw how easy it was I was hooked. In the early days, between 6 months to a year, I definitely found that I would often batch make extra things for lunches although most of the time we would eat the same, they were always good to have on hand.

    The great thing about baby-led weaning is that you can all eat the same and together, and this is something that moves through toddlerhood and beyond. One thing I didn’t want was to be making separate dinners or being eating at different times, and thankfully, so far, we’ve been able to maintain that. Something we also loved doing throughout the first 6 months of weaning was eating 100 foods before 1. It’s a fun challenge where you see how many new foods and flavours you can tick off your list before your baby turns 1. We loved it and found it nice and easy to complete, so much so that I created our own list into a PDF once we had completed it and you can download it here if you would like to try it.

    Toddler-Friendly French Toast

    At the time of writing I am in my second trimester of pregnancy and it has recently been all about French toast for breakfast, so I have been sharing this with my almost two year old daughter, and she’s been loving it too. She’s very open to new flavours and foods at the moment, something that I think is to do with our baby-led weaning experiences, although maybe it’s just one of those things.

    I thought today I would share with you a simple French Toast recipe I use for both my toddler and also the adults in this house. It’s tasty, easy to whip up and in our house is a firm toddler favourite.

    Toddler Friendly French Toast

    Toddler Friendly French Toast

    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 2 Eggs (Beaten)
    • 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
    • 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
    • 3 slices Bread

    Instructions

    1. Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk
    2. Add in the vanilla essence and cinnamon and mind until smooth
    3. Coat both side of bread with mixture and pop into frying pan
    4. Cook on both sides
    5. Serve with fruit, bacon and syrup of your choice

    As you can see this is a super simple recipe to create and whip up in the morning. For myself I serve it as the picture shows and for my daughter I usually cut it into to strips. She loves it with blueberries (her favourite fruit) and a little honey (because she is over 1). Another great recipe is bacon and maple syrup as it is super tasty too.

    If you give this a try let me know, I would love to hear if you little one’s love it too.

  • Breakfast, Food

    6 ridiculously easy toddler breakfast ideas

    You know what it is like, another morning where all you want is to sit down over your coffee (or tea) but your brain immediately springs into breakfast mode and what on this earth you are going feed your toddler today.

    We had a great weaning journey from 6 months to a year. So far (at 19 months) she eats everything but tomatoes. I used to share weaning content all the time so I thought I would bring myself out of retirement and share with you some ridiculously easy toddler breakfasts to break up the monotony.

    blur breakfast close up dairy product
    Photo by Ash on Pexels.com

    Let’s get started with the breakfast ideas

    Pancakes

    A firm breakfast favourite in our house is pancakes and I have found these brilliant from weaning and beyond. I use a really simple pancake recipe that is very easy to make. As a side note it also makes great Yorkshire Puddings too. We do have the swan pancake maker which does make perfectly sized pancakes for little hands, but you can easily make these in a regular pan too. Pre-1 year old I would always serve up pancakes plain with the addition of fruit with some yogurt as well. Now she is past 1 years old I still do this but I will also have options such as adding honey. Honey is only suitable for children over 1 year – please do your own research on this. Now I usually add honey with lemon or with her strawberries – and she absolutely loves it. 

    Omelette

    We have a joke in our house that weekends equal omelette as that is her dad’s favourite thing to serve her for breakfast and he often gets up with her and does her breakfast at weekends. There are so many options when it comes to making an omelette and we just crack an egg and whisk it and fry it in a pan. You can add anything vegetables you like as well as topping it with cheese. In our house anything with cheese always goes down well. 

    Baked oat fingers

    Baked oat fingers are a great on the go breakfast or something to pop alongside other parts of the breakfast. These are well loved by both us and our toddler, and there are so many different variations you can create. I tend to stick towards fruits such as blueberries, strawberries or raspberries but I have been known to throw in some chocolate chips from time to time when I make some for us. I have the basic recipe here but you can totally make what works for you. Next on my agenda is peanut butter and banana (I will share the recipe when I have it) and I really recommend white chocolate and raspberry. These can be frozen and eaten hot or cold.

    Baked oat fingers breakfast

    Waffle fingers

    Like above these are another great recipe that you can serve alone or as part of your toddlers breakfast. I don’t have the waffle recipe written out but there will be so many online that you can use. I know I did lemon and blueberry and they went down a treat. All you need to do is create (or replicate) the recipe, cook the waffles in a waffle maker or square mould and then cut them into fingers. I batch cooked these and then put them into the freezer and bought them out 1 or 2 at a time. You can serve these hot or cold.

    Some cereals

    I am, in general, against breakfast cereals because the sugar content is so damn high and they offer very little in terms of nutrition. However, we do have a couple of exceptions and she loves them; Cornflakes or plain weetabix. These work brilliantly on days where I just want to get something served up quickly.

    Egg muffins

    These are a great option any time of day and for adults and toddlers alike. We loved serving these up when we were weaning as they were so simple for H to hold and eat herself. For the recipe, I usually eyeball what I am doing and don’t necessarily follow a strict recipe. I would add a couple of eggs, a dash (or more of milk), some grated cheese and some vegetables. Mix everything together, pour them into a silicone cupcake cases and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Then cook for about 15 minutes or until well done. These are then stored in the fridge and last a couple of days, if they’ve not been eaten by then.

    My daughter has always been weaned using the baby led weaning approach. We waited until the recommended 6 months before trying her first foods. I hope this helps you on your weaning journey. If you are just starting out don’t forget to download my popular 100 foods before 1 checklist – it’s a lot of fun!

  • Breakfast, Food

    Dairy free Banana & Peanut butter baked oat fingers

    Another day another baked oat finger recipe, this time its dairy free and includes peanut butter and banana. I find baked oats so versatile and something the whole family really enjoy. We give my toddler these and she has had them in some version since we started weaning her at six months. 

    Today I want to share with you this simple recipe so you can make it yourself for yourself or for little hands too. You can swap any of the ingredients around. It’s a really versatile little recipe so feel free to add and change things as you wish. Right, let’s get going.

    dairy free baked oat finger on a plate

    Dairy free Banana & Peanut butter baked oat recipe

    I have been lucky for a while that since I was pregnant I stopped having the previous issues I had with dairy. Recently though I started to get some of the signs that I was having dairy issues again. I decided to cut dairy straight from my diet and I already feel so much better. This recipe is dairy free but you could totally make it with dairy options.

    I haven’t tried it with an egg replacement, but you could certainly give it a go and make this recipe vegan too.

    Sourdough Discard American Style Pancakes

    Sourdough Discard American Style Pancakes

    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 5 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 200 g Sourdough starter discards
    • 200 g Self raising flour, Organic if possible
    • 1 tsp Baking powder
    • 300 ml Milk
    • 2 Eggs

    Instructions

    1. Measure out your milk
    2. Crack your eggs into the milk and whisk together
    3. Add your sourdough starter and whisk until smooth
    4. Add your baking powder to your flour and mix
    5. Add flour and baking powder mix to your milk, egg and sourdough mix, whisk together until smooth
    6. Add some oil or butter to your pan/pancake maker and using a ladle add some mixture and cook on both sides until brown

    Other (Dairy free & regular) options

    As I said above, this recipe is incredible versatile. As long as you have the Yogurt, egg and oats you can create whatever you like. I though I would list some amazing alternatives below:

    1. Raspberry and white chocolate
    2. Blueberry
    3. Strawberry and dark chocolate
    4. Sultanas
    5. Chocolate chip
    6. Pear and dark chocolate
    7. Apple
    8. Peach

    Check out the video too

    I also decided to have a bit of fun with this recipe and turned it into an Instagram reel. Be sure to check it out and leave me a comment! Don’t forget to give me a follow too if you’d like!

  • Food, Motherhood

    100 foods before 1

    A post about undertaking 100 foods before 1 when weaning your baby & toddlers. This is just for fun and not medical advice.

    What is 100 foods before 1?

    When my daughter was about to turn 6 months old I started to think about how I would approach her first foods with her. So what is 100 foods before 1? Well, firstly I should say that is nothing official and is instead just a fun way to explore new foods with your children throughout the weaning stage. It is not to be taken in the place of medical advice and you should ways use your own judgement on what works for you, alongside professional advice.

    If you have any questions about nutrition, health, feeding your baby, weaning or anything associated then please make sure you speak to a medical professional. Everything written here is not for advice but is my explanation of what we did while weaning our little one.

    Where to start 100 foods before 1 when weaning your baby?

    1. Sweet Potato
    2. White Potato
    3. Brocolli
    4. Cauliflower
    5. Brussel Sprouts
    6. Carrots
    7. Parsnip
    8. Tomato
    9. Spinach
    10. Kale

    Watch the 100 foods before 1 video

    If you are the type of person who wants to watch something explaining a bit more, watch the video that I made originally for my IGTV or keep reading for quick breakdown on how I approach 100 foods before 1.

    Right, onto the main event

    Pinwheels for baby led weaning and part of 100 foods before 1
    pinwheels

    We started weaning our little girl when she was 6 months old, as per the World Health Organisation guidelines and the guidelines for our country (UK) and we jumped straight into baby led weaning, which means we did no purees and no spoon feeding. She eats herself, mostly with her hands (although she can use a spoon to some degree too) and she eats what we eat, just cut up appropriately. 

    It was while looking up ideas for baby led weaning recipes that I stumbled upon an idea on Pinterest where you complete a list of 100 foods to introduce to your baby before they turn 1. This can literally include anything you wish. I decided to come up with a list by myself and the rough idea is that you will introduce a variety of flavours and textures in their first 6 months of weaning. Our daughter was a great eater and enjoyed everything bar one thing: celery. I don’t blame her actually, I am not the greatest fan but I do know it’s amazing for you!

    Did it work when we did it for a second time?

    Yes, we actually printed out this very list with our son and worked our way through it just the same. He was a fully breastfed baby and I found he wasn’t really interested in food until he was around 7 months. So we just waited a while longer and tried again at 7 months, by which time he was ready to begin.

    Grab your 100 Foods Before 1 List

     
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    With the both of them, both our daughter and son, we slowly introduced more foods, flavours and textures and they slowly whittled things off the list. It’s actually not hard at all – and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you get through it.

    It’s just a bit of fun so have fun with it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did and love watching your little one’s explore lots of new flavours and textures.

  • Food, Motherhood

    5 Weaning essentials I couldn’t live without!

    If you’re a follower of this blog or you are following along with my parenting journey over on Instagram (or maybe even Facebook) the you will know that I have some key weaning items that I love, that I share and that I talk about all the time and I wanted to share today some of the things that I love, that I use every single day and that I absolutely couldn’t live without!

    baby plate with pancakes

    The IKEA highchair

    I think at this point anyone who has weaned a baby knows that this chair is beyond popular and the price of it is something ridiculous like £15 all in, which is incredibly affordable compared to some of the other options on the market. We actually have two high chairs (the IKEA one we purchased and we were given a brand new Mama’s & Papa’s) and we definitely prefer the IKEA one in just about every area. It’s so easy to clean, she loves sitting in it and I love that you can remove the tray and she can sit at the table with ease when she is old enough. 10/10 from us! You can pick up the high chair from any IKEA store or order online.

    Tots Ahoy! Wipe clean floor mat

    We are lucky that in our dining area we have a wooden floor so it is very easy to wipe clean but I still put this mat down*, and honestly, it makes clearing up after dinner so easy. As we’re doing baby-led weaning with Hadley meal times can be quite a messy affair but with this floor mat it’s easy to wipe clean, catches everything and also has a nonslip underneath which works great on the wooden floor, Lino, tile, and carpet.

    weaning mat

    Bamboo Bamboo suction plate

    I have to admit, at the moment this one is a little bit more for me than it is for her, but I absolutely love it. When I was getting ready to wean Hadley I followed a load of weaning accounts on Instagram and everyone had all these beautiful plates and I knew I had to have one. I decided that Hadley (I mean, me) would really love the bunny one*. All jokes aside though it’s a great plate for weaning. It has a suction bottom so she can’t pull it off the high chair tray, it has sections for different parts of her dinner and it is easy to keep clean. If you’re wondering if you should get one…you definitely should.

    Nuby Sectional Plate

    Another plate we have, that I picked up in Aldi during a baby event when Hadley was a newborn, is the Nuby sectional plate and we have it in the shape of a Monkey. Like the Bamboo Bamboo plate, it is great for having different parts of her dinner in sections (although it often all ends up together) and also stays firmly on the high chair tray too.

    Mam 2-in-1 training cup

    While we are giving Hadley some water every day with her food we decided to go with the MAM 2-in-1 training cup*. It’s great because it has the same flow teat as we use on her MAM bottles, it has handles to help her hold it when the time comes and also has a different teat for when she is ready later on. 

    Nuby Steamer

    I’ve used this more than I ever thought I would! Something else I picked up at Aldi, but after a baby event this time so it was really reduced, and I have used it loads. It’s a microwaveable steamer with a masher and is great for doing softer veggies if that’s what you’re looking for. I love to use it if I am mashing up veggies to go in something (like pinwheels or frittata etc).

    What are you weaning essentials that you couldn’t live without?

  • Food, Lunch

    Broccoli & Cheese Pinwheels for baby led weaning

    We’re a couple of months into our weaning journey now and we’ve been trying an abundance of recipes that I am going to try and get published asap. Sometimes it definitely feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day. but today I want to share my broccoli and cheese pinwheels recipe with you.

    Being the independent baby led weaner that our little girl is I like to try new foods, textures and flavours all the time, I like to introduce new finger foods for her to explore and I love to try new recipes myself that I can give her. We love trying different things for lunches and you can check out another one of her favourite lunchtime foods in my previous blog post.

    pinwheels

    Making the pinwheels:

    One of my IG friends had recommended trying pinwheels, and although I had heard of them I didn’t quite know what I would put in them, so I came up with a recipe (probably one that’s been done before – but as with most things parenting-related you will find I wing it as I go).

    pinwheels
    pinwheels
    pinwheels
    pinwheels
    pinwheels
    pinwheels

    I decided to try a Broccoli and cheese mixture so I could do them for Hadley’s lunch. At this point in our weaning journey, I would say she is more interested in veggies than fruits, although I am trying to get her to take more of interest where I can. This pinwheels recipe is super simple and really tasty, my husband and I might have tried a couple for ourselves too – just to be sure they tasted ok for Hadley, of course.

    pinwheels
    pinwheels
    Broccoli & Cheese Pinwheels

    Broccoli & Cheese Pinwheels

    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 40 minutes

    Ingredients

    • All butter pre-rolled puff pastry
    • A head of Broccoli
    • Milk
    • 100g cheese

    Instructions

    1. Cut the broccoli into florets and steam for 20 minutes until soft.
    2. Add to blender with a small about of milk and blend until a creamy paste that isn't runny.
    3. Lay out the pre-rolled pastry.
    4. Spread the broccoli paste on the pastry.
    5. Grate the cheese and sprinkle on top.
    6. Roll pastry back up into its roll.
    7. Cut into slices.
    8. Place on a baking tray and cook for 20-30 minutes.

    There are so many different options and flavours to try when it comes to pinwheels and baby-led weaning – you can follow so many different recipes, this recipe, recipes on Pinterest or do what I did and create your own and see how it goes.

    pinwheels

    As you can see Hadley got stuck in straight away and she demolished quite a bit. Although she doesn’t have any teeth yet she is surprisingly good at gumming! Also, isn’t her plate amazing? I absolutely love the Bamboo Bamboo range and you can pick up her plate on Amazon*.

    Have you tried pinwheels before? What is your favourite way to make them? Leave me a comment below!

  • Food, Lunch

    What I give my 6 month old for lunch with Baby-led weaning

    The beginning of our weaning journey

    Baby lunch plate

    When we started our weaning journey I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do, where I wanted to start or even how to navigate all the options. In short, I was a first-time mum, questioning the minefield of advice and just deciding to forge my own way, with my eye on safety advice.

    I started with what you would call traditional weaning, mashes and puree mostly and trying to spoon-feed them into Hadley’s mouth. I say trying because Hadley really wasn’t up for being spoon-fed in any way, shape or form. Hadley showed us from the word go that she was the independent woman we are raising her to be and with that, she wanted to do this weaning thing all by herself. So it was goodbye to puree food and spoons and onto a brand new world of baby-led weaning. 

    Now for clarity’s sake, I think because I started with first tastes and spoon-feeding that I am not a Baby-led weaning purist, however as with anything parenting related (and life related if I come to think of it) I march to the beat of my own drum and don’t really try and fit myself into any little boxes. So with that said, on we go!

    Moving onto a baby-led way of life

    With Hadley wanting to do everything herself along came the world of having to create her little meals to go alongside ours, and while we often give her either the same as us or certainly a version of ours, sometimes I do her separate meals entirely.

    Today I wanted to come on and share one of Hadley’s favourite (can I say favourite if she’s only been eating for a couple of weeks?) lunches and I found it the least stressful when starting a more baby-led approach. I am going to share the recipe card below so you can save it and refer to it if you want to at a later date. As I said, this isn’t a complicated recipe at all, just one to get you started if you are looking for ideas, whether you are doing traditional weaning or baby-led weaning.

    Also, how cute is her Bamboo Bamboo Bunny plate from Amazon, I’m still wondering if I can get away with eating out of a bowl this adorable at 34 years old. Answers on a postcard…

    I am just getting started on our baby-led journey and this is just one of the recipes I have found that Hadley (and me!) have gotten on really well with. I have the same as her and just add a little bacon, but it’s totally up to you.

    Lunch plate

    If you want to follow along our weaning journey don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and for more recipe ideas you can follow our weaning board on Pinterest too.