Baby lunch ideas, please!

[srisky]

My almost 10 month old has a hot, home-cooked supper every day and I am lucky in that she eats pretty much anything (for now!).

I don't generally struggle for ideas for these, as it tends to be whatever I'm making for us, minus salt, chilli, booze (i.e. all the fun stuff), which I then portion off and freeze.

However, I am really stumped for ideas when it comes to lunch. This is probably because I don't have any decent lunch ideas for me and generally I will have cheese on toast, left-overs or something equally uninspired.

I'd really like to avoid any ready made jars/pouches as my daughter has never had these and I'd prefer to reserve them for unavoidable situations!

I've given scrambled eggs on toasted bagels, cheese on toast, houmous and bread sticks...erm...there the ideas run out!

I prefer to give cold lunches or ones that involve minimal prep/cooking otherwise we'd never leave the house!

What do others give their babies for lunch? Ideas gratefully received! :)

[Fuschia]

Grated cheese with sliced cucumber and tomato

Sticks of cheese with grapes and apple

Hard boiled eggs

Pasta with tomato sauce

Toasted cheese sandwich

[snowboarder]

Omlette

mini quiches

pasta

tuna sandwiches

jacket potato

fishcakes

pizza (toast + tomato sauce + cheese!)

Boiled eggs and soldiers

banana and avocado

kind of think party food!! We generally do the other way round and hot lunch and more basic tea, but similar ideas that don't do 2 'proper' meals...

[esme]

houmous sandwiched between large ricecakes was a friend's tip tho I never got around to that one can see it'd be quick n easy when out & about, most sandwiches, pasta with simple sauce (Homepride tuna bake sauce goes down well with my son), cold sausages, ham, cheese...

[EDmummy]

> I'd really like to avoid any ready made

> jars/pouches as my daughter has never had these

> and I'd prefer to reserve them for unavoidable

> situations!

>

I would add, don't try and knock yourself out. The occasional pouch or jar won't corrupt your child for life. The ideals we have with our first child are soon kicked into their rightful place with subsequent children. Relax and be a "slummy mummy" occasionally and slip in a few pouches.

One of our best lunches used to be cous cous with frozen peas and corn and grated cheese. Not hot, not cold but somewhere in between. My kids were probably slightly odd in that they loved a bit of meze - some cold meats, cheeses, olives, a few carrot sticks, raw pepper and celery.

The tip is to think 'balance' and that means over a week rather than over a day and you can't go too wrong.

Best of luck.

[Fuschia]

Mine love crudit?s too!

[Fuschia]

Baked potato with cheese/beans

Home made potato salad with new potatoes

[snowboarder]

EDmummy Wrote:

> I would add, don't try and knock yourself out.

> The occasional pouch or jar won't corrupt your

> child for life. The ideals we have with our first

> child are soon kicked into their rightful place

> with subsequent children. Relax and be a "slummy

> mummy" occasionally and slip in a few pouches.

Have to say my littlest (9m) had a philadelphia sandwich and an ellas stage 1 pouch for supper this evening - he loves the fruit and veg ones - I always feel a bit bad when I resort to this but it's not that awful in the scheme of things, right?!? He's a pretty fussy eater though so sometimes I'm just glad to get something other than milk down him...lucky if you don't have that problem!

[Pickle]

Around that age I started giving soups (make in advance and freeze in single portions, easy to zap in the microwave when needed), with little pieces of bread/toast. All different types - lentil, butternut squash, sweet potato, chicken... basically whatever I had ingredients for at the time that I could be bothered making a batch. The kids love it, and have gone on to enjoy soup as a meal now, at 5 and 3.

[srisky]

Thanks all for the advice and tips!

(Should have said that my daughter doesn't have a single tooth so the really crunchy cruidites would be tricky).

EDmummy, I agree, there's absolutely no shame in using ready made foods now and then and I don't think there's anything slummy about it. At the moment meal times are relaxed so I don't feel the need for jars/pouches but thought instead it would be a good time to practice some of my ideals! Surely, it's good to have some ideals, even if they are short-lived??

I know that we will definitely go through stressful mealtimes, if not now then certainly as the terrible 2s approach. So when the time comes I may be plating up nothing but jars/pouches and looking on enviously as my friends' children gobble up all their food :-S.

[newcomer]

You could also cook a bit extra for dinner and then have it for lunch the next day too (properly reheated of course)? Less work for you ...

Oh, and it's quite handy to get your little one used to eating pouches occasionally - it comes in useful for long trips, flights, long waits in the doctor surgery, etc. when fresh-cooked food just isn't possible.

[sophiechristophy]

srisky - nothing wrong with ideals at all. And, you don't have to do pouches/pots if you don't want to, my daughter is 18 months now and i have never bought either, it's not hard to miss them out.