Chicken for all

Hi all

I finally found my camera cable so I can transfer photos again - hooray. Problem is all baby food puree tends to look the same so I do apologise if you look at my fantastic photos and think "hmmmm, that looks just like pureed.......". When my life becomes calm again and I have as much free time as I had as a single person I think I'll definitely do a photography course - it's on my list of "to do" things! Sound familiar :)

In the meantime this is a great homemade chicken dish because it's super duper easy and it can have a dual purpose. Make a double batch and puree and freeze half for baby in your Qubies baby food container. Use the other half to make into Chicken pie. I make this recipe all the time as I can feed Flynn and because it's so simple I know that Tyler who is now 3 will also eat it! Once you've made it a few times, add your own vegies like peas or mushrooms to give it a bit more color and baby a bit more variety.

Chicken for all
(suitable for babies 7 months onwards)

4 Chicken thighs
1 tbs oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, grated
1tbs flour
50gm butter
1.5 cup milk
100gm tasty cheese, grated
400ml can creamed corn
2 Qubies baby food container

Step one
Place chicken into a saucepan with water and simmer/poach until cooked through. Once cooked, remove from water and wait until chicken has cooled. Once cooled shred chicken by hand. Place shredded chicken into the blender.

Step two
Place oil in a fry pan with onion. Cook on a low heat for approx 10 mins until onion becomes translucent. Add carrots and continue to cook until carrots have softened. Place ingredients into the blender and wait.

Step three
To make Bechemel Sauce place butter in a saucepan and melt on a low heat. Add flour and stir for a couple of minutes. Add milk and continue to stir until mixture thickens. If it becomes too thick add some more milk. Once thick add cheese and creamed corn.

Step four
Add as much or as little sauce into the blender and you like. Blend all the ingredients to the desired consistency.

This is really really yummy. For Flynn I often will add cooked pasta or rice and freeze it with the chicken. It's perfect for freezing and I always make too much!

Happy cooking!

Dad's Family Beef Casserole to share with baby

Hi all

Making baby food that baby and Mummy and Daddy can share is a great time saver. My husband made this fantastic casserole recently and we pureed some for Flynn who also loved it! It's also an ideal recipe to freeze and serve later now that we are in winter.

See how you go and make sure you let me know what you think

Dad's Family Casserole
Suitable for 7 months onwards

1kg beef topside, cut into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 whole baby onions peeled
2 whole cloves of garlic
2 medium carrots, thickly sliced
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups beef stock
A good shake of each of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce
440g can of Guinness
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 - 5 springs fresh tyme
2 bay leaves
2 Qubies baby food freezing containers

1. Prepare the beef
Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Cut beef into 2.5 - 3cm cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the beef and mix well.
Heat a large frypan over a medium heat. Brown the beef in 2 or 3 batches. Remove each batch and place in a casserole dish.

2. Add the vegetables.
Reduce the heat and add a little extra oil to the frypan. Add the vegetables and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the flavour base.
Sprinkle the flour or other seasoning over the vegetables and stir until coated. Gradually pour in the stock and Guinness and stir well. Add the remaining flavour base ingredients and heat stirring until the mixture boils. Pour over the beef in the casserole dish and stir to combine.

Cover the casserole dish.
Place in the oven and cook until the beef is very tender (approx 1.5 - 2 hours). Stir every 40 mins or so, add water if needed to keep the ingredients just covered.

Serve with mash potato or pasta.

For baby: we made pasta and pureed the pasta with the casserole - it was DELICIOUS! Make sure you have lots of left overs to freeze into your Qubies as I can guarantee you baby will be wanting this again - yum.