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Babylicious Ltd, makers of delicious, healthy, frozen baby and toddler meals have these suggestions
on how to cut down cooking time and still give your child nutritious meals, which means more playtime, or you time!
Make your own
The fastest way to make your own is to cook large batches of food once or twice a week and freeze it in weaning cubes.
For example, chop up a head of broccoli and steam. While that's steaming, peel some carrots, parsnips and swede and
chop into chunks. Once the broccoli is done, rinse the steamer and place the root vegetables into it and steam. Blitz
the broccoli in a blender and transfer to ice cube trays. By now, the root vegetables will probably be soft, so repeat
the process, blending and transferring to ice cube trays. It will take you about an hour in total.
You will now have a good supply of a green vegetable and the root vegetable mix will form a great base for other meals.
Later in the week, do the same, only this time make up a large batch of courgette and leek followed by butternut squash.
Keep adding to your freezer store and soon you will have a large variety to choose from. Also consider making up batches
of sauces - like cheese, vegetable or tomato - to use as a base with other purees or with pasta.
If your baby is well established on meat, consider setting aside portions of family meals - like cottage pie, lasagne,
chicken casserole or fish pie, ensuring no salt has been added to them - and blend them. Alternatively, simply make up
large portions of these meals, puree or mash them, and then freeze into small portions that can be defrosted as you need them.
By setting aside regular times each week, you will be freed up each day without having to worry about making meals from scratch.
You can use the evenings you're not cooking to put on an exercise video or just put your feet up with a glass of wine.
Use ready prepared
Babylicious has a range of ready prepared baby meals that taste completely home made. The meals, all based on traditional adult
meals like lancashire hotpot, chicken casserole and cottage pie, come in frozen easi-pop™ cubes so that you simply pop out the
number of cubes you need, heat and serve. The meals contain no added salt, sugar, preservatives or additives. The Kiddylicious
range for toddlers includes small bowls of delicious, frozen mini meals made to the same high Babylicious standards. Toddlers
will love Jungle Pasta, Chicken and Tomato Rice and Spaghetti Bolognaise.
Having a stash of these meals in your freezer will free you up to head to the park or stay longer at a playdate without having to
rush back to make a meal from scratch. Or it means that you can get to nap while your baby naps, getting some much needed rest instead
of thinking about what to make for supper.
Use half and half
If you want to cook your own meals but want to save time, consider using a prepared base - like the Babylicious range - and then add your
own ingredients to it. This is a great way to add new textures for a baby ready to move off purees.
You could poach a small cod fillet in a little milk, mash it with a fork and then mix it with 2 cubes of Babylicious leek and pea puree
and 2 cubes of Babylicious potato and parsnip puree. For a baby who has moved to finger foods, heat 2 cubes of the Babylicious Lasagne
puree and spread it on a piece of bread, sprinkle over some grated cheese and melt under a grill. For dessert, heat 3 cubes of Babylicious
Fruity Rice Pudding and grate half an apple into it.
Recipe - Vegetable Sauce
Use this delicious, healthy and versatile sauce as a base on pasta, as a 'gravy' on rice or potatoes, on homemade pizzas, or as a cook-in
sauce for chicken or fish. It can be used for babies, both in the puree and finger food phase, or fussy toddlers who don't like vegetables.
1 leek, chopped roughly
2 courgettes, chopped into chunks
1 red or yellow pepper, coursely chopped
A handful or mushrooms, chopped
1 small aubergine, chopped into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tins of tomatoes
Sprinkle of dried oregano
Sprinkle of pepper
Small pinch of sugar (optional)
In a little olive oil or butter, add all the vegetables and garlic and soften gently for about 10 minutes. Add the tins of tomatoes and
sprinkle on the herbs, pepper and sugar. Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Once all the vegetables are
completely soft, transfer the mixture to a blender - or use a handheld blender - and blitz it until moderately smooth. Spoon into
ice cube trays and freeze. The recipe makes a large volume of sauce - but you'll get through it as it's very versatile.
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send us your recipes:
If you've got a favourite recipe please let us know, and we'll share your
suggestions with other Baby Matters readers. Simply email your recipe to feedback@bloomingmarvellous.co.uk and you could be featured in our next ezine!
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