What's for dinner Mum?!

Not at all, great thread Pentel! Today we had Yellow Dahl (which my part-time Indian maid cooked so I can't share the recipe but its good even without salt) , we have pretty much the same thing for breakfast every morning which is either; A) rice pudding (made in slowcooker with 5Tb spoons short grain rice and 3-4 cups milk, with a few cardamom pods chucked in for flavour and removed before serving-sometimes I add an egg yolk too) served with either a fruit puree or these days genrally sliced fresh fruit (peaches/necatarine/papaya/banana). or B) A baby version of bircher muesli (cooked brown rice put in the blender with a few prunes/figs, a raw apple, milk, yoghurt and cinnamon.) My wee guy has reflux issues with wheat, oats and dairy which makes life a bit tricky, we don't have any pasta or cheesey dishes which writes off most of Annabel Karmel's ideas ;), we have a lot of rice & curry based dishes or meat and veg..... Lamb Shanks/stock/risotto in one go (tender enough for his 4 little teeth) 2 shanks (we use NZ lamb, of course :) ) in slowcooker with any vegies you have handy (sliced onion, garlic, potato, leek, tomato) and some fresh/dried herbs (I usually use mint or rosemary), and enough water to mostly cover the meat (its ok if a bit pokes out). Cook on low for as long as possible, overnight at the least and up to 16 hours to really get all the flavour out of the bones. The meat will be falling off the bone and easily removed. to extract the stock, gently drain and pour gently into a tall thin bowl and let cool, remove the fat from the top and you will be left with a rich jelly stock which you can use with rice to make risotto, or add to soup etc. Often I just let the liquid cool in the pot and remove the fat from on top, then add rice straight to it this a bit stodgy for the adults vs normal risotto technique though, but fine for baby ;) Good on the side is peas pureed with mint, this is also good on the side of... Salmon (wrapped in tin foil and baked with olive oil and basil, with lemon zest) try to buy the tail fillet as it never has bones. I also puree the leftover salmon with cream cheese and spinach or cooked corn, as a sandwich/rolled pancake filling. Chicken thigh also slow cooked with loads of tarragon, onion, leek and a little cream (thickened with cornflour and flavoured with white wine and salt for grown ups), served with mashed sweet potato/parsnip/cauliflower or finger food vegies Chicken or white fish or beef or lamb meatballs (meat, herbs, onion, egg, breadcrumbs, blitz in food processor and bake in oven. I roll these into sausage shapes rathe than balls so they are a better finger food. Rice pasta with a soup used as pasta sauce (sweet pototo or squash, fresh coriander, onion, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, butter, celery, garam masala) Snacks are usually finger foods like steamed brocolii and baby carrots, blueberries, sliced papaya, rockmelon, peach, mango, banana. I get SERIOUSLY hungry when I read your food posts!! :)

Plumie- I do Baby Led Weaning, so not puree'ing anything, serving everything whole, well she feeds herself. She is almost 8 months now, works a treat. For the meatballs, prepare it any way you like it, With some spices, paprika, garlic, breadcrumbs etc. Place in baking tray and cover with a can of tinned tomatoes, pop in the oven untill cooked. Viola, salt free, tasty even for grown ups.

Our current favorites: Macaroni, cheese and cauliflower Spag bolognese with tomatoes, carrots, onions, courgettes Lamb stew (lamb chunks, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions) Chicken, broccoli and cheese DS does not drink milk so I try to squeeze calcium in wherever possible.

Tomato Meatballs recipe pleeeeze??? Are you purée'ing it or seving it whole? I bought some Organic Lamb mince yesterday but looking for some ideas on what to do with it? lamb mince meatballs (mint, egg, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic), served with humous, pita bread, minted garlic yoghurt sauce.), you can slice the leftover meatballs as sandwhich filling (with the leftover bread and sides) you can make a lasagne with the lamb mince too, i tried it recently and tasted great, not too "lamby"

Not at all, great thread Pentel! Today we had Yellow Dahl (which my part-time Indian maid cooked so I can't share the recipe but its good even without salt) , we have pretty much the same thing for breakfast every morning which is either; A) rice pudding (made in slowcooker with 5Tb spoons short grain rice and 3-4 cups milk, with a few cardamom pods chucked in for flavour and removed before serving-sometimes I add an egg yolk too) served with either a fruit puree or these days genrally sliced fresh fruit (peaches/necatarine/papaya/banana). or B) A baby version of bircher muesli (cooked brown rice put in the blender with a few prunes/figs, a raw apple, milk, yoghurt and cinnamon.) My wee guy has reflux issues with wheat, oats and dairy which makes life a bit tricky, we don't have any pasta or cheesey dishes which writes off most of Annabel Karmel's ideas ;), we have a lot of rice & curry based dishes or meat and veg..... Lamb Shanks/stock/risotto in one go (tender enough for his 4 little teeth) 2 shanks (we use NZ lamb, of course :) ) in slowcooker with any vegies you have handy (sliced onion, garlic, potato, leek, tomato) and some fresh/dried herbs (I usually use mint or rosemary), and enough water to mostly cover the meat (its ok if a bit pokes out). Cook on low for as long as possible, overnight at the least and up to 16 hours to really get all the flavour out of the bones. The meat will be falling off the bone and easily removed. to extract the stock, gently drain and pour gently into a tall thin bowl and let cool, remove the fat from the top and you will be left with a rich jelly stock which you can use with rice to make risotto, or add to soup etc. Often I just let the liquid cool in the pot and remove the fat from on top, then add rice straight to it this a bit stodgy for the adults vs normal risotto technique though, but fine for baby ;) Good on the side is peas pureed with mint, this is also good on the side of... Salmon (wrapped in tin foil and baked with olive oil and basil, with lemon zest) try to buy the tail fillet as it never has bones. I also puree the leftover salmon with cream cheese and spinach or cooked corn, as a sandwich/rolled pancake filling. Chicken thigh also slow cooked with loads of tarragon, onion, leek and a little cream (thickened with cornflour and flavoured with white wine and salt for grown ups), served with mashed sweet potato/parsnip/cauliflower or finger food vegies Chicken or white fish or beef or lamb meatballs (meat, herbs, onion, egg, breadcrumbs, blitz in food processor and bake in oven. I roll these into sausage shapes rathe than balls so they are a better finger food. Rice pasta with a soup used as pasta sauce (sweet pototo or squash, fresh coriander, onion, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, butter, celery, garam masala) Snacks are usually finger foods like steamed brocolii and baby carrots, blueberries, sliced papaya, rockmelon, peach, mango, banana.

i wish I had my culinary books! Will email Chef Mic and ask for a KILLERRRRRRRR recipe of Cheesburguer Soup.

Plumie, no problem! You can add that its possible to do the same with chicken carcasses ( use raw carcasses, with meat removed) or lamb. The key thing is to roast the bones on the tray and then remove it and add the veggies to roast on the browning that was formed.

Lamb stew- Lamb, Onion, Carrots, Celery, Potatoes with some rice. Chicken cous cous- Minced chicken, broccoli, sweet corn, carrots. Tomato meatballs- broccoli with cheese sauce. Veg risotto- mushrooms, sugar snaps, baby corn. Salmon with sweet potato wedges and creamy cauliflower. Lasagne- her favourite. ;)