Cooking meat and what mixes well

[channy]

Hey all. I am sure this has probably been asked before and I did a quick search but could not find it. Bubs is 7 months old and I was looking at starting meat. I just wondered how you cook it and what is best to use. Can you use chicken breast or chicken mince. Do you need a special thing to steam it in the microwave? Can you just cut it up small and cook it in the frying pan with nothing added except maybe a little water? Also once you puree it can it be frozen the same as the veges? How long does it keep for?

What foods mix well together. So far he has had apple, banana, zucchini, sweet potato, potato, carrot,cauliflower and starting brocoli tonight. I have also heard that you should take the skin off zucchini. Is this true?

Thanks all.

[Shazbutt]

Hi Channy,

I think they say you can basically mix anything together with bubs...whatever he likes! Its weird but they say that it doesn't really matter with little ones as they don't know any different! You can mix fruit and veges if you want! Mmmmm....potato & pear...yummy! NOT!!

With my DD!, i started off with really fine mince, beef or chicken, and just boiled it and then pureed it with a little stick blender (or whatever you choose)with a tiny bit of water.

I think its mainly trial and error, you'll figure out what he likes best and how lumpy/not lumpy to make it. You could mix a little gravy with it maybe?

As for the freezing of meat, I'm not sure on that one...never tried it, but i guess you could? I mean, we freeze leftover spag bog and savoury mince and stuff, so.... I also don't know about the skin on zucchini...why would you have to take it off, if you blended/pureed it it wouldn't matter, and probably alot more nutritious too.

[lucyp]

Hi - I never took the skin off the zuchinni and my DS is fine . I thinm basically you follow the rule of thumb that if we eat it with skin on - so can they - only in a mushier form! :)

[Rockett]

I freeze DD's chicken with no problems....I just cook chicken breast in water and then puree it with a little of the water it cooked in.Then freeze in ice cube trays.
I'm not sure how long it keeps for,ours is eaten in about 2 weeks.

[flower]

I'm the same Channy...I use mince and 'fry' it in a bit of water in the pan....no oil..(so broil..). I also add onion, parsley...carrot..and tinned tomato too...but I have started with just plain old mince.
As for zucchini etc..I leave the skin on too....
O's mom.

[wattle]

Grate the zuccini if your bub has trouble with the skin.

[poshBecks]

Boiled chicken mashed with mango was a winner for ds!!

[LucyE]

Do whatever your bub will eat :p

As a general guide, you can freeze meat that you've cooked for approx 3mths. I personally would then heat it up to boiling before serving again but then I'm a bit paranoid about gastro bugs.

If you are pureeing (cooked) meat, then mix it with a starchy food (like pasta, rice or potato) before blending because it assists with the texture of the protein. I usually poached meat initially until he was older.

I don't buy mince in general because you don't the quality of the meat that's gone into it. I find that it's usually fattier than buying a quality cut (eg. chicken breast, beef fillet etc) and since you don't need much, I think it's worth the extra money.

If your bub is happy with finger food, you could always just cut really thin strips (against the grain) and allow them to feed themselves.

As for combos, I would follow the flavours I would normally eat. Eg. If we have roast pork, I would blend some lean bits of pork, potatoes, sweet potato and maybe some greens. Or just the pork and apple LOL. Or chicken and avocado etc.

[channy]

Thanks for your replies. Starting chicken on Thursday so will experiment with some different veges and see what he likes. I just cut it small and put it in the frypan with a little water and used the stick blender. Seemed to work fine. Next time I do it I might grate the veges and cook the veges with the chicken when I find out what he likes and then use the stick blender and freeze in cubes in little meals.

[Jimmyjones]

I mix sweet potatoe, chicken breast, peas and feta cheese, blend it all together and put into ice cubes. My little girl loves this mixture and it doesn't taste too bad either!! I just steam the chicken but with beef I cook it in the pan then blend it.

Cheers
Katie and Abi (8mths)