Ghetto Fabulous - Fruit & Veg

We all want out baybays to eat the best they can (insert precocious quote about them being fresh slates for an organic, vegan life here), and per my previous post I cook everything for the Princess myself. I shop Waitrose and Ocado, and frankly if I bought all the fruit and veg the Princess consumes from there, well frankly I'd be out of pocket a mani pedi combo a week. We're blessed to have a great local market nearby (West Londoners - Shepherds Bush Market - check it out. Truly ghetto, limited fabulous) - and most places I've lived in Sydney, New York and London have something similar. Even when we were in Chelsea/ Earls Court - North End Road is only moments away!
Get yourself down to the market with the buggy/ pram/ stroller once a week. Get a latte on the way. It's a great walk and bit of exercise for you and the bub, the produce is way cheaper and also they only sell what is in season (none of this ripen at home rubbish - basically frozen/ unripe stuff picked half a world away), and frankly I find the quality better. Take your own bags to save the environment too.
Take a look at what I bought for £8-something this week at my local market, and yes, they are plums not tomatoes. You'd pay 2 to 3 times as much at a supermaket for that! The money saved enables you to buy organic meats for your little one (and sneak in a mani from the grocery budget too!!).
K, getting off my ghetto soap box now. x

Home Made Goodness

Basically, if you don't already own the amazeballs Phillips Avent Steamer Mixer thing, you need to. I'm not a cook at ALL (you can freely hate me - my husband cooks.. everything) and yet thanks to this little beauty in the two months the Princess has been on "solids" no packet food has passed her lips. Everything has been home made thanks to me, the steamer mixer thingy and a little help from Annabel Karmel's amazing recipes (SO EASY and so delish - some of the Princess' faves are the chicken, carrot and apple, cheesy cauliflower, sweet potato and peas - which I add chicken to - to name just a few).
How does it work?
Chop up your meat/ veg/ fruit - whack it in the steamer, steam it (the instruction booklet says how long per ingredient type), when the bell dings, turn it upside down and whizz it. DONE!!! Huzzah, it's dishwasher safe too. Then, you can store the extra meals in the freezer. I make a few different things up on the weekend so we're all set for the week. I also posted a while ago about storage containers - Avent as well, still loving them.
Here are some pics:

Chopped up vegies in the steamer... 

... are then turned upside down and blended to desired lumpiness/ smoothness. 

As always, here are links to every Mum's lifesaver, Amazon:

Philips AVENT Combined Baby Food Steamer and Blender

Philips AVENT VIA Baby Food Storage Set

Annabel Karmel's Complete First Year Planner

For UK Mummys - are you in the Boots Parenting Club?

If you're not you're missing out on loads of points (10 points per £ on baby purchases) that you can buy fabulous things for yourself with that don't have to come out of the household budget! Also, embarrassingly, I heart a coupon and they send you loads. OK so we're not getting rich this way but 50p off Pampers here and there won't kill you. Also, you get free stuff. Just this week I got a no strings attached free Cow and Gate weaning sample pack (see pic). The Princess has only eaten freshly made stuff from my kitchen so far but I reckon these are better than a kick in the teeth so I'll keep em for emergencies. I'll use the free spoon fo shiz. Ask at Boots about signing up.
xx

Sippy Cup Blues

The Princess has been struggling with her sippy cup - got a great "duh!" tip the other day - don't put more than 20mls in the cup when they are just learning how to use it... otherwise it will be too heavy for them to lift and tip to their lips. I warned you it was a "duh" moment. Been trying 20mls the past few days (vs the 100mls I had before) and we are making better headway.... x The Princess' Sippy Cup - £3.49 on Amazon (also available in blue - obvs!)

Ramekins as baby bowls

If you, like me, want to minimise the ugly coloured plastic in your home that seems to accumulate with having a baby, dig out your ramekins! I always seem to have these, although never really use them for cooking. I've discovered they make the perfect size for the yummy home made purees and porridge the Princess is getting at the moment. And obvs as I already have them, they're free. I'm sure at some stage soon I'll have to resort to plastic (do they throw bowls ever? Mon dieu!), but for now, they're tres chic. With a plastic spoon of course (for the record, I tried silver, the poor lamb tried to bite it - now I get why we have to use plastic!). Here's a shot of last week's carrot in a ramekin. xx White Ramekins, Set of 4, on Amazon