First tastes: Spaghetti Bolognese

As you may know we chose to wean Noah at 4 months old as we believed it was the right time for him. In that first month he only ate one meal a day, usually porridge or a veg/fruit puree and those solids didn't replace any milk feeds. In the 2 months following he gradually ate more and more and was introduced to many new flavours. From day one he showed a genuine interest in food. He knew what that spoon was the first moment he saw it, his mouth opened wide and to be honest it hasn't closed since! He really loves his food. 

I decided to wait until he was 6 months old before I gave him any meat as I know it will be a lot harder to digest. The thought of feeding him meat made me feel a bit funny too for some reason. I knew his first try of meat had to be in a meal I cooked from scratch. I decided to make him one of our favourites; spaghetti bolognese. It was also his first "proper meal" as he had only had mixed veg puree's and fruit before hand. Here is my yummy baby friendly recipe-

Ingredients: 

Lean mince meat

Onion

Garlic

Mixed Herbs

Chopped Tomatoes 

Tomato Puree

Fry light 

Spaghetti Pasta

Directions: 

Fry onions and garlic gently in a little fry light. Add mince meat and cook thoroughly. Once browned add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and mixed herbs. Simmer gently whilst you wait for the pasta to cook.  Once I had separated Noah's portion I added salt and pepper to ours. Serve and enjoy! Noah certainly did! 

I chose not to BLW Noah as I didn't feel comfortable doing so. Perhaps it's because I am a first time Mum and a rather panicky one at that. Maybe the next baby I will be a bit braver, who knows. So we've gone down the traditional route and so far it's working for us. I decided to spoon feed the bolognese and let Noah explore the spaghetti. 

He was rather unsure about the spaghetti at first as you can tell by his expression. He would touch them and they would stick to his hands. He did try to put some in his mouth but next time I won't cut them as small so he might have a bit more success. 

The bolognese went down a treat, he devoured it. I had blended it up for him but it was more like a paste rather than a puree. After he ate his fill we poured the remainder on his tray to let him explore and play with the food. I hoped he would try to eat some but he didn't. He just smushed it around with a rather disgusted look on his face. He will get there. All in all Mummy's spaghetti bolognese went down a treat!

What where your babies first tastes? Did you go down the traditional side of weaning or did you try babyled weaning? 

Review: Ella's Kitchen Pouches & Digital Weaning Guide

If you read the blog regularly you will be aware than I have begun weaning Noah and he has taken to his first tastes like a duck to water. He simply can't get enough. I love to make homemade puree's for him but premade pouches are ideal for when we are out and about.

 One of my favourite brands when it comes to baby food has got to be Ella's Kitchen. First of all I absolutely adore the logo, branding and how they market their products. Not only do they appeal to our young ones but also appeal to us as parents. Even more so all Ella's Kitchen food products are tasty, natural and 100% organic too. They contain nothing artificial and no bulking agents. 

Ella's Kitchen kindly sent us a few pouches for Noah to try out; Carrots Carrots Carrots, Prunes Prunes Prunes, Peaches Peaches Peaches and Parsnips Parsnips Parsnips along with a Teeny Weeny weaning spoon especially for Noah to use on his weaning journey. 

Carrots Carrots Carrots-  82% carrots, 18% water. 100% organic carrots, cooked in water. Noah enjoyed his Ella's Kitchen carrots. I tasted it myself and found it a little bland perhaps the water dilutes the taste. It might sound weird that I taste what I am going to feed Noah but I wouldn't feed him anything that tasted strange or foul.   

Prunes Prunes Prunes- 100% organic prunes, nothing else. It took a few mouthfuls for him to make his mind up about the prunes but he ended up loving it. I thought it was great too! I liked how it was just 100% prunes and nothing else added.

Peaches Peaches Peaches- 100% organic peaches. Peaches Peaches Peaches was Noah's favourite and it tasted and smelt amazing. I know that first hand cause I tried it too! 

Parsnips Parsnips Parsnips- 75% parsnips, 25% water. 100% orangic parsnips. Noah was a bit more fussy when it came to this one but after a few mouthfuls he got used to the distinctive taste that parsnips have. I also tasted this one too and it was good, I was really impressed. I could of eaten it myself. 

When looking at all the products on the baby food eilse in our local supermarkets the first thing I notice is the lack of savoury flavours when it comes to first taste pouches, jars or tins. Ella's Kitchen receive kudos from me as they are one of the only brands that offer just as many savoury tastes as sweet.   

Ella's Kitchen have created an innovative digital weaning guide which is a god send to new parents. As I have just begun weaning Noah I couldn't wait to give it a go. The weaning guide is a handy helper that has been created to take the stress out of weaning and put the fun back into mealtimes. It can be accessed on your PC, laptop, tablet of smart phone which is brilliant and very convenient. The guide helps you with; how to's, do's and don't, top tips and food fun. If you have already started your weaning journey it isn't too late as the digital weaning guide has three stages so you could go straight to stage two if need be. 

I found Ella's Kitchen Weaning Guide to not only be very informative but interesting and entertaining too. All you need to do to get your own free digital weaning guide is pop over to the website, sign up and become a friend, easy!

I was sent these products for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.