Solids & First Foods

I think one of the most satisfying things is when I find a good deal, especially since we are now a sole income household for another few months.  As V is too little to take with me to the groceries and it is too hard to wrangle both the pram and trolley at the same time I find it easier to head to my local Woolworths in the darkness while M minds the baby.

Whilst doing the shopping I went past the kitchenware section and I noticed that they had stick blenders just to get an idea what else was out there on the market.  Surprise! I found a Phillips Jamie Oliver Hand Blender for just over $31 reduced from the 70 odd dollars it was originally priced at.  I ended up purchasing it not having done much research on it purely based on price and the fact that it had a stainless steel elements to it.  I was quite surprised that it was marked down so much and the lady said it is because they are one off items Woolworths had. The steamer and food processor were also heavily discounted. The steamer from memory was about $30 as well - I would have bought it but they only had the display left.

I have always been skeptical of celebrity supported products but for the price it was I was willing to give it a go.

Another reason is that I wouldn't be using the stick blender for other than pureeing baby food so it would only be until 7-8 months as I understand it or when your baby can chew food.

There is so much mixed advice out there all contradicting each other, I think at the end of the day you just have to do what is best for the baby and work with them and know their cues.

Happy to be open to any advice out there as to what food you fed your little one and at what age.

Zucchini Slice - Nap Time Cooking

I must admit when I first had V everyone told me take care of yourself eat healthy and regularly and sleep when your baby sleeps.

I was very fortunate enough that my mother and mother in law both dropped food off for myself and my husband to eat otherwise we would have survived on fast food or nothing at all. With respect to sleeping when my baby slept I never did that either because I was still trying to get our tiny apartment in order and moving things around, whilst I did nest a little bit, I never realised how much room a baby does take up!

I ramble.

So now, whilst I attempt to get V into some sort of routine at just over 3 months I need to find things to cook which are healthy and can be done during a nap time.

Today I made Zucchini Slice.  The recipe I used can be found here.

This is a nice and easy recipe which can be done during nap time - all you need is 15 mins to prep it and then 30 minutes in the oven which in that time you can maybe have a rest without any interruptions (in a perfect world). I am not sure how long the preparation actually took me as I was running backwards and forwards to an unsettled baby who wanted to be held, then it was a nappy change, then the dummy fell out of his mouth, you get my drift.

I took photos as I went along. My apologies for the poor quality, my phone was low on battery and the flash does not work when the battery was as low as mine.

The recipe says "Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined. Add the flour and beat until smooth,"  I thought I was being a really clever and saving on washing up by using a whisk rather than getting out my hand mixer to beat it properly. This is how it looked. Not smooth at all.  

So, I reluctantly got out the hand mixer. I am the type of person who tries to reduce the amount of washing up as much as possible.

After using the hand mixer I got this result: 

Much better. 

As we did not have brown onions or bacon these were not added. However, I substituted brown onion with Spanish onion which seemed to do the job.

I did not have the right size tin but I do not think it mattered I used a 20cm x 20cm tin.

Here is a picture before it went into the oven.

This was the result:

I served this slice with some spinach leaves and fresh cut tomato.

My husband seemed to like it as did I. What I love is that you can store some in an airtight container for later and have enough for a couple of days :)

I have never claimed to be a great cook I just follow the recipe and hope for the best. 

I would love to be able to make cakes like Buddy Valastro and cook like Donna Hay and Nigella Lawson but for today, if I can cook and survive on what I eat that is good enough for me.

My apologies again for the poor pictures.

Have you got any recipes you would like to share that are fast and easy? Send them through I would love to give them a go :)