Lackluster Lunchtimes.
I do love a good alliteration over here at lovely little life. Had you noticed? No? Nevermind then.
I wanted to talk about lunches today. Mainly to scout for ideas from my lovely readers!
Specifically I want to think about baby friendly lunches.
Everything my little Emma eats is home cooked, from scratch, with very few exceptions.
The exceptions are dry baby cereal, baby pasta stars and a specific brand of rice cracker. I am obsessed with reading labels in supermarkets and if any of the above contains anything I wouldn’t easily have at home I don’t buy it. If I can’t pronounce something I almost certainly don’t buy it. For all of these bought things I buy organic where I can.
My dear little brother has dubbed me a “hippy-mum” for this reason. I am totally ok with that label as I have a very healthy and happy little girl.
My only problem is inspiration.
Emma is now nearly 9 months old (what?!) which makes breakfast and dinner really easy. For breakfast she usually has a cereal with some fruit, for dinner she pretty much has whatever we are eating for dinner that night.
But then there is lunch.
I find myself constantly struggling for ideas that will be exciting and interesting for her, that will be the right amount for her, healthy for her, and not bread based everyday for the rest of our lives. (I really don’t want to fall in to a sandwich rut. Ever.)
Also to add to my struggle we seemed to have arrived at an awkward stage in the weaning/learning to eat process. She can eat finger foods as long as they are soft, she can bite pieces of food off but not really chew, purees are too runny but anything more than very soft small lumps is a potential hazard.
So I seem to have fallen into a bit of a routine of lunches that I repeat. It’s boring, for both of us.
My usual safe-bets are greek yoghurt with some variety of soft fruit, lightly toasted soldiers with a little something on it like lemon curd or a nut butter, little sandwich soldiers with tuna mayo or banana, or finger foods such as fruit slices and cooked veg sticks. All of which are fine…. the first few times…
To change it up a little I have also made her little scotch pancakes, courgette fritters, cheese omelette, and scrambled eggs. But thats it. My ideas seemed to have dried up. I need some help!
Do you have any ideas? Something you love for lunch that would be suitable for an under 1 year old?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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(P.S. All of these photos were just quick snaps via Instagram)
