Well, it’s long overdue. In fact, entitling this ‘week 5’ is misleading. It has been nearly three weeks since I had wifi at home, and my blog has suffered for it. So, live from my local cafe, here is – finally – my number one baby food. It’s an easy one, a family favourite and, quite frankly, probably a bit of a cop-out giving you all a recipe you can probably all execute with your eyes closed. Nevertheless, it is the biggest hit in our household so here it it.

Number 1

Roast chicken

Arguably one of the easiest – and most delicious things – to make, roast chicken is perfect for a Sunday evening in, and makes plenty of leftovers for delicious baby puree that baby will gobble up. Be warned, if your child is anything like mine, they will want seconds!
Ingredients

1 free-range chicken (they yield more meat, and are just more delicious than the other supermarket chickens)
1 large piece of pumpkin
5 desiree potatoes
1 sweet potato
1 cup of peas
1 bunch of baby carrots
1 small tin of coconut milk (about 75ml)
2 tablespoons of flour
Olive oil
Sea salt flakes

Cooking time: 1 hour and 20 minutes in a fan-forced oven
Serves two adults, and makes five baby freezer meals.

Method

Pre-heat your fan-forced oven to 180 degrees (if your oven is not fan-forced, allow more cooking time) I love my veggies cooked well, with the edges of the pumpkin caramelising and melting into your mouth. Thus, first I put on my veg on for about 20 minutes. Cut up your potatoes to the desired size, remove your pumpkin skin and cut your pumpkin into chunks, as well as the baby carrots. I like to keep the skin on my potatoes and carrots, but it’s up to you. I find you barely notice it and it’s better for you. Put the vegetables in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and a good helping of sea salt. Put in the oven for 20 minutes.

While your veg sizzle away, prepare your chicken by rubbing in olive oil and some sea salt. If you’re worried about salt content, you can just rub in olive oil.

After 20 minutes, add the chicken to your roasting pan and allow your oven to do its thing for the next 40 minutes. Then, turn your bird, and watch those juices do their magic for the next 20 minutes.

While that is happening, boil a small saucepan of water, and add your peas about two minute before you’re due to take the chicken and veg out of the oven.

Here’s where it gets tricky as everything is ready at once. Place your veg (including your drained peas) and chicken to the side, and keep your roasting pan for the gravy. With any luck your roasting pan is covered in sticky juices. Skim off any fat that’s in the pan, and add your flour, mixing it around until it forms a paste, then add about half a cup of boiling water, stirring until you get a nice, thick gravy. Then, drain your gravy through a sieve and pour into a jug for serving.

Your grown up meal is done!  Before serving, retain all the sweet potato, one desiree potato, a couple of pieces of pumpkin, a couple of carrots, a large portion of peas and about one chicken breast of chicken for baby. I like to wait until the end of the meal to make baby’s food as I chuck all the leftovers into this mix. Once you have as much food as you like for baby, whiz it up with a bit of coconut milk for moisture.

Something worth noting is a roast makes a great first finger-food. It is one of the few meals we can give baby that she will eat without blending, so don’t be afraid to give that a whirl (but it doesn’t hurt to have the puree on stand-by).

That concludes my baby foods series. Sorry it took so long to roll out. I hope you enjoyed it!

Previous: My favourite baby foods – Week 4

Related: Purees on the go

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