First Food Adventures (Baby Weaning)

* This is a sponsored post for Organix *
Being food lovers ourselves, we always knew that the weaning stage would be exciting. It was, and messy too. Avery took to solid food really well and although we have reached the fussy toddler stage now, we are lucky that she is generally a pretty good eater. This post is all about Avery's first food adventures and how Organix played a part in that.

This post is all about our first food adventures, the challenges we faced and how Organix played a part in our weaning journey. We weaned a couple of weeks before 6 months (after discussing with our health visitor and Avery being confident sitting up) and it was the beginning of her journey to being just as food obsessed as we are.

We basically gave Avery everything that we were eating, as it just made things so much easier. Obviously nothing with salt or honey and we kept spicy food to a minimum, but she loved sitting with us and having what we were having. Especially as she spent several weeks before trying to grab our food anyway.

Her first foods were sweet potato and butternut squash. We wanted to make her first food a vegetable rather than a fruit, because they were more filling and not as sweet, but we went with the sweet vegetables. A happy medium. Most of it got smashed around the high chair and fell out of her mouth straight away, but at this stage food is meant to be fun, as I was still breastfeeding.

Oh and what fun she had. She threw things around, smushed it in to her hair (and ours), she explored all the different textures with her hands, smeared it all over her face and she also managed to eat some of it. It was amazing her discover this whole new part of her life.

Broccoli has always been a favourite of hers and she has had some pretty much every day since she began weaning. Something else she loves is eggs, so we are always looking for different ways to cook them. I make these egg muffins, which are a great way to sneak lots of veg in.

Basically it's chopped up vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, spinach) with whisked eggs and cheese and then baked for 15-20 minutes. Perfect finger food.

We never stressed over the weaning journey and I suppose we were lucky that we didn't have to. She never really refused anything, unless she was teething and went off food for a day or two, and always cleared her plate/tray.

We did a mixture of softer foods like porridge and let her feed herself with a spoon, finger foods like toast and homemade pizza fingers, chunks of omelette, vegetable sticks and of course bananas always went down well.

We introduced herbs and spices fairly early. Avery was eating what we were eating, and our food is always herb heavy and we wanted her to get used to lots of different flavours as early as possible. Some she initially wasn't a fan of, like cumin and paprika, but we were surprised that she loved a little bit of chilli. Now, at nearly 2, curry is one of her favourite meals.

We have always travelled a lot, from when Avery was just a couple of weeks old, so snacks and food on the go were an important part of Avery's eating. Of course we never wanted her to eat junk convenience food, which is easy to avoid when there are some fantastic healthy options out there like Organix products.

Although we are collaborating with them for this campaign, they are a brand we have used since she was 6 months old and that are a firm favourite. Now we are in the fussy toddler stage, sometimes meals get thrown on the floor or she just doesn't fancy what we have cooked. But one thing you can guarantee she will eat and that's a bag of Organix Pea Puffs.

If you are entering the weaning stage and feeling a bit lost, then Organix has created a handy wall chart to help inspire you with some helpful tips on what finger foods to try at every stage; exploring new tastes, textures and shapes and different textures to try.

I love that it has everything in different stages and lots of ideas on new things to feed your little one. There is so much information out there, so it's handy to have it in one simple chart. We also got sent this little weaning recipe book which has an amazing baby fish pie in it which Avery loves.

There is no guilt feeding her Organix products, because of their No Junk Promise, it is food you can trust. There are no hidden nasties in there, just real food that toddlers are going to love. The raisins are a huge hit too and they have got us through many a long car journey.

Of course there are days when Avery has ice cream or cake, or I have a bit of a freezer raid to give her something quick and easy. But that's find when the majority of the meals are healthy and homemade and she is not snacking on junk.

When your kids are a little older, why not try Cooking With Kids?

How have you found the whole weaning journey? What snacks do your kids love?