With the now 10-month-old chewing his way through our growing grocery bill, cruisy summer evenings arriving and the two preschoolers telling me exactly what they want (and dont want!) to eat, dinner time had been revamped in our house!
I love Summer dining – easy BBQs and lots of salads, left-overs galore and the yummiest fruits. Make this work in your favour to create simple and easy meals for the whole family!
Pasta salads are usually a winner with kids – my 2YO adores them! Add chopped raw and cooked veges like tomato, carrot, peas and corn, onion and spring onion….. try shredded chicken or tinned fish… add mayonaise or dressing 
I have a tuna pasta salad that is very cheap and easy to make and is a great dish to take to BBQs or parties!
Simply boil a pack of pasta until al dente, add 2 cups of frozen corn pieces, wait two minutes then drain. Add chopped onion, spring onion, red capsicum, a tin of tuna or other (boneless) fish and half a jar of mayonaise and stir. Chill and serve.
My 3YO wont touch pasta no matter how hungry he is! He does love potatoes and homemade chips or wedges are a hit! In summer, bake wedges or chips and serve with BBQ steak and salad.
However I have a challenge with serving this to a puree-baby. Athough I have pureed salad and steak, it doesnt offer much to the baby so this is what I do………. give him the home-baked chips or pasta salads as finger food…. puree up steak (including kebabs or crumbed snitzel or whatever I decided to do with the meat!) with mashed potato or whatever else we had… and occasionally I resort to my frozen stash!! (Sometimes you just cant puree nachoes or paninis!!!).
To build up my frozen supply, I make extra vegetables when we have a roast. I always have roasted veges (potato, pumpkin, kumera, onion etc) and steamed vege (broccoli, peas, cauli, cabbage etc) so its always a good balance. I puree these extra veges with gravy/cheese sauce and the meat we’re having and end up with at least 4 baby dinners to freeze.
I cant wait for summer fruits to kick in – I have been watching the plums turn from green to red over the last few days and I bet by the end of the weekend I would have had my first one!!!
