Baby Led Spreads – tasty dips for your dears plus information on Baby Led Weaning.

What is Baby Led Spreads?

They are weaning spreads in jars! Simple as that! A yummy way to help your little one explore ingredients, textures and tastes plus liven up their mealtimes and let your baby lead the way!

A way to help introduce your baby to solid food the right way. They have six tasty recipes which are bursting with flavour, ready to entice your little ones and their spreads can be eaten warm or cold and can be served with a variety of food such as pasta, bread and jacket potato – the choice is yours!

The jars come in three 34g portions.

They also partner with Bliss – for babies born premature or sick. Everything they do at Bliss is focused on giving babies the best chance of survival and quality of life.

In their spreads they use:

• Healthy ingredients
• No artificial preservatives 
• No artificial colours
• No artificial flavours

 

Winnie liked to lick it off pitta bread and on her bread sticks!

 

What I received

• 1x Ricotta and Bean
• 1x Avocado, Red Pepper and Tomato
• 1x Carrot, Apple and Hummus
• 1x Green Pea Rocket and Dill
• 1x Red Lentil and Sweet Potato
• 1x Spicy Pumpkin and Chickpea

 

 

Great variety

 

Two tasty recipes straight from their site!

Avocado, red pepper and tomato mixed bean tortillas recipe

These tortillas are perfect for the whole family, they’re easy for baby to pick up and feed themselves and full of healthy goodness! This recipe serves 2 hungry children but can easily be made in bigger batches to feed hungry parents too!

Ingredients
• 400g tin of mixed beans, drained
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1x jar of BabyLed Spreads avocado, red pepper and tomato flavour
• 1 tomato, chopped
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp coriander
• 1 tsp olive oil

To serve:
• 2x flour tortilla wraps
• A small handful of grated cheddar cheese
• Crème fresh (optional)
• Avocado (optional)

Method.
• In the oil, in a frying pan over a low heat, cook the onion and garlic.
• Add the beans, tomato, pepper, paprika and coriander. Mix well.
• Add the BabyLed Spread to the pan and mix well to coat the ingredients.
• Using the empty jar to measure, add two jars of water to the pan.

• Simmer gently for 15 minutes
• Serve in a tortilla wrap with grated cheese, crème fresh and avocado.

 

Baked Pea Risotto

This baked risotto is a really quick and easy meal for when baby is eating separately and you want to make a one portion, baby meal with little effort! I’ve also kept the measurements as simple as possible so it saves on washing up (you’re welcome!)

Ingredients
• 1 tbsp Arborio rice
• 120ml vegetable stock (A stock cube and water is fine, there are low salt options available.)
• 1 tbsp frozen peas
• 1x jar of BabyLed Spreads green pea, rocket and dill flavour
• 1 tbsp cheddar cheese
• 1 mint leaf, finely chopped (optional)

Method.
• Put the rice, stock, peas, BabyLed Spread and mint in a small oven proof dish with a tight fitting lid. (If you don’t have one you could use tinfoil to make a lid.)
• Mix well then put the lid on and cook at 200°c for 20 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice cooked.
• Stir through the cheese.
• Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
• Serve

 

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What I’ve tried the spread with

Avocado, Red Pepper and Tomato as a french toast topping –worked with dipping and spreading on literally anything.

Green Pea Rocket and Dill – peas are a great source of  vitamins and minerals and are also rich in protein and fibre.  

Spicy Pumpkin and Chickpea I added to pasta.

Ricotta and Bean I tried with rice and surprisingly she ate it.

Carrot, Apple and Hummus – they have a lovely sweet flavour that kids seem to love and the colour is great.

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato tried with rice cakes.

I found the spread pretty much goes well with any starchy food such as bread, potatoes, rice, couscous, pasta and chapattis – which provide energy, nutrients and some fibre.

What is baby led weaning?

Baby led weaning (BLW) is a way to introduce foods by skipping purees and instead, offering solid foods that are cut and cooked appropriately for baby. Most importantly, BLW encourages self feeding, so you’ll never put food into the baby’s mouth, the baby will choose what he/she wants to eat and how much of it.

There is no spoon feeding in Baby Led Weaning.

There are a few rules on when to start Baby Led Weaning but basically the baby has to sit unassisted for at least a minute and be at least 6 months old. There are other preferred requirements, but those are the two big ones.

Overall, although there is limited evidence suggesting that a Baby Led Weaning approach may encourage positive outcomes, limitations of the data leave these conclusions weak. Further research is needed, particularly to explore pathways to impact and understand the approach in different contexts and populations

Recent Findings on BLW

“However, over the last 10–15 years, an alternative approach termed ‘baby-led weaning’ has grown in popularity. This approach involves allowing infants to self-feed family foods, encouraging the infant to set the pace and intake of the meal. Proponents of the approach believe it promotes healthy eating behaviour and weight gain trajectories, and evidence is starting to build surrounding the method. This review brings together all empirical evidence to date examining behaviours associated with the approach, its outcomes and confounding factors.” From an NCBI article

 

Some of the reasons why people go with BLW

• BLW helps develop baby’s motor skills early on.
• BLW is easier for the family – you don’t have to prepare anything special (like a puree) for baby – they just have what you eat (just sliced a little differently).
• BLW lets the baby practice intuitive eating – they eat until they’re full like with breastfeeding – they’ll never overeat. With spoon feeding, you may want to get that ‘last spoonful’ in or finish a jar of puree, when in reality, your baby is full, they just can’t tell you. 
• BLW is restaurant friendly – you can simply offer the baby the food you’re having and they can eat alongside you, instead of having to bring pre-made baby food everywhere you go. 
• BLW eaters sit and eat with you, instead of you having to feed them separately and then expect them to wait for you to finish eating.

 

BLW is contraindicated for babies at risk of dysphagia, such as babies who have an anatomic disorder (cleft palate, tongue tie), a neurological disorder (developmental delay, hypotonia, oral hypotonia) or a genetic disorder.

Follow up by a health professional (doctor, pediatric registered dietitian) is necessary for babies at risk of anemia such as babies born prematurely, babies with low birth weight (less than 3000 g), worries related to growth, babies born to an anemic mother, baby for whom cow’s milk was introduced early and/or a vegan baby.

 

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Why are Baby Led Spreads useful

Aside from the fact the jars are ADORABLE these spreads are great and whether you choose Baby Led Weaning, traditional methods, or a combination of the two, it’s meant to be a gradual process these provide room for whatever you want to do!

The spreads are designed perfectly for Baby Led Weaning as these little jars contain a range of different healthy, versatile spreads which can be used on sandwiches, as fillings in jacket potatoes, as an easy sauce for warm or cold pasta dishes, as bases for homemade pizza, or as dips for crunchy vegetables, breadsticks, or toast fingers.

The Green pea rocket and Dill is the only one that is Dairy Free that I received – for me that isn’t an issue of course. Would be great for sweet flavours too!

Small pieces of soft food  in a dip and one or two spoonfuls might be all your baby wants at the start – milk feeds are still really important to provide the main source of nutrition until baby is confidently eating a good range of family foods in sufficient amounts – typically by their first birthday. That’s why it’s called ‘complementary feeding’.

These spreads have such a great range, a healthy selection for you to feel confident in giving your baby and my baby did enjoy them all. Not only do they take your meals up another notch, these spreads can be used before cooking as marinades for meats and veggies, and they are the perfect way to finish a dish for a toddler. Nothing says Voila! like a final swirl of colorful spread to top your dish. Just like that, your meal is now complete.  

Great visual appeal, easy to take with you anywhere and ‘real’ taste – my review is based on a baby weaning and not a toddler eating which the spreads are also targeted for.

 

Disclaimer – I was sent these to review however all thoughts are my own.

 

Check out their website BabyLed Spreads

Their social sites:  Instagram,  Facebook and Twitter.