Why We Cook One Meal for the Whole Family

If you're new here, welcome — and here's the idea the whole book (and this site) is built on: cook one meal, and adapt it for everyone at the table, from your 6-month-old to your grandparents.

When my own kids were babies, I remember the exhaustion of trying to make a separate little pot of "baby food" every night, on top of dinner for everyone else. It didn't take long to realise there was a better way — take what the family is eating, and simply adjust the texture, seasoning and portion for the smallest people at the table.

In practice, that looks like:

• Cook the base meal for the family, then pull baby's portion aside before adding salt or anything too spicy.

• Puree, mash or finely chop baby's portion depending on their stage — same ingredients, different texture.

• Use the meal as a chance to include whatever common allergen you're currently working through (see our egg and peanut posts) rather than treating allergen introduction as a separate project.

• Let older toddlers and kids see everyone eating the same food — it does a lot for fussy eating over time, even if it doesn't feel like it some nights. It also happens to be how we eat here on the farm. Whatever's coming out of the kitchen — whether that's a big Sunday roast or a quick macadamia fried rice — gets adapted for whoever's at the table that night, from the smallest grandchild to Martin and me.

The bigger idea: food shouldn't be something families navigate separately by age group. One pot, one meal, a little adapting — that's it. It's kinder to the cook, and it means your baby grows up eating real food from day one, not a separate "kids' menu" universe.

If this is your first time here, have a look through The Book page for the full philosophy (and 95 recipes built exactly this way), or dive into the blog for more on introducing specific allergens.