I agree with Ejjay regarding the best time to express.

With introducing solids, I find it is easiest to bypass the baby rice and mushed food stage altogether. The guildelines for starting solid food like that were designed when babies were fed solids at 3 months and are not really relevant for a 6 month old starting solids.

At 6 months she will be able to hold her head up and chew with her gums, so start by sitting her in her highchair when you are eating and giving her some of your veggies to play with. She will be able to eat anything she can hold and chew without teeth, so brocolli is great (has a built in handle and all the goodness can be sucked off it), cooked carrot sticks, small chunks of cooked chicken, asparagus, etc. It will not be long before she is just eating a small portion of whatever you are cooking for yourself which makes weaning so much easier for you, not to mention more fun for her as there are less expectations on her input and she will not have to sit and be fed with a spoon (which a lot of babies hate, they like to touch what they are eating before they decide whether or not to put it in their mouths.)

Good luck

T
xx