Need Cooking Advice

Hi J.
anything the child can pick up with fingers is ok- green beens, fishsticks- cheese sticks- chicken nuggets, any fruit she can chew- cut up in small pieces etc.....
good luck and blessings

In the produce section you can find tofu, cut it up into cubes. The texture is perfect and has great nutritional values. Don't pass your disgust of this item onto your dt. Avocado is also a great nutitional alternative. Look for darker colors but that the fruit is not too meshy. It should be firm with just a little give. Look on YOUTUBE for a demo on how to cut an avocado to where its not too messy for you. Steam brocolli is great great. Try to stay away from the likes of chicken nuggets and hot dogs. They will have plenty of opportunity in their childhood to have exposure to such items. Don't build up thier cholestoral so soon. Broil pasta is a great item, stay away from the sphegettin and introduce mini shells or min penne, these are great shapes for babies to pick up. Broil it a little longer than the box recommend, or take out your portion at al dente and then leave a few in the pot to broil a little more for her. You can add pasta sauce and introduce her to new flavors. Do not fall into the trap of "my dt is a picky eater" my thought on picky eater is that their parents allowed them or pushed them down that path. Mothers don't cook meals much. Too many family meals are in boxes of takeouts and drive through. If that's all that thier young taste buds are introduced to then that's all they know. If you are not a great cook, then DVR or watch the foodnetwork. They taught me how to cook, methods, and what to cook. If you don't introduce the flavors to your child how will they know if they like it or not.

It's best to start with the Gerber Graduates. They have meats and vegetables and they are going to be very soft. When my son was ready they didn't have those and I just made sure to cut everything really small and had to put very little on his tray because he would try to put several pieces in his mouth as possible. I fed him just about everything. fruits, veggies even meats. The key is tiny pieces. His favorite was chicken nuggets and grapes. You may want to take a infant/child CPR class. My son was a choker. He would choke on something at practically every meal. Sometimes he still does. This is when you can really start trying different foods and you start seeing their likes and dislikes. This is the fun part. Enjoy!

Granted, some foods are a higher risk than others, but ANY food at this age can become a choking hazard. Babies transitioning to more solids are not necessarily the best chewers and are used to swallowing everything as it comes into their mouths. Your baby should never be alone while eating and you should make sure you know how to properly perform the Heimlich Maneuver. I don't mean that to sound ominous.

Assuming your daughter has some teeth, she can likely try most of what you are eating. You may have to cook them a little longer or cut them to make them easier for you to handle. Cut meat so (chicken especially) she will be biting across the grain, fruits and vegetables are good in long skinny shapes so they are easier to grasp, and pasta is great for development of manual dexterity. This is will introduce her to new flavors and she may actually accept new flavors willingly if she sees YOU and your family eating them--trust me, this is how I got my carrot-eating baby to swallow her first bites (even though I am not particularly fond of carrots).

Keep in mind that you may have to introduce a new food something like TEN times before you baby accepts it. It is worth the effort when you have a two year old that will eat whatever you put in front of them!

You don't have to be a great cook, just willing to do some simple cooking!
Baked Sweet Potato "Fries"
Avocado (this one took a while for us, but now she'll eat a whole one)
Tilapia (about 2 minutes each side on medium heat)
Salmon (about 6 minutes each side on medium heat, covered)
Rotini Pasta (this is a great time to introduce whole grain products)
Greek Yogurt (thicker and stays on the spoon)
Mother's Brand Oat Bran (looks sort of like Chex, but are whole grain, a little sweet, and dissolve fast)
Peas
Beans (rinse canned beans to get rid of excess sodium; I mix pinto, black, and kidney to give her some visual interest and variety)
Chicken Apple Sausages (you may have to cut off the casing after cooking, but delicious and full of protein)

Good Luck! The fun is just beginning!

Easy things are:
- Pasta
- Veggies / fruit
- Chicken strips - you can buy the filets and cut them into strips - cook them plain or add a little batter
- Meatballs - they are already cooked -you just have to warm them up
- Vienna sausages in a can
- Fish sticks

All easy - little prep - you'll get it perfect every time!

The small toddler jars of carrots and green beans are good places to start. Pasta is also good. We found that the ditalini pasta was perfect size and texture.

Simple healthy things like soft steamed carrots and broccoli, chunks of banana or other soft fruits, sweet potato chunks, cut up cheese slices, small peices of tilapia or salmon (watch for bones!), scrambled eggs... I try to keep it simple and make sure that there are plenty of healthy, safe options.

All most anything that you eat can be made into finger food, partially cooked vegetables, pasta, cheese,pieces of cooked chicken,. You did not say if she had enough teeth for the foods I assume that she does. Vary them be sure that you give her foods that you eat also.

I believe congratulations are in order. I have two children myself...7 and 3. I know you are going to enjoy the journey ahead. The finger foods that my kids loved the most were the already made gerber finger foods that dissolve easily. You get them on the formula/babyfood isle in Walmart. My kids especially loved vienna sausages. they are soft and easy to chew and you can cut them up or leave them whole. I have never experience my children chokin on them so that may something of interest to you too. Other wise I am afraid that even though i am a relatively good cook I am not for certain of anything that you could cook. Let me know if you would like to know any more information pertaining to your child. I would be more than happy to help you in any way possible. Sorry I could not help you with the cookables. But keep in touch because i do have friends that may have some advice for you as well. Good luck to you and hope to hear from you soon.

i am right there with you. we feed our son things like baby carrots cooked very well, turkey hot dog weiners sliced lenght wise then choped ( be very careful these are a choaking hazard), french bread, "deceptively delicious by jessica seignfeild" has some great recipies, wheat bread grilled cheese with sweet potatoes inside. chicken nuggets again cut well. our son seems to have an objection to "wet" foods so he does really well with dried fruit, and freeze dried veggies there are chips i think they are called sun well that are made from carrots, green beans, and other yummy veggies. pancakes, eggs. I also have a book super nutrition for babies and it has alot of tips and recipies. yougart, apple sauce, bananna.

The great thing about most finger foods is that there doesn't have to be a lot of cooking involved. My daughter loved avocado and black beans. She loves sweet potato, lima beans, banana, small pieces of shredded chicken, and even canned beats.

Banana, carrots (cut julianne style), avacado, sweet potato, steamed green beans.