Help - Need finger food ideas for lunch/dinner

[slworld]

DS is almost a year old. We have been doing lunch for almost 6 months now & dinner for about a month. Lunch has usually been rice since that’s our staple and we eat it almost 7 days a week. Suddenly for the past couple of weeks he has been refusing to be spoon-fed. He wants to do it himself. So after the first four bites he refuses to eat. I know it is important for him to learn to feed/spoon-feed himself but I don’t want a mess EVERY day (he can’t really get much into his mouth with a spoon) and also rice doesn’t really work well as a finger food. So I am looking for foods that can work as finger foods but are substantial enough for lunch/dinner. I want to be able to make these at home but any healthy store bought ideas would be great too. He does cheese, yogurt, crackers, fruit etc for snacks. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much

[emily]

We give DD rice wrapped in nori. You can buy in most asian food stores. Think super, super mini sushi rolls. At first we just put rice in it, but now we add chopped steam veggies and meats. It travels well and DD loves it.

[JBaxter]

Jack is 8 months his finger foods are

grilled cheese w/ no crust
diced carrots
diced sweet potato
green beans
peas
yellow squash
zuchinni squash
bananas
blueberries
watermelon
cantalope
yams
broccoli
pancakes
banana bread/muffins
pears
pasta ( esp the tri color curly ones)

I just chop/dice things up and put them on his tray he makes a delightful mess he doent like yogurt.
he does have a random jar of baby food but not to often

[hellokitty]

Can he just eat cut up bits of food that you and the rest of the family are eating? That's what I did with DS2, totally skipped the babyfood phase (he would gag and throw up at the texture), and it was soooo nice! There was no transition to, "real" food like with DS1, who did have babyfood...

[KrisM]

DS2 is 11 months. He mostly eats finger foods:

apples
pears
rice
cheese
grilled cheese
chicken
beans
peas
carrots
bananas
cantelope
sweet potato

From a spoon, he eats yogurt and applesauce.

It's going to make a mess as he learns.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Can he just eat cut up bits of food that you and the rest of the family are eating? That's what I did with DS2, totally skipped the babyfood phase (he would gag and throw up at the texture), and it was soooo nice! There was no transition to, "real" food like with DS1, who did have babyfood...

That's what I was thinking too. Works fine.

Beth

[bcafe]

Let's see. DS will be 1 in 6 days and he eats what we eat. Yesterday he had steamed kohlrabi, yellow beets, and turnips for lunch. For supper he had bits of steak, carrots, potatoes, and green/yellow beans. Below is my list for our nanny: most if not all I try to get organic---
steamed carrots
steamed green/yellow beans
canned white beans
canned pinto beans
avocado
brown rice pasta
blueberries
whole milk yogurt
steamed/frozen peas
pieces of cheese
steamed apple
applesauce
egg yolk-fried
banana

[DrSally]

We have allergies in this family, so we are slow in introducing foods. DD hasn't had any milk or egg products yet (so that rules out eggs, pancakes, cheese, yogurt). We still stick mainly to single veggies, fruits, meats, and bread wo/any milk in it. It's hard to give her what we're eating if there are milk, eggs, or other things in it that she hasn't had yet. Tonight, I made plain chicken thighs (cut up), pasta and grapes for DS. I gave DD some cut up chicken and pasta and she loved it.

[kijip]

The only way for him to learn to not make a mess is by making a mess. Just my 2 cents but I prefer a messy 1 year old to a 3 or 4 year old who can't semi-neatly self feed because mom has been insisting on spoon feeding.

[mm123]

That sounds exactly like DD 3 months ago- she started refusing to take a spoon from us, and could not use it herself at all. So, we had to give up on purees, soups, yogurts, etc., and started giving her more soft, cut-up finger foods. Some of things we currently give her:

cubed tofu
tortillas/pancakes/waffles/toast with cream cheese or hummus
grilled cheese sandwiches on bread or tortillas
steamed veggies- broccoli, cauliflower, peas are her faves
fruit- strawberries, peaches, blueberries, bananas, kiwi
macaroni or mini shells with olive oil and parmesan
baked chicken
meatballs
muffins
black beans, kidney beans
cubed or grated cheese

Of course, of the food we put on her tray, about half ends up in her mouth, the other half ends up in her hair or on the floor...all part of the learning process!

[DrSally]

Oh, how could I forget about cubed tofu, used to be one of DS's favs. I roll it in some cheerio dust so it's easier to pick up.

[dsb22]

When our daughter transitioned to the toddler room at her daycare, she had to have finger foods for meals. For learning to use utensils, I gave her food like mashed potatoes, thick oatmeal, and pudding. Some of the finger foods I've done:

turkey meatballs (cut into small pieces)
grilled cheese sandwiches
broccoli
zucchini
yellow squash
chopped spinach (cooked) --but tends to be messy
scrambled eggs
chicken nuggets
vegetable shu mai (from TraderJoes)
chicken shu mai (from TraderJoes)
cold cuts (varieties without preservatives, cut into small pieces)
perogies (sp?)
chicken noodle stew/soup, minus the broth


Deanna

Rebekah 2
Sam 7 mos