Baby Finger Foods from TJs?

[srhs]

I know I've mentioned it a billion times, but we don't have a Trader Joes so I can't look myself. Some friends and family bring me stuff off a wish list, though.

DS2 is all about the finger foods. We do few purees. I still follow the 3-day rule and the ages of introduction rec by wholesomebabyfood. He is not a fan of the mesh feeder.

Soooo, what kinds of things from there do ya'll find helpful at this phase? I'd really like to find a dry, safe snack (puffs were a short phase that we are past) that isn't all corn. I forget: are the "cheerios" organic or just all nat? Anything bigger for easy grasping?

Jarred fruits or veggies that worked well?
How about freeze-dried stuff?

[Pepper]

My 13-month old loves the freeze-dried fruit. I break the bananas and strawberries in half (or smaller) for him. The mango might be hard to chew (or gum) so I'd skip that one for now.

DS also likes the rice crackers - not the different-shaped ones labeled "Oriental Rice Crackers" but the flat, round ones. I don't have a bag right now, sorry I forget what they're called. There's like the rice snaps at the grocery store but a little smaller. You can break them in half if you're worried about choking. I've also given him the TJ's version of Triscuits, broken into slivers and he takes little bites.

Oh, there's also these things that look like spirals, they're made with potato and lentil, they are crunchy and easy to eat. Sorry I cannot think what anything is called today!

TJs usually has good prices on almond butter, if you can have nut products. You can thin it with a little water and spread on apples slices or crackers.

[Katigre]

Freeze dried mango, strawberry, bananas. DD *loved* those so much as a baby. They were much better than the tiny Gerber freeze dried fruits too - softer, easier to disolve in the mouth, and easier to grasp.

[srhs]

My 13-month old loves the freeze-dried fruit. I break the bananas and strawberries in half (or smaller) for him. The mango might be hard to chew (or gum) so I'd skip that one for now.

DS also likes the rice crackers - not the different-shaped ones labeled "Oriental Rice Crackers" but the flat, round ones. I don't have a bag right now, sorry I forget what they're called. There's like the rice snaps at the grocery store but a little smaller. You can break them in half if you're worried about choking. I've also given him the TJ's version of Triscuits, broken into slivers and he takes little bites.

Oh, there's also these things that look like spirals, they're made with potato and lentil, they are crunchy and easy to eat. Sorry I cannot think what anything is called today!

TJs usually has good prices on almond butter, if you can have nut products. You can thin it with a little water and spread on apples slices or crackers.

thanks!
If you think of or see the names of the crackers and spirals, could you update me? They sound great! Since I'm sending someone else, the more info, the better! :-)
Almond butter. . . when did you introduce that, out of curiousity? And is that with the PBs and Sunbutter or somewhere else?

[srhs]

Freeze dried mango, strawberry, bananas. DD *loved* those so much as a baby. They were much better than the tiny Gerber freeze dried fruits too - softer, easier to disolve in the mouth, and easier to grasp.

After seeing the mango mentioned in other threads, I got it once, but it was chewy and heavily sugared. I am thinking that's not what ya'll are talking about? Is there a fluffy version like Just Tomatoes' stuff?

[Katigre]

Yeah - not regular dried mango. This stuff comes in foil bags (in the same section as the dried fruit) but is freeze dried like Just tomatoes. THey have strawberries, blueberries, mango slices, and banana circles. The bags are a perfect size to keep in the diaper bag for fast snacks.

I don't recommend the blueberries until the baby is a bit older b/c they stain really badly and are small and round (chokable).

Another thing is TJ's frozen fruit - they have wild blueberries which are mini blueberries (smaller than a pea) and so juicy and flavorful when thawed. Both DD and DS love snacking on those and they're packed full of antioxidants (but they do stain horribly).

[Pepper]

thanks!
If you think of or see the names of the crackers and spirals, could you update me? They sound great! Since I'm sending someone else, the more info, the better! :-)
Almond butter. . . when did you introduce that, out of curiousity? And is that with the PBs and Sunbutter or somewhere else?

Egad, they're just called crunchy curls...lol. Here's a nice blog post about them:
http://glutenfreeislife.wordpress.co...crunchy-curls/

I can't find a pic of the rice crackers, but they're the Savory Thin Original Mini crackers. They also have a soy sauce and multiseed version which is pretty good, too:
http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nu...?dietid=103033

As for almond butter, I started stirring it into DS1's morning porridge when he was ~10 months old. I'm an adoptive mom so and we don't know if either DS's birth family has food allergies, but neither boy had a reaction to any other foods so I just tried it out. ANd yes, it should be with the PB and soybutter, etc at the TJs.

[heatherandlouis]

Flattened bananas are popular around our house