Food Ideas for a 12 Month Old

"Baby Lets Eat" by Rena Coyle is a great& easy cook book. You can also boil chicken to make it super moist!!! (I know it sounds weird). He can eat anything, even without molars. Just keep giving it to him, he'll get the hang of it. Let him eat everything that you eat, just smaller.

you can see my full menu online at http://www.freewebs.com/tarastoyland where I list 5 weeks worth of meals. Even with only those teeth he should be fine eating meats. I find putting them in sauces helps them eat them, like hamburger in with the spaghetti and spaghetti sauce. Or in with noodles for stroganoff or tuna in with tuna noodle casserole. Also kinda shred the meats instead of cutting them, so there are uneven surfaces to gnaw on.

The book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron helped us a ton.

A few of the great food items:
1. Meatballs or sticks made w/: ground sirloin, peeled & grated or finely chopped(FC) apple, a bit of very FC onion, chopped fresh parsley S&P...

*you can do variations: add FC slice of whole wheat bread, grated carrot and an egg to hold it together. Serve w/ a homemade (HM) sweet & sour sauce over HM veggie fried rice.

2. salmon croquettes w/ grated carrots, onions, parsley, bread crumbs & egg in small patties or sticks.

3. Tofu is great... cube it and dust in graham cracker crumbs at snack time, mush it and mix it in yogurt w/ fresh fruit, or mix it in HM veggie fried rice,

4. And of course... Stews that are slow cooked and meat cut up very fine.

Don't forget the frozen fruit. My kids (3,2, & 1) love it straight from the freezer or slightly thawed. I've also learned that you can freeze grapes in a ziplock bag and they will stay good for MUCH longer than in the fridge. Of course, for little ones they need to be cut up before they are served! Good luck.

Hi V.,

My daughter, who is about the same age, loves broccoli (it's easy to microwave some frozen), brown rice, whole-grain bread, sweet potatoes, butternut squash (can also be cooked in the microwave, baked in the toaster, etc.), and black beans. She also likes fruit -- esp. pears. We core them and cut them in quarters (or eighths, if they're large).

Hope that helps!
R.

My daughter is also 12 months, and here are some of her favorite foods: scrambled eggs, tortilla with refried beans spread on it, blueberry pancakes or waffles, broccoli, all fruits. I've recently read about how healthy beans and eggs are for toddlers, and when I tried refried beans, she loved them!

It sounds like you are doing great with his food already. A couple of dishes my toddler loves with meat that are easier to chew:

Pasta with meat sauce. I use a whole wheat rotini pasta, tomato sauce (you can also hide chopped or pureed veggies in here although your little guy sounds like he's doing well on veggies, you could add a little zucchini or other squash, red pepper, or celery), and then you can add meatballs that are either bought frozen and then cooked in the oven, or brown up some lean hamburger meat and chop into tiny pieces. I had to give this to my son a few times before he liked it, because he wasn't sure what to do with the sauce at first. But now he loves it and there are many ways to make it healthy. Also one note, the meatballs are easier for him to chew than the hamburger meat.

Grilled cheese + meat. I have always bought whole wheat/multigrain bread, so my son doesn't mind that - I'll make a grilled cheese and add good quality turkey or ham (I pretty much buy most of our meat from the Paulina deli) and then let the sandwich cool. I cut it into bite-size pieces that are easy to pick up and eat.

Egg & sausage "casserole." Last night I cooked up some sausage, cut it into bite-size pieces, and then made scrambled eggs with pieces of cheese melted in. I added the sausage to it and my son absolutely devoured it. Fresh blueberries on the side.

I used to make little mini-casseroles for my son. The ingredients included:

-browned ground turkey
-frozen vegetables
-brown rice or whole wheat pasta
-gravy or marinara sauce

Make everything on a Sunday, then divide into portions so you have several meals to use throughout the week. Mix and match various sauces, veggies, and rice/pastas to make different combos. Serve with fresh fruit and you've got a fantastic meal. We also used Morningstar Farms Chik'n nuggets (veggie protein) which he loved.

Sounds like your son is doing great. Try cooking meat in a crock-pot. It comes out so soft. Started that with my daughter shortly after her first b-day and she still loves anything cooked in the crock-pot. Good luck.

My daughter is the same age, and has days where she just doesn't want to eat meat. Then there are days where she chows down on small pieces of chicken, hamburger, etc.

I agree that putting meat in casseroles or pasta is probably a good idea - like beef ravioli, which is very popular with my daughter. She eats whatever we eat, so is exposed to a variety that way.

Just keep putting new foods in front of him mixed with others he likes - like finely chopped chicken with carrots. It might be a texture thing. Sometimes it just takes time for them to accept a new food.

What about fresh deli meats? I usually look for the lower sodium brands. Also, I have noticed that boiling chicken breasts (as if you were making chicken noodle soup) makes it much easier to chew. I also gave my daughter ground beef and ground turkey. Good Luck!

I chew the meat for my 12-month old. It sounds gross but that what we must have done for tens of thousands of years before food processors and baby food in a jar!

My son is almost a year old. My husband and I work so it's hard to have the time to cook but I too want him to have fresh foods. I am a big fan of getting the rotisserie chickens. I also get the prepared meats that are fresh but just seasoned already for you. I like the chicken parmesan and stuffed salmon at the Super Target. I also get a big bag of fresh green beans from costco. The end is already snipped off. I just put a little water in a pan and let it cook till the water evaporates. I don't want to use too much water since it takes away the nutrients in the veggies. Pot roast is an easy meal and the meat is very tender so easy to chew. I use a package of lipton soup, 2-3lb roast, baby carrots, and potatoes. Throw all that in crock pot and fill it with water till the meat is almost covered. I do this in the morning before I leave for work and when I get home it's done!