Food/Meal Ideas for a One Year Old? Suggestions?

At that age my son really liked eating avacado that had been cut into little pieces. It's very soft, so you don't have to worry about choking, and it's very nutritious. Other things he liked at that age: little cubes of tofu (just cold!), small pieces of cheese, baby "puffs" from Gerber. Remember, it often takes a few tries of something new before little guys this age will enjoy it. Hang in there and have fun! J., www.SimpleCloth.com

My husband works graveyard, too, and I found that the absolute key is to have set mealtimes no matter what. (So our dinnertime ends up as my husband's breakfast time!) I have twin one year olds (one with a mouthful of teeth and the other with just a couple!), so I'll just give you our "menu" from yesterday.

Breakfast: Instant Oatmeal (apple/cinnamon and banana bread are the current favorite flavors) with a banana cut into little pieces;

Lunch: Mini Chef Boyardee Ravioli with the meat sauce rinsed off (I leave the meat sauce on if they will be going straight from the high chair into the bath!) cut into little bite size pieces, a small handful of frozen peas (thawed under warm running water); and a fruit cup (Doyle Mandarin Oranges cut into bite size pieces).

Dinner: Chicken cut into bite size pieces, mashed potatoes (it's amazing what can become a finger food!), peas and a fruit cup (pineapple this time).

For one of my twins, I have to offer him a new food several times before he decides that I'm not trying to poison him! So I always have at least ONE thing I know know he likes. Peas and fruit cups are super popular - and it is SO much cheaper to buy this from aisles OTHER than the baby food aisle!

For snacks, they really like the Gerber Puffs, Nilla Wafers, etc.

Hi there R.. I dont really have a suggestion on the food, except I learned to try things over again...they'll like something one day and hate it the next, but you give it to them still again and they'll like it again. lol. but I wanted to let you know I looked at your myspace page and your son is so adorable. I think he's smiling in every picture! Very Cute! Good luck with the dinners. Sorry Im not much help on that part.

You should be able to give him what you are eating.. just mash it up (or make small bites). My 7 month old eats foods that aren't pureed. You just have to be careful about the size of the "bite". Good luck!

Try steamed broccoli or green beans. Bananas, peaches and other soft fruits. We love these: http://snacksalad.com/brand.html just break them into small bites (or not, they dissolve quickly). There are lots of dried fruits and veggies out there that are great!

Here are some things that work well for us:

Pasta and marinara sauce (jars of sauce are really easy) with parmesan sauce. Try using multi-grain, whole wheat, or veggie pasta - my girls love the different textures.

Definitely try yogurt -it's a staple in our house - but make sure to check the ingredients. Neither of my kids would eat anything that had corn starch, but they love yogurt like Mountain High, Brown Cow, and Dannon Naturals (check organic or natural foods sections for the best types in your area)

If you're on the go a lot, try Stretch Island Fruit Leather. There's no extra sugar or fillers, it's just pure fruit leather. You have to be careful about mess (they get pretty sticky), but they taste great.

Other ideas: omelets, hot cereals (Oatmeal, corn meal, cream of wheat, etc), chicken or turkey (no skin, cut into small pieces), grilled cheese sandwiches, just about any soup (clam chowder goes over really well here), fresh fruit, steamed veggies, crackers (look for whole-grains), etc.

My girls eat pretty much the same things my husband and I have, we just have to keep an eye on how big the pieces get. And unless your kids have allergies or trouble digesting certain foods, don't worry about serving "bland" foods. If kids are used to a variety of flavors, they're not nearly so picky later on.

macaroni and cheese was a big one for my daughter, she just loved it at that age. pretty much anything you eat he can eat, you just have to cut it up small enough so that he won't choke. I hope this helps!

R.,

How precious! I visited your myspace and you have an adorable little boy! My son is 3 so I do understand where you are coming from! As a nurse, I say never, never, never give him a hot dog without first cutting it into very small peices, apples, or uncooked carrots, obviously that is a few years down the road, but one of my biggest fears for moms. I started all three of my children on "squishy" foods, sweet peas, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots..the Gerber cookies and small foods are great. I preferred to cook my own so my spices, butter and other flavors were there, the bottled food isn't quite as tasty.

I also wanted to respond to your working one day a week for "adult" time! lol, I work from home with my business and work outside the home for only a few hours each week. It may be something you could check out. www.J..myarbonne.com I've helped several people get started that are in Indiana, and Connecticut, not to mention I still train via internet and phone my teams down in texas. Let me know if you would like more information.

Best of luck and keep us posted! He truly is adorable!
J.

Wow, some of the suggestions on here are great - but not all are exactly "healthy." Avoid processed foods as much as you can - there is often a lot of sodium (salt) in canned pastas,vegetables, and pre-made snacks and meals and that is stuff that babies just do not need. Also, take a look at the ingredients on some of those "baby" or "toddler" foods. I was horrified to see sugars and oils listed near the top of some of Gerber's toddler-specific stuff. Why pay a premium for something that isn't any healthier (perhaps less healthy) than plain cheerios or just regular whole grain pasta. Frozen vegetables are handy and usually have less sodium than canned.

To answer your question; my little one LOVES peas (only takes a few minutes to boil from frozen), blueberries, whole wheat pasta (cut up if necessary), steamed carrots, yogurt (plain - add your own fruit and you get WAY less sugar), cheese, mini bagels and cream cheese (diced), bits of any kind of meat. It is amazing what they can gum - teeth are not a requirement for a lot of foods. Egg yolk (whites are more allergenic), avacado, and salmon are all great brain foods. Most fruit is ready to eat as-is, but it doesn't take long to bake an apple to gum-able consistency.
If you want a 'sauce' for your pasta - try melting some real cheese on macaroni or even using a jarred baby food (or homemade puree) as sauce. There's no need for extra sugar and salt at this age.

As others have said, try, try, try again. My daughter turned her nose up at avocado for quite some time, but now she will eat it without much of a grimace. Don't force anything. I have heard somewhere (and try to stick to it) that it is the parents who decide the where, when, and what of eating and the children decide how much and if. As long as they continue to grow and you offer a nutritious balanced diet, you are doing the best you can.

well, first i have to say, you'd be surprised what they can chew without using their teeth. my daughter only has 6 front teeth, she's the same age as your son, june 2006. she can eat chicken, steak, hamburgers, pretty much anything i give her as long as its cut up. its good to give him a variety of steamed veggies. there soft enough to eat and all the colors are fun! yogurt is great, cheese cubes, cut up grapes, strawberries, bananas. my kids absolutly love blueberries and my one year old really like raspberries, which can be messy, but soft and easy to chew. canned mandarins are great, there already sliced and soft, i just drain them and put them in front of the kids and there usually gone in a matter of seconds. peas are great, but i think its important to try more veggies then that because peas are only a starch. oatmeal is awesome, i give her a variety of cereals, dry, as a snack. not just cheerios, but also trix, life, chex, she likes them all. i really like whole wheat eggo waffles also. i usually get the fruit flavored ones. i just toast them and the kids eat them plain and love them. if you can't get him to eat many veggies, you should look into v8 splash. its a full serving of veggies and a full serving of fruit in each cup and lots of yummy flavors. cooked sweet potatoes are probably one of the best side dishes/snacks. they're sweet and soft, but very nutritious, much more so then regular potatoes. and last but not least, variety is super important. if they don't get a lot of variety now, they tend to be pickier and more difficult later. my kids have had chinese, mexican, indian, italian, seafood and of course, good ol american cheeseburger and fries type stuff, they love it all. good luck.

Any canned veggies my little one is a fan of. Peas and carrots are his favorite. He is almost two now, so I give him raw baby carrots because he is more able to chew them, but until we got to that point canned carrots were a super easy godsend. I was impressed with the selection they have in cans. Plus they are cheaper than the baby aisle things and they keep forever. My little guy LOVES the gerber graduate pasta pickups. I like that they are clean and they don't have nearly the sodium or preservatives as the adult versions. I also give him the Gerber meals for toddlers. He likes the ravioli and spaghetti the best (although they are messy), but he also likes the mashed potatoes with chicken and the chicken noodles too. He also eats most lunchmeat, especially turkey and he will do ANYTHING for a hot dog. Yogurt is also good. My little one also started wanting whatever it was I was eating when he was about one, so I would give it to him. If he didn't like it I didn't try and force it on him, but if he did eat it I would give him more and add it to my "list". I still always give him at least a bite or two of anything that I am eating (unless it is obviously inappropriate like gum or soda). When my son started to act like he was going to get picky I gave him a squirt of ketchup on is plate and he loves dipping so much that if you give him a squirt of ketchup to dip in he will eat just about anything. I try to limit it, but there are some days or situations ( ie. eating out) when I am grateful to have the ketchup treat to fall back on. Fruit cups are also good. Mine loves mandarin oranges, but those tend to come out in the diaper looking like they did when they went in his mouth so i try to limit those. Bananas and string cheese are favorite snacks.

You've gotten some good suggestions here. One thing I'd like to add is that you will save some sanity down the road if you feed him what you eat so you don't become a short order cook by the time he's 2. If you break down into food groups I've found tofu (my daughter liked it uncooked even), yogurt, cheese and scrambled eggs are good for protein, cooked veggies of all colors, bananas, unprocessed apple and berry sauces, for fruit and cooked potatoes, rice and noodles for carbs were all favorites around here. Don't be afraid to try things; my daughter's favorite dish since she was 1 was/is yellow curry with potatoes, chicken and brown rice from our local Thai resturaunt.

Baby food grinders are great. You can grind up whatever the family is eating quickly, and feed them to baby all chopped up, without the fear of choking.

All the other moms' suggestions are great. One thing that occurs to me is if your little one might be having issues with texture. My 13.5-month daughter eats lots of stuff, but often times a change in texture is needed. Also, I've noticed that warming up her food makes her LOVE it ... it just takes 10 seconds in the mic, and it's well worth it for us!

Another trick we use is dipping stuff in yogurt if she's being particularly stubborn about eating.

Some of our favorite snacks/meals include:

grapes cut in half
watermelon cut in to chunks
steamed carrots
steamed green beans
steamed broccoli

Good luck!