I Need Help with Food

We are vegetarians so no meat sticks here.. my girl LOVES tofu - plain right out of the carton (not so tasty to me.. but she thinks it's a special treat!!) she also loves beans! Fresh out of the can.. I rinse them and she'll eat tons!

I think you've gotten a lot of great suggestions. My son is 1 and for lunches now he's been eating Chicken & Cheese nibblers. Any grocery store sells them. I cut them up bite size and he LOVES them! He also enjoys when I make ground turkey (We don't eat beef here) and he can grab that cuz it's already bite sized. I buy frozen vegetables so they can be dished out in appropriate portions for him on any meal.

I also buy hot dogs for him and will heat one up. He still likes the meat sticks, but I prefer to give him other stuff first.

Another great option for lunches or dinners is the Gerber Graduate Meals. They are little microwave meals that you heat up in 30 seconds and perfect for little fingers to grab. I will do that when I'm having something that isn't toddler friendly (like Pizza). They cost less than 2 dollars per meal at Meijer. My son loves those!

Good Luck!

When my twins were little they LOVED Vienna sausages and they are so much cheaper to buy than the "baby meats" from Gerber. You might want to try a can of those for your little guy. Also for protien what about some scrambled eggs for lunch? My boys are 10 and I still make smoothies - I use Yogurt (good protien) and then add a little apple/orange/cranberry juice, a couple of frozern berries and blend it up - they still LOVE them and it is such an easy way to sneak some "good stuff" into their daily intake. Lastly, if you are concerned about him getting the right balance you might want to try 2 things - one giving him a daily vitamin and second - give him some Pediasure - again you could take like the chocolate one and blend it up with some frozen banana pieces and make him a "smoothie or a shake" with it. With a little time and patience you will find what works for you and your little boy. Best wishes, L. L.

peanut butter is a good source of protein.they also have gerber dinners like mac n cheese. they're called little entrees

I always have canned salmon, tuna or chicken around. Just mix it with a bit of plain yogurt or mayo and you have a sandwich. I take leftover chicken and blend it up with avacado and mayo. You can puree anything and sneek it in. Eggs are always good. Also, if you make extra for dinner, you can whip that up the next day for lunch adding something easy to it to make a whole new meal. Good luck!

My daughter gave up baby food super early - she refused to eat it, and only wanted what she saw us eat! So, I started giving her what my son (3 1/2) was eating. Lunch menus are endless. Grilled cheese, beef hot dogs, ravioli, sandwiches, cut up meat and cheese, chicken nuggets, left over dinner, etc. I always pair up a fruit w/whatever they have for lunch. She looooves pears, apples, bananas, raisins, etc. I just cut the fruit up into sticks.

He should be eating just about everything. My Daughter is 14 Months old and for awhile now has been eating Mac-n-cheese, grilled cheese, Peanut and jelly, hot dog (cut up small), soup with crackers and she LOVES chicken. I buy the Kraft mac-n-cheese that comes in a little cup that you microwave for 3.5 min and it is REALLY good!! Good luck

i have an eight month old and when I cook dinner, I give him what we are having (not the super spicy stuff, and that is about my only requirement) I cut it up really small. I use a Philips HR1358 4 Speed Handheld Blender, mine came with a whisk attachment, make sure you get the chopper cup attachment no matter what brand you buy. I took 2 left over chicken fingers and put a little leftover brown gravy with them, in the cup and chopped them up. He loves it. I do this with spaghetti, linguine, beans, peas, etc. I use enough to make a 2 or 3 servings, store it in the Gerber glass jars, and plastic cups, and freeze it. I pull it out in the morning to thaw for his lunch, when we go to Grandma's I put it frozen in the cooler bag and it keeps the bottles cold until we get there.

Sometimes I just save the 5 green beans instead of throwing them away, that along with the 1/4 of a piece of meat that I cut off my serving, and a little pasta or rice or potatoes, and put them on a plate for him for the next day. Just make sure that you cut it across the grain so that it breaks up easily, I test it by putting a little on my tongue and mashing it against the roof of my mouth, if it breaks up into tiny pieces, it's safe, if it stays long or stringy, it isn't safe.

eggs mixed with cheese, grilled cheese, yogurt :)

My son is 14 months and I make meatballs with turkey burger because I will not touch redmeat, but what ever ground meat you like and put them in a sauce pan, add stock and boil for about ten minutes. They are so soft and I chop them up and he eats them. It is fast and simple if he cant eat what you made for dinner, but he should really be able to eat whatever you cook. You can also scramble him up an egg.

I have had the same problems, trust me, I discovered what your baby probably wants is what you and your husband are eating. Just cut it up small. Have you tried chicken nuggets or fish sticks, they can always dip it in ketchup for fun. Mac and Cheese is always good, calcium is a big problem for us, my son wont drink milk and not a fan of cheese or yogurt so I make my own mac and cheese with horizon american cheese and his milk for a little calcium. Another favorite of his is homemaide or Mccains sweet potato fries, healthy and easy to make. You can make mini meetballs and you all can eat it. Hope that helps.

if you have a slow cooker your options are endless! if not, i recommend asking for one for xmas! we use ours all the time. my daughter is 11 months with only 2 teeth and she eats the chicken, turkey, beef and pork i cook in the crock pot. i just cook them all day with either some broth or water and shread them up for her. she loves that she can feed herself the little strips of food and i love that there are no preservatives or artificial anything like the frozen chicken fingers or dinners you can buy for kids.

Have you tried hot dogs or peanut butter and jelly? What about "Lunchables" or Ravioli? After a year old most anything is a "go". Just make sure you cut it up into bite size pieces and you'll be fine.

remember that what you are really looking for is protien, which you can find in ANY animal product (yogurt, cheese, eggs, milk, etc.), but also try hummus on bread, beans and rice, soy milk and other soy products (i prefer morningstar brand), also make extra meat for your meals and make little patties by chopping or pureeing the cooked meat and add an egg, breadcrumbs and even some fresh herbs, make into patties and freeze, pull out, heat up and serve! smoothies are also great, buy a bulk bag of strawberries, or mixed fruit, add wheat germ, soy milk, yogurt, orange juice, unsweetened vanilla soy milk, puree with just about anything...you can hide a lot in a smoothie! peanut butter is great, but you'll have to wait...ask you doctor, but there are other nut butters like almond butter, cashew butter, etc. most of all, relax and remember its what they eat over a couple of days and not just in one day...so feed him a variety of things everyday. Good Luck!