Suggestions on Simple Foods for My 1 Year Old

For the most part, she can eat whatever your having. Just make sure you've tested for allergies and the food is cut into small pieces.

Here are some other ideas...
steamed veggies -carrots, broccoli, green beans, - they're soft and easy to chew
non sugary cereals like cherios - cereal is packed with all types of vitamins and minerals
legumes - black beans, baked beans - lots of protien
eggs - hard boiled cut up into pieces or scrambled
yogurt -
cheese cut into small cubes
pasta - no sauce - try rotini or bow ties
potatoes - mashed, baked, or cut into cubes and boil (no skins)
bananas
cantalope or apples without skins, cut into small pieces

I would definitely skip the "toddler snack" aisle (Gerber puffs, etc) and graduate her right to things you'd like to see her continue...start as you mean to go on, in other words. (The only exception I make to this rule are Mum Mums. You can buy them at Target or perhaps some grocery stores...they are made by "Hot Kid" and have very few ingredients. The plain flavor has japonica rice, sea salt, and a minimal amount of sugar...the banana has that plus banana, :) , and the veggie flavor has interesting things like cabbage and beet powder. YUM! They are shaped like surfboards and basically turn to mush in the mouth...safe for babies, simple foods without preservatives and junk...and I even like them.)

(I'll try to give options assuming she has a few teeth, but at this age, my children did not...and still did well.)

Fresh fruits are great...cut them into VERY small pieces, about the size of half your pinkie nail. Cooked veggies are also a great place to start...dice them into small cubes (again, very small.) My youngest currently loves cantaloupe, apples, bananas, prunes, raisins, and peas. A suggestion on veggies...use frozen or fresh. Canned vegetables are full of salt and the poisoning...er, I mean packaging...is very questionable.

Dairy...yogurt, cottage cheese, tiny bits of cheddar or string cheese (again, very very small.) I am not against cream cheese on toast for toddlers! Yum!

Meats are still tough at this age, but you can give cooked ground beef that's been properly chopped (very small) and my youngest LOVES tuna...still does. I make her tuna salad, and she eats it by dipping tortilla chips into it (though the chip just serves as a utensil, and at 2, she still doesn't eat them.) Other fish are also an option, because when cooked it is usually flaky and easy to eat.

Grains...that's a tough one for me, because my little one has Celiac disease. She eats a lot of whole grain brown rice, and all our pasta is made from either corn or rice. I have yet to try the fabulous quinoa, but have heard good things about it. Typical children can have toast with a variety of toppings...cottage cheese, cream cheese, peanut butter, apple butter, etc.

It's also always an option to give her a little of what you are having, unless she's allergic to something. You can always mash, grind, or chop up into tiny bits whatever you are having. The more you expose them to, the better taste they will develop for variety.

There are lots of options!

My boys LOVED avocados, sweet potatoes, asparagus, bananas, and berries at this age (they still love most of these things). If you are asking what you need to have on hand- frozen over canned veggies (because of BPA contamination), steamed well and mashed or in small pieces- their gums can "chew" a lot! Cheerios, or other higher fiber cereals are also good choices.

At one, my son ate the same foods DH and I were eating - just cut/mashed into appropriate size pieces. He ate peas, corn, green beans, avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke (hearts - he didn't graduate to leaves until he had more teeth), beets, chick peas, all beans, cucumbers, carrots, fennel, pretty much all the veggies. He ate all fruit except mangoes (still doesn't like them). He ate beef, lamb, fish, shrimp, lobster, duck and (rarely) chicken - still doesn't love chicken.

We never did 'baby food' and we always assumed that a child would be excited about new foods. Since DH and I grew up before the days of 'child friendly' foods, restaurants and menus we NEVER offered those things and DS eats real food. We also offered milk and water as his only beverage choices.

Feeding DS what we were eating was easier and less expensive than making or ordering him his own meal. And it made going out to restaurants really easy - all he needed was a plate and a high chair.

Scrambled eggs are a great food. Add cheese if you want. It is very easy to scramble an egg if you don't think what you are having is appropriate for your little one. Whole milk organic yogurt is nice to have on hand for a quick meal or snack if a meal is delayed and the baby is hungry. A whole wheat wrap with deli turkey and avocado is quick and nutritious.

How many teeth does she have?

If she has a lot of teeth, you can make foods like soft green beans, sweet potatoes, any steamed veggie really.

Yogurt is good and healthy for them. They even have lactose free yogurt nowadays (yay!) and you can also give her applesauce, and other things like that.

There are the Gerber Puffs that kids like, and teething cookies in flavors like banana that my son used to like.

My 18 month old boy pretty much eats whatever my husband and I eat (we eat healthy, so it is nothing bad). I know at this age, making sure they get fiber and iron is good, which can come from peanuts/ peanut butter and red meat, like beef. Simple dinners for kids this age can be as easy as mac-n-cheese with ground beef, lasagna, homemade pizza, mashed garlic potatoes, baked cut up potatoes with bell peppers, PB&J... Snacks can be a banana with peanut butter, fruits, jam and crackers... Really anything. Give her healthy things and see what she likes =)