Table Foods for 1 Year Old

My 1 year old isn't that picky. But when it comes to veggies, in my opinion, the best way to keep the nutrition and flavor in them, I steam them in my food steamer. As for different foods, string cheese that I tear up for him, hotdogs that I remove the skin from and cut up, fish sticks, pasta, French toast, and scramble eggs with ham and cheese in it.
My mom got me a really neat cookbook, The Big Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers, & Children by Bridget Wardley and Judy More. It has 365 “quick, easy, and healthy dishes”. It has some great ideas on how to prepare the food too for what they are able to eat.

Kids will eat whatever they're hungry for. If he's not hungry, he won't eat, and if he doesn't eat enough at one meal, he'll be hungry and eat at the next meal. PLEASE don't get into the 'coaxing' and worrying game, or you'll have an obese teenager and/or adult. Simply offer him a LITTLE BIT of each variety of whatever soft food the family's having (boiled potato chunks, scrambled egg, beans (green and dried), crackers, bread, soft meat chunks, etc). Avoid whole grapes & weiners (cut them into smaller slices) as they're choking hazards.

That is perfectly normal! Just keep giving them to him and seeing if he eats them. Some days he will, some days he won't. But just because he didn't one day don't stop giving it to him because he might the next. :)

You've already gotten so many great responses, and it's true that you can give them almost anything. Learning and playing is a big part of their eating now. And, their affinity for textures changes from time to time... So be patient. I wanted to throw out a few more suggestions for you. Sweet potatoes- diced- tossed in olive oil and baked til soft- then cut into small enough pieces for your little one. Huge favorite of mine. Also, Finely dice an onion then add Zucchini & squash sliced fairly thin.. I cut them into 4's long ways then slice... toss them in olive oil, sea salt(very small amts!) pepper and garlic then sautee them til they are soft... at the end I dice up cherry/grape tomatoes and warm them. My kid eats that like there is no tomorrow. because of the slower cooking process they carmelize and the (all)veggies have a sweetness to them. It's a bit messy, but you're probably used to that by now...lol. The idea about the quesadilla is a good one. I use a George Forman grill press for this so that I don't have to add any oil or butter and it takes so little time to melt the cheese. If you add veggies...cook them first. I take a small amount of low-fat sour cream and mix it with a mild salsa and dip each small bite for him before putting it on his plate. If you are ready for eggs... scramble them with a little bit of milk, little sea salt & pepper. Great finger food that you can add to as he gets farther along in his eating. There is nothing that my child will not eat so far....he isn't so fond of the texture of mashed potatoes or mashed anything anymore, but that is about it. Just be creative and go for it. You guys will have fun and you will be amazed! Good luck.

Hi L.,
One year olds sometimes have problems with texture, especially with teething, etc. At that age, I started out with one food every 4 days, to see how my child reacted. Checking foods one at a time for sensitivities/allergies is so much easier than trying to figure that out later on! I would toast whole grain bread, top with cheese and micro or broil just to melt it, cut it into little squares for a healthy finger food (protein, whole grains). I would offer soft veggies and fruits cut into little bites from the table as I was eating, or no/sugar canned fruits (because they're soft), cut up. If they didn't like it much, and I knew the food didn't disagree physically with my child, I try sneaking it in.. puree in a blender, and add to anything battered, like pancakes, muffins, etc. Veggies like sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, potatoes, squash,bananas, etc. work well this way. If you have a juicer, you can just juice about any fruit and veggie together and add it to their water bottle or sippy cup for good nutrition. This also is a good de-constipator! For meat, we used only roasted (soft) meats cut into small chunks, so they would be easy to chew and digest. Peanut butter (never alone.. always spread on bread, and given with a liquid) was good protein, too. Yogurt, cottage cheese are good. Quiche was a hit, cooled and cut up. Sweet potatoes baked in aluminum foil in the oven, and then refrigerated until you need them. Just unwrap, cut up in little cubes and offer as finger food. Great source of vitamins. Scrambled eggs, or boiled eggs, smashed and fed by spoon is a good source of protein, too. You can also add smashed fruit or sweet veggies to their cereal. At that age, I stayed away from crisp veggies and fruit, even cut up. I was afraid of choking. The rule of thumb is to wait until their first molars come in (the teeth behind their 'eye teeth' or incisors) before giving them anything that real grinding is required before the food breaks down. Toast, cereals, cheerios, all break down when they get soggy so they can be given before the molars come in.

I liked frozen peas (they thaw quickly and are soft), grapes cut in half, cheerios, avocado cut into bite size pieces (my kids also loved guacamole), any soft fruit cut in bite size pieces, any meat cut in bite size pieces (fairly small). Gently steam hard fruit or veggies so they are soft but not mushy - my son loved carrots. Of course, cool before serving. I would steam more than he could eat in one sitting, and refrigerate the rest to be eaten over the next few days.

Basically, if you eat it he can eat it. Wait on peanut butter and nuts, don't overdo strawberries since they can cause an allergic reaction if you eat too many. I found that we eat healthier to be a good role model for our kids. ( :

With my daughter I used to put spinach inside a quesadilla. She loved it! You could put any cut up veggies in there! Chicken too! Kids usually love anything with a little cheese.
Does he like yogurt? You could mix up fruit in his yogurt?
In my opinion, though, you don't want to get into the habit of "hiding" all his fruits and veggies. If you keep trying different things he'll find things he likes.
My daughter is 4 now and has disliked green beans since day one, but she loves lima beans! You just never know...
Good luck! :-)
M.

Mine does the same thing still. Just today he wouldnt eat the waffle he usually loves for lunch. Some days he will eat something til he's sick of it I think, then won't eat it for a couple weeks.

For veggies- I keep lots of bags of frozen veggies on hand, and steam them at mealtime. (In the summer I do use fresh.) I just pop them in the microwave in glass bowls with a little water and they are done in about a minute. Then I cool them off, and sometimes I season them. Sweet baby peas are his favorites.

I also will make a little homemade chicken broth gravy or white sauce with milk and parmesan cheese and freeze them in ice cube trays, and then I add them to rice, noodles, or his veggies. (If I am making any sauce or gravy for dinner, I made a bunch of extra and there is no extra work.) This makes the veggies go down easier sometimes. Whenever I make pasta I make extra and freeze some in portions for him, then I just thaw one portion with some sauce and he can feed himself the noodles.

For fruits, I will use the frozen bags also. Just pull out a few peaches, mangoes, berries and let them thaw in fridge for later that day and cut them up. Those bags of "smoothie mix" work great. I also use the canned if I can find the kind that are labeled "LITE" and dont have them soaking in syrup. They should be soaking in their own juices or pear juice. Pineapple tidbits are great.

Mine also loves grilled cheese with a slice of ham, quesadillas (so easy) frozen whole grain waffles (sometimes I put low-sugar jelly or cut up berries with them, sometimes he eats them plain), scrambled eggs, and mac & cheese. Pasta with spaghetti sauce is great too. I use whole grain stuff whenever I can, he doesn't know that white bread/pasta tastes better because he has never had it.

Unless your child has eczema or there is a history of allergies (food or seasonal) I wouldnt avoid strawberries. Mine loves them and blueberries cut in half or quarters as well, and they are really good for them. The darker or brighter the veggie's color is, the more healthy it is generally. Just go easy on the amount of fruits you give him in one day. If I give mine too many of one kind, they upset his tummy.

I love these websites too:
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

They give lots of guidelines, ideas, recipes, and info on just about everything for baby/toddler food.

Hi L.
It's ok for him to play with his food. He's learning about textures and what the food feels like, smells like, looks like, etc. Don't worry, he'll eat if he's hungry. A website that I liked was www.wholesomebabyfood.com and when he's a little older there's a toddler website as well. They have lots of healthy meal ideas.
I did a lot of steaming and baking with my veggies. Example, I would bake a sweet potato (easier than steaming) then cut into small bite sized cubes and freeze them. I had them on hand for the week. I would put just a little bit of butter and cinnamon on it to make it more tasty. Adding spices will help his palate as well. I like to use paprika, curry, cinnamon, and other spices. Try to stay away from lots of salt and sugars. A little is ok though, as long as he's not eating other foods that contain lots of salt.
Experimentation between you and him is the key.

Good luck
P.

We use the below cookbooks as guides and then do what feels right to us. We got both at the library or I saw the baby one is $1.99 at Amazon. Also a nod to wholesomebabyfood website mentioned previously.

One of my daughter's (9 months) favorites is leeks, carrots,and peas together. She also love yogurt.

Superfoods: For Babies and Children (Hardcover)
by Annabel Karmel

The Healthy Baby Meal Planner: Mom-Tested, Child-Approved Recipes for Your Baby and Toddler (Paperback)
by Annabel Karmel

We would steam the veggis until they were cooked but still firm. That way the kids could gnaw on them. They like to do this when teething. If he does not like to gnaw on things then he might like them cooked until softer. The other thing I remember my kids liking were french fries. I always bake them and cheese puffs. I know that they are not healthy but they liked them. They were messy, though. They also liked cheerios and crackers. I do remember giving them fruit that was not to crunchy, or they would choke. Sometimes just cutting the food differently they would try it. Good Luck!

Yep, this sounds normal. At this age, babies are still just exploring and playing and learning -- tastes, shapes, colors, textures. Don't sweat it, as long as he does eat something (and if it's not the little bites of food on his tray, then it can be whatever you've been feeding him up til this point in his life -- nursing, bottle-feeding, baby foods, etc.

I always gave my kids whatever we were eating (within reason, of course -- nothing too spicy or hard or whatever), and if they ate it, great, and if not, I would nurse them. As far as preparing food -- I'd boil vegetables till they were slightly soft -- to make them "finger foods" -- not mushy, but not so hard that they'd choke; and give them soft fruits like bananas or tiny bits of harder fruits like apples. Just pay attention to his cues to make sure you're not giving him too much to handle.

cheese, lunch meat cut up, anything you can eat thats soft you dont wanna do a steak or anything. whatever we ate our little ones at with us from about the age of 9 months

I remember my pediatrician telling me that when my oldest turned one she can eat whatever we eat. She also asked if she had had peanut butter and jelly (I read in my books NOT to give them PB until later -- the books are great, but experienced moms and doctors are much better) but the doctor said okay as long as the parents don't have food allergies, then chances are the kids won't either. She said to just put more jelly than peanut butter on it to help the swallowing and cut it in little strips for gripping. My kids were all different in what they preferred and each one ate different table foods at different times but they were introduced to table foods earlier than a year old. Anything long that they can hold onto in their hands they loved! All three loved cottage cheese and yogurt! Now is the time to try all the foods that everyone doesn't like because their taste buds are fresh and they don't have any ideas in their minds that this is not a good tasting food from their peers.

My babies loved beans. I would drain and rinse a can of pintos and cook them until really soft in some salted water. They like black eye peas, and black beans too. It's really important to eat with your baby. They don't understand that it's yummy food unless they see you eat it and smile. I ate my beans with salsa and rice but it didn't matter.

Rice is easy finger food if it's got melted cheese holding it together in clumps.

I am really big on giving kids some of what I am having if it's not to spicy or dangerous. Most things can be cut up small enough for a baby. Veggies should be cooked a little bit longer and fruit should be somewhat soft. Babies don't need bland food they like to have flavor just like we do. Yes, some things are messy and you have to decide if you are OK with a mess but kids like making messes so sometimes they eat more. Pasta if fun for this age as long as it is cut up bite size. Shredded meat is also good. I hope that helps a little bit.

I know you asked about veggies, which is the focus of your responses, but I think protein is good to mention, too.

My 1 yo loved scrambled eggs. That is a QUICK way to get protien. Boiled chicken tenders cut into bit-sized pieces is great, too.

I think the best thing you can do is expose your little one to a variety of healthy foods. Keep introducing them. My now 5 yo loves salad, broiled fish, and grilled chicken more than nuggets. Even so, I wish I would have been more diligent about giving him more variety early on!!

Well, I never had much trouble in this area but sometimes my little guy doesn't like to pick up things that are wet or slimy, so I have him a little fork and stabbed the pieces of food for him and he feeds himself that way. We also snack on little cubes of cheese, ham, turkey and chicken, cheerios (or Gerber or Kroger puffs) and stuff like that. You may also try warming the foods for about 10 seconds in the microwave, sometimes babies can be picky about picking up cold stuff. A teething feeder might help too, you can put pieces of fruits and veggies in the little mesh bag and let him try to nibble. Good luck!

My kids were not fed much baby food from jars. I cut everything up and mashed everything.
I would not feed a less than two year old honey, nuts, or strawberries. THere may be others I am forgetting. Those are the big no nos.
Cut anything larger than the tip of your thumb into small pieces.
He will eat when he is hungry and he will learn very early to try new textures and tastes.

L.,

What I've found is that no matter what I give my son, there are days he just won't eat it. He is 10 months old and will eat baby food but not always table food so I decided to mix some of his "big people" peas with the baby food peas. I've done it with the beans as well (I just cut these up in really small pieces before mixing in with baby food). He eats them most of the time. When he manages to sift the peas out and spit them out at least he's still eating the baby food peas. Potatoes are a little easier since you can mash them up to a consistency they'll eat. I've also purchased the frozen steamers with broccoli and cauliflower but with the cheese. Not only does the cheese help the body absorb the nutrients from the vegetables but his love of cheese helps him eat the veggies without realizing what he's doing. Remember to give only the florets since they are the softest part of the veggie.

I also found that the 100 percent juice canned fruits like peaches and pears are easy to eat and they're sweet. I open a can, cut them all into bite sized piece and then mix them up on his tray. I'll add fresh mangoes or bananas to give him some variety. Also a good way to introduce a new fruit without much resistance.

I hope a couple of these ideas work for you, remember to be patient he'll certainly eat when he's hungry. There is an article about picky eaters in Parenting Early Years magazine's March 2009 issue. Something I'll save for when my son gets too picky but has some good points for any age. Hopefully it'll help you too.

give him a variety at one time and see which ones he prefers try trpical fruits also try veggies yhat you mite think he would never eat he may surpise you.GOOD LUCK TRY THEM COOKED AND RAW

don't worry. He still likes those foods. He's just exploring. Kids need to feel and check out stuff before they put it in their mouths. There are so many new textures and colors and they want to find out what it's all about. Just put one or two things out and let him have at it.

My son liked cheerios, Gerber banana teething cookies. You can also get mesh feeders. I got ours at Target and they are little mesh bags with a big handle and you can put whatever in there. Apples were our favorite :) but they suck and gnaw on the bag and get the nutrients and taste but no chunks or anything they're not supposed to get. So anything - carrots, beans, peas.

Great finger foods, - peas, sweetpotatoes (but be ready with a diaper :), teething cookies, bananas, cheerios, torn pieces of bread/waffle/pancake, frozen bagles.

Anything that you can gum in the back of your mouth. but don't worry about him playing instead of eating. He'll get around to eating it once he's checked it out and made sure it's ok :)

I have 3 children and they were each different. Really it will take a little time to learn your child. One idea to keep mess to a minimum is to serve very small portions. If you give them a plate full of food, it is much more than they can eat, so then they play with it. Start them out with a tablespoon each of three items. If he finishes that, then you can give him a little more. But if he just plays with it, he isn't very hungry. My last child wouldn't eat anything too tough. So, she rarely eats meat. But she will eat small pieces of deli sliced meat, maybe one slice, cut up. Half of a slice of cheese, crackers, a small roll, a tablespoon at a time of vegetables like peas, baked beans, green beans, corn. Multigrain cheerios. Banana slices, maybe a 1/4 of a banana to start. If you slice it through the peel, the rest of the banana stays fresh and you only have to slice off the cut end. But yes, he will play and explore. But if you don't have time for the mess, then serve just a tablespoon or two at a time.

We steam veggies and serve them plain or with salt-free seasoning. Our 1 year old son is a big fan of carrots and broccoli. We just put them on his placemat and let him feed himself. Small pieces of cooked pasta, crackers, cheese, etc also work well.

My one year old daughter currently eats 2 chicken nuggets, half a hot dog, a quarter of cheese quesidilla, half a chicken patty, some pork chop, and lots of fruits and veggies. We try pretty much anything we are eating for dinner. She can be picky but it seems to help when she sees us eatting it also!

Keep trying all kinds of things, cut up small and soft items, since he may not have enough teeth to really chew big things and you can still puree things mixed in with shopped small things. Check out: www.wholesomebabyfood.com for LOTS of ideas and help!

A. B

I cook all the baby food for my 10 month old and he loves it. The simplest thing to do is start with beef or chicken and brown it in a pan on the stove. I use 93/7 ground beef or boneless breasts and thighs. Don't cook all the way just get some nice color to the meat. Then cover with water. At this point you can add any frozen veggies that you like (lima beans, green beans, carrots, peas, corn, broccoli) anything your baby has tried before. Let this cook for 5-10 minutes. Then you can add any kind of whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, barley etc). Harris Teeter has some really good rice blends as well. Let this cook for 45 minutes adding more water if necesary. Check that all veggies are done and that rice is tender. I usually freeze the mix in ice cube trays. The larger chunks of veggies are perfect for finger foods and the soup mix you can feed him so you know he is getting something to eat.