Tip Tuesday – Soft Favorites
We recently celebrated Magoo’s birthday in the classic style by allowing him to saturate his nostrils with soft water-insoluble man-made chocolate “product”. For a gift, we gave him some age-appropriate furniture and commended him for his many one-ish talents and skills, none more heartily applauded than his ability to walk 5 steps out into the middle of the room and then fall in slow-motion, stunt-man style.Magoo’s main problem now is that he’s supposed to get his nutrition from actual food. I’m still breast feeding a bit (just the hat and the nose) but he mostly eats man-food now. Today I’d love suggestions for soft, nutritionally dense foods for the dentally-impaired.
My favorites are hyper-blanched baby carrot sticks (boiled to death and then refrigerated for future consumption), noodles and cheese worms (melted cheese on toast, sliced into strips sounds so unappealing, but “cheese worms”? That’s a meal you really wanna sink your teeth/tooth into). Hit me with the soft stuff. What are your ideas?
posted by Kathryn Thompson at 12:49 AM
31 Comments:
With my oldest, I made baby food from real food with a small food processor and boiling the heck outta everything to soften it (which kills the nutrients, btw). It took a heck of alot of time. I don't recommend this.
With the youngest, he ate whatever we ate (within reason) and we either cut it up extremely small, or through it in the processor.
If you're really adventurous - Tupperware (and others, I'm sure) sell covered ice cube trays. Use leftovers from dinner to make cubes of food that you can pop into a dish and warm up if you need something in a pinch.
I'm sure other moms will have great tips too. Troll Baby is screaming for Mama! Have fun!
5/30/2006 4:34 AM
My older son really liked oatmeal. I made it thick, so he could spoon it himself. Yeah, he needed a bath after, but oatmeal's good for the skin too! I used to mix it with some applesauce or other pureed fruit. To this day, he is an oatmeal eater--not so much my other ones.
5/30/2006 4:55 AM
My baby George loves avacodo with pear. He goes bonkers for it, he gets his little hands moving like crazy in excitement.
I just scoop out all the green stuf and put it in the blender with some boiled pears. It looks kind of like applesauce gone bad, but it tastes delicious. (I eat it too)
5/30/2006 5:32 AM
My kids never got teeth at all until 13-16 months, so I'm all over this. Shredded cheese is good, if you're ok with (cow) milk, or cubes of cheese. Amen on the oatmeal and applesauce, but they are messy. Cheerios are good--they can be gummed sans teeth...if he likes cheese toast, eggy french toast might be good. If you like to bake (or have time~ha!) banana bread with whole wheat flour is good nutritionally, or a dense whole-grain bread. I never spoon-fed kids after my first, so I'll skip those, but I'm sure others can give you ideas. Magoo is such a manly man!
5/30/2006 6:21 AM
My daughter, is 10 months old and has gone on a baby food strike. She won't eat most of it anymore. The table foods that she likes are:
angel hair pasta w/ tomato sauce cut up in tiny little pieces
mashed up baked sweet potatoes
tiny bits of kiwi (which can be very hard for her to pick up at which point she begins to yell out of frustration)
regular green beans from a can cut up into small bites.
cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew
If you aren't opposed to gas, black beans are easy to gum and my daughter loves refried beans mixed with cheese and then melted. Obviously, pooping is not a problem for her!
She only has one tooth, but manages to really gum the heck out of most everything.
5/30/2006 6:31 AM
As little guys, all my kids enjoyed chicken breast, boiled with whatever veggies I had on hand, and a little rice. Blend it up and serve. Or you could just chop everything up really well after it's cooked if he doesn't want it all mushy.
5/30/2006 6:42 AM
Core and peel some good apples and pop them in the micro with a little water and some cinnamon. Zap until fork-tender, let cool, and you have a really good-for-you dessert!
5/30/2006 7:30 AM
My molarless toddler loves mandrin oranges, cut in half. I think it is her favorite food.
I also have a food mill (non powered) that I can put most anything I've cooked in and it and it smushes it through little holes , essentially making it pre-chewed. It doesn't require the addition of liquids like blending, so the end result is less messy. This is the only way she'll eat veggies, is if they are mushed in with something else.
She also loves freeze dried fruit(like the mini bites). We use the cans from emergency essentials because it is a much cheaper way to buy them. We just make sure to break up the bigger pieces.
5/30/2006 7:55 AM
My son ate cheerios with large curd cottage cheese for days! Stil to this day (almost 9) he loves the cottage cheese! Also, another big hit with all the teethers was a bag of mixed frozen veggies. I would pour out a small cup of peas, carrots, lima beans, green beans & corn straight from the freezer and let him gum on them. Most was swallowed & the icy cold felt good on sore gums. Hope these help.
5/30/2006 7:57 AM
Eli's not 1 yet, but I make his baby food (veggies and fruit). You can make mushy veggies for him by boiling the veggies and then pureeing them until they're just soft enough, but wiht enough 'chunks' in them to make them suitable for his new toddler status. Also, I do grilled cheese sandwiches (or toasted cheese on bread, folded in half)..a small 1/4 square is usually all he needs. Then fruits - peaches (a mess, but a fave), pears, grapes cut in half (watch for choking)...scrambled eggs.... can't think of anythign else at the moment...
5/30/2006 8:09 AM
I second everything. The Bay wasn't interested in baby food, even the homemade-still-tastes-like-food kind of baby food. Nothing Pureed. He wanted what we had, and ha let it be known. He is still a connoisseur of eating. So, before he had teeth, we just made sure it was small, pretty soft, and didn't look very much different from our own plates. He vacuumed up everything in an alarming fashion, without really even gumming.
Noodles, cooked 'al mushy',
any kind of whole beans,
veggie bites and fruit bites that are soft,
scrambled eggs,
rice with just butter and salt,
rice pudding,
oatmeal (have you ever tried irish oats? we LOVE them),
tofu
and if you're at an indian restaurant, saag paneer and dahl maharani that aren't too spicy.
I have to make a disclaimer here that, although The Bay is a fantastic eater and puts down nearly everything we give him, his inability to masticate causes much of it to come out whole. He has a few teeth now, so it's getting better. And I lay off the raisins most of the time.
Also, check the public library for books on cooking for kids. There are some good ones. I like "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel.
5/30/2006 8:09 AM
Do you have one of those little food grinders? Seriously, baby can eat what you eat PERFECTLY! There is the handy portable one (been around since cro-magnum times, I'm sure of it) but then there is a little electric one. I'm not too talented on adding html code here, so I'll just post the entire link to both kinds. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-KidCo-Baby-FOOD-MILL-Grinder-Maker-Feeding-Spoon_W0QQitemZ7770710441QQcategoryZ32866QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem ... (that was the portable one - perfect for restaurants or traveling) and here is the little electric one (we still use it for EVERYTHING! Puts pampered chef chopper to shame) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EH4YBU/qid=1149001669/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/102-7634630-1794503?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=kitchen&v=glance&n=284507
5/30/2006 8:11 AM
As far as fruits, Reagan eats pears, bananas, strawberries, apples, frozen canteloupe, frozen mango, and probably a few other things I can't remember.
As far as vegetables, well, he really eats none because he REFUSES to eat off a spoon and I am at a loss for soft vegetables. This week I plan to try grating raw carrots and red bell peppers for him. He has eaten and liked coleslaw before, so I think he might be receptive to the grated food.
He likes chicken sometimes, and beans. Have you tried beans? Because my kid can't get enough of them. I usually just open a can of black beans and he eats them over the course of a week, and anything that's leftover I usually just put in something I'm cooking. He also likes cheese, but that's not, like, nutritious, really.
Avocado is a good suggestion; we haven't quite gotten into it here, though. What about plain yogurt mixed with fruit? Have you tried fruit and yogurt smoothies? (We all love that treat!)
I would recommend the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. There are LOTS of ideas for foods and ways to age-appropriately prepare them. I don't have time to type more, but I'd really recommend that book!
5/30/2006 8:27 AM
a friend of mine would steam a ton of veggies at a time and puree them, then pour them into ice trays and freeze them, then pop out what she needed
5/30/2006 8:50 AM
The Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron. YOu can get it on Amazon and it has 100's of great nutritious ideas, plus preperation time savers and ways to make it fun.
ALso, I gave my kids whole vegetables to suck on, carrots, broccoli, whatever, (MAking sure they were too big to choke on of course) They would gnaw away on those with their on or two teeth and shred little pieces to eat and gum and suck, to this day they still love raw vegetables. I've rarely ever given them any cooked, I figure there's not much point in eating a cooked vegetable, way fewer nutrients than raw.
5/30/2006 9:19 AM
A staple around here with my nigh toothless 14 month old (although the girl could grind a porterhouse if given the chance) is little rice muffins. Some leftover rice from dinner, mix with a couple of eggs, some shredded cheese, I throw in peas, carrots, whatever little veggies I have on hand, and if you have any diceable meat-throw it in. Pack a little of that mixture into muffin tin and bake them for about 20-25 minutes. They make little 1 and a half inch thick disks. They freeze great and are perfect for their little hands to hold, quick snacks, mindless meal...
5/30/2006 10:51 AM
avocado. can't go wrong with that! and it's good brain development food. yogurt and applesauce. soft, ripe pears! yum for the dentally challenged!
5/30/2006 10:54 AM
I remember that stage. My duaghter lived on Banana's and graham crackers. She also liked small shells (pasta) over cooked so it was real soft with marinara sauce on it. I have never been good at coming up with fun food names, so you'll have to trick the kids into eating it I guess.
Oh, mushy peas were a big hit too.
5/30/2006 12:07 PM
Seems like we did a lot of Cheerios and applesause. Enjoy this time now while he is interested in eating because when he starts getting teeth, he won't want to eat anything for about six months and it will drive you nuts. You will be astonished at the ridiculous things you will do to get your child to put food in his mouth and ingest it.
5/30/2006 12:30 PM
bananas (duh), steamed vegetables, oatmeal (try "pinhead" oats, they're tasty).
You've gotten so many suggestions, that's great. Steamed veggies retain more nutrients than boiled, since it doesn't come into contact with the water.
The fresher, the better (and easier to prepare)!
5/30/2006 12:45 PM
Canned Beans....They're easy, you don't have to cook 'em and they are packed with fiber and other great stuff. And you can gum them no problem.
5/30/2006 1:06 PM
I love my baby grinder like the others have mentioned. We used it with our kids too, but with Magoo being one he is probably wanting to masticate more that that offers. ;)
I always gave my kids fishsticks, I cook 3 in the microwave for 1 minute, turning 1/2 way through.
I also like small peices of cheese. I usually don't do cheerios because they can cause bad diaper rashes, I go with Kix first.
Have fun looking for soft stuff, I loved this age because you can start to really branch out what the child will like to feed themselves. Kendra loved scrambled eggs cooked in butter. I would cook mixed vegetables and cut up soft fruits, banana's, peaches, berries. You can have so much fun... :)
5/30/2006 1:15 PM
I have 1 year old twins so I can't hit the regular grocery store anymore with them. Costco carts hold two infant seats and now hold the two up front. I have made all of their food and it is a piece of cake and way less expensive. I spend 3 or 4 hours steeming and blending green beans, snap peas, peaches, apples, pears, carrots, and plums. I freeze them in ice cube trays and put them in ziplocs and have enough for about 3 months. Dinner time is as easy as taking some cubes out and putting them in the microwave. Yogurt is a huge hit...vanilla or peach works well. Rice or oatmeal cereal mixed with anything too watery works well. In restaurants, lemon slices, crackers, or ends of bread loaves keep them busy.
5/30/2006 1:25 PM
I personally have never had to resort to it, my kids teeth have mostly been compatible with their food interests and needs... and what wouldn't work there, the little by-hand food grinder made manageable... but my mom fed her babies a thing called "vienna sausages." I haven't checked, so those suckers may be little better than "potted meat product" pressed into a small weenie shape, but they were certainly gum-manageable.
For me. ground-up boiled chicken and turkey has always been the answer... that along with whatever veggie is served to the general populace and you are good to go.
5/30/2006 1:42 PM
You have gotten way good advice. These people are so thorough, in fact, that I can't think of one thing they haven't mentioned.
I did want to let you know that I had a dream about you last night. You were visiting for another BlogGirls weekend, you ran into my bathroom and snapped a picture of me while I was showering. I grabbed a towel and yelled at you to erase it, to which you replied, "Are you kidding? This is SOOOO bloggable!" I was extremely upset.
So if you ever come to my house, know that you are not allowed anywhere NEAR the bathroom, especially if I am in it.
5/30/2006 2:32 PM
I just started my baby on solids! so exciting! she's had organic rice cereal, organic peas, and organic banana's that I mushed in the baby grinder! Happy Birthday to Magoo!!!!!
5/30/2006 5:00 PM
We still do the carrots for Drewby (19 mos.). Also - sliced cheese sticks are a huge staple and always accepted with a smile. Chunks of banana, too!
5/30/2006 5:46 PM
I didn't read all the comments so pardon me if this has been mentioned but my son loved yams. I'd peel and cube a yam and then boil it enough to be cooked and he could still pick the pieces up as finger food.
5/31/2006 6:41 AM
cottage cheese, yogurt, canned peaches but into pieces are usually soft enough, canned green bean, we eat a lot of japanese, so rice with whatever sauce we are having and whatever else in it they can gum, eggs, mac and cheese, spaghetti, kix, i had a friend who did life cereal, when i make a roast in the crock pot i always through in a few extra carrots and potatoes for the baby, for snacking and taking with you ritz makes a new dinosour cracker that are perfect and bite size that baby and kids love
6/01/2006 8:06 AM
I don't have any baby food suggestions but Poly-Vi-Sol is a great baby vitamin that comes in liquid form until he has teeth for the chewables. Just a thought. Oh give it too him before his bath that way he doesn't stain his clothes! All the nephews and nieces have used them. Come highly recommended.
6/01/2006 8:56 AM
Hi there, blog-hopped over here from Mommybloggers. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . . (14ish years to be exactish) every new mom had to have What to Expect the First Year. They had a recipe in there for some pumpkin muffins. My son really loved them. Of course, the first time (alright, the ONLY time) I made them, I put in one whole can of pumpkin instead of one cup... They were super soft, almost pudding-like. My husband loved them, too. They have grated carrots and apple juice in them. I think they would be a great choice for the spudlet.
6/03/2006 8:37 AM
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