Can I pre-make finger foods for my 8 mo old and freeze it?

Question

i tried giving my daughter a piece of apple that was left in her homemade applesauce and she chewed it! I want to slowly incorporate more finger foods but its difficult for me to make it on the weekdays because of our schedule. Can i steam and chop things on the weekend then freeze it? then microwave it a little to defrost when she eats it? If not, any suggestions? i know bananas and avocado require no softening, but I would like her to have a variety of finger foods, not just a variety of pureed foods

Answer 1

Of course you can....its much healthier to do it that way.

My 8 month old eats everything I eat.  

Answer 2

If you cook veg to the normal state of good cook veg and freeze it, you'll usually end up with mush when you defrost it.

You can cook veg quite quickly; most stuff will steam enough for a baby to gnaw on it if put in a container in the microwave with a few tsp of water for a couple of minutes. It will keep in the fridge for almost 48h, too.

An 8mo can eat loads of things that don't require much prep -- sliced cucumber and tomato, cheese, toast, fruit.

Answer 3

what I have always done was get small cans (8oz) of veggies for my toddlers. Canned carrots, peas and green beans are generally good. I also get the small lunchbox sized fruit cups that can be drained and served. frozen berries are great if you defrost small portions in the fridge ( they get soft and juicy)

Answer 4

You sure can!  I started doing this a couple of months ago for my daughter, now 10 months.  one of her favorites is lentils.  I cut up a cup of carrots, a cup of celery, 1/4 c of onion and a clove of garlic and cook it in low sodium veggie broth until all is tender an freeze little batches of it.  For single veggies, i find that if you cut them small enough, they cook up in no time, so there is no need to precook them.

Answer 5

I've had good luck freezing finger foods. The ones that are juicy/saucy I freeze in ice cube trays and then pop out to store in the freezer in ziploc bags.  Foods that are drier, like fresh blueberries or steamed cubed squash, I freeze on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and then remove to a ziploc bag once frozen.

It's great to have those foods in the freezer, even now that my little one has moved to table food, because sometimes the adults eat foods that aren't appropriate for the baby and it's quick & easy to defrost some healthy fruits and vegetables to supplement the baby's meal.

Enjoy the finger food phase!  I think it's so fun.