Meal ideas for my 11 month old son

Question

I am looking for easy healthy meal ideas for my son. I am trying to get away from the jarred baby food and I do feed him table food when what we are eating is healthy. But that's not always the case (burgers on the bbq, frozen pizza etc - i don't want to feed this to him)

I went out yesterday to the grocery store to find some things I can feed to him and read labels the whole time. I was so confused.

This is what I ended up picking up:

Whole Wheat soft tortilla to spread cream cheese on

peas (can I give them to him whole or do I have to mash them)?

Unsalted Rice cakes

Yves Veggie Burgers (ingredients are soy and a bunch of unrecognizeable ingredients - do you think these are healthy a good choice? I am not a vegetarian so I am not sure)

Do you have any other ideas?

I am returning to work in less than a month and will be short on time and want to have some quick and healthy meal ideas.

Answer 1

instead of cream cheese, try hummus or whole fruit spread

Whole wheat toast dipped in yogurt or whole fruit spread is a huge hit here, so is hummus with crackers.  Chunks of cheese is also a favorite snack.

So far everyone has given good ideas.  He can eat burgers, just give him small pieces, frozen pizza will be fine..add some veggies to it while baking like green peppers, etc.

My daughter loves grilled chicken.  I grill chicken with red and green peppers once a week for her.  I then cut it up and put into little containers in the freezer. When I need a quick meal, take it out and thaw.

I also make homemade mac and cheese and add chicken and veggies to it.  It freezes very well.  Spaghetti and other pasta also freezes well.

Also, keep some frozen veggies and fruit on hand when you don't have fresh.  Frozen are better than canned, and can be warmed up quickly.

Answer 2

At 11 months, if he has done well with solid food, there really isn't anything you *have* to avoid. There's no reason to smash up the peas if you don't want too. My daughter didn't like lumps in her mouth till she was past a year, but that might not be the case with your son.

Also, I've found that even the seemingly unhealthy meals and be made at least a *tiny* bit healthier. If your going to have french fries for dinner, then cut up some for him and bake them in the oven. Fried vegetables can easily be sauteed in a pan. Frozen pizza certainly isn't going to harm him if it's in moderate amounts.

My 20 month old loves noodles with corn, peas, and carrots mixed in. Very easy to make. She also loves cream corn at the moment. Also, there's no real reason to by Veggie burgers if you aren't going to eat them yourselves. The meat that you eat is fine for him, as well.

Answer 3

I started my little girl on table foods at around 10 months. For peas if they are really soft  I'd give at least a small squeeze don't make it into mush but a little flat until he gets used to chewing more textured things.

There is much you can give to your little one.

Do you ever grill chicken well take a small bit and shred that up

soft tacos set aside a little meat before adding all the seasoning and give small bits of shred cheese, meat, and tortilla shells.

Spaghetti To prevent a bigger mess I go really light on the sauce and she loves it

Steamed veggies like squash, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

Make stir fry with rice and stir fry veggies. My little girl loves Snow pea pods.

Types of fruits too like pieces of plums bananas, grapes diced up of course.

For breakfast I make pancakes or pick up a pack of frozen waffles. I don't use syrup though,

If you need something quick you can go to the baby food isle and they have a Gerber graduate section.

This stuff includes soft boiled spinach and cheese filled pastas, Turkey and gravy with peas and carrots, and stuff like that. They work great if you need to fix a quick meal or on the days your having food you wish not to feed your baby.