Finger Foods...

I cook out of the Deceptively Delicious cookbook a lot for finger foods. Healthy and easy to make. My son loves the Pink Pancakes (made with beets) and homemade chicken nuggets. We also feed him Tofu cut into small pieces- he loves it and it is easy!

I posted a question just like this a few months ago...I didn't get a whole lot of ideas, so I started to get creative.
I always made all my daughters pureed foods...so when she started to eat solids, I steamed up veggies-not to a mush consistancy-kinda par cooked. Then I put them into ice cube trays with water to hold them together as they froze. I did this with carrots, green beans, squash, potatoes etc. I use this as my veggies, along with pieces of avacado, olives, breads, fruits (everything but the hard stuff like apples). She eats tortillas with cheese melted in between, chicken and egg salad sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes cut up, gerber graduates, pasta mixed with anything-little pasta and we mix chicken, butter, mushrooms, olives, carrots, peas...basically whatever you want. (using the stuff you made for the frozen cubes-it comes in handy). she also eats fruit bars by gerber, cheese cubes, any type of cereal she can hold well (no cornflake type stuff). I still give her pureed foods to top her off sometimes. Applesauce is great too. Rice, beans, corn, green beans...just get creative.
Breakfast is usually egg mixed with sausage, olives and mushrooms...strawberries, grapes, and peaches. She sometimes will have pieces of waffle or frozen krustez pancakes too.
Hope this helps...

When my 5 1/2 yr old was that age I went the "baby/toddler finger food friendly" route until she was about 2 - 2 1/2 yrs old. When I tried to swtich her to the foods we were eating she was such a picky eater and would just push it away.

My now 2 yr old started to not want baby food at 9mos. Instead of offering her "baby/toddler finger food friendly" I fed her everything we ate cut up in tiny pieces (but of course no hard foods such as raw carrots). She loved it!! She is such a good eater now and I feel that it due to me not cattering to her baby/toddler menu like I did with my older one.

I LOVE to make things in wraps. You can cut them as small as you want - and put whatever food in them that you want. Lunchmeats, cheese, PB&J, warm/cold . . . The ones I get are from Walmart (cheap) and they stick to themselves well so that it doesn't come unwrapped (like a tortilla would).

On a side note - I just saw in the grocery store the other day a cookbook by Rachael Ray with ideas for kids. I think it was for an older child to help mom/dad cook, but I'm sure books like that would have good ideas and cute ideas for foods.

My daughter is the same way, if she cant feed herself she is over it. We do lots of pasta, she loves it, it can be a little messy though. Also cut up pbjs and grilled cheese, and fruit cups ( drain them and then cut up the fruit a little smaller) If we have a spoon feeding I will give her cheerios to keep her hands busy so she still feel independant.

J., i just bought the "Deceptably Delicious" cookbook. Great investment. I got it at Costco for $15. But i saw it at Target for $20. I also saw that the paper had it as the #6 on NON_FICTION Best seller list. It is so healthy for our kids and it is soooo easy to make. MY son really loves the Sweet Potato P-cakes.. Also the Tofu bites are great too. their is so many great muffins. I bake and then he eats them for breakfast all week. Cheese quisadilla are a big hit in our house. i always cut strips and my son loves to eat them. I have a good eater so i get creative. I cook a stew or a roast and he eats all the veggies and potatoes. good luck. Stay away from store bought "Packaged" meals. they are packed full of sodium and sugars. Fresh is always best. Farmers markets are cheap to get produce good.

I have 16 month old twins who I catered to for a long time by giving them only jars of baby food. But now they are finally eating table foods. I used to buy the Gerber Graduate meals since I figured that they had done their research into making a nutitious meal. But with having to buy two of everything, it just got way too expensive to do that. So now I give them canned vegetables (they're all pretty much good sized for little fingers) and canned fruits (most of the fruits have to be cut up more). I also have started buying the Banquet frozen TV dinners or KidCuisine, and it is enough for them (and they're only $1 at WalMart). That way they get an entree, two sides, and a dessert, and it even come with its own "plate", clean-up is so easy. Macaroni and cheese is easy for little fingers (pretty much any kind of pasta with just a tiny amount of sauce), chicken nuggets, taco insides (meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives), waffles, sausage, eggs, toast. Also, Lunchables just came out with new Lunchables JR that is perfect for toddlers (those are my twins new favorite). You can mostly just give her watever you are eating, just cut it up into small enough pieces and make sure that she gets her fruits and veggies every day.

Diced hard boiled eggs, diced cheese, diced lunch meats, diced pizza, fruits of any kind diced up tiny. Those mesh teethers where you can put apples, pears are great! They are really not too messy and kids love them, get them at Babies R Us. My son hated baby food and went straight to big kid/grown up food at 10 mos. Those Gerber Graduate meat sticks are great, as they have a variety of fruit and veggies that are soft and cubed. My son loved corn cut off the cob, boiled slightly string beans, frozen peas too.

I have a 10 1/2 month old who won't eat baby food anymore, so its all finger foods for us too.
Try using small cookie cutters and cut out cute shapes in bread, toast, cheese, fruit, etc.
I give my son a whole frozen waffle right out of the freezer and he loves it. I keeps him occupied for quite a while and he feels really "cool" holding a WHOLE waffle. I think because its frozen, it feels good on his teeth too. They crumble easily, so I don't worry about choking, but still always watch.
Try putting the food in different fun containers so she can take them in and out herself. Also, show a lot of enthusiasm when you give her different things and you eat them too and show how good it tastes.
Hope this helps.

My 15 month old has been self feeding from the beginning solids starting at 6 months. I am fortunate that she is an adventurous eater. She pretty much just eats what we do most of the time. Here are some of the foods and ways of eating that have been successful for us.

She is thrilled to use her little utensils to eat yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, chunky split pea, potato or tomato soups, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Quesadillas, fish sticks, chicken tenders, pasta are all easy to pick up. Steamed corn, peas, and broccoli have been good choices. Sauteed squash is a big hit. Celery with the fibrous outside peeled off, cucumber slices, black olives are fun, avocado is excellent brain food and delicious. If you get a mesh feeder I'd get the one by Munchkin, it's much easier to clean than the one sold at BabiesRUs. Frozen fruit or carrots or ice work well in the mesh feeder to ease teething pain.

If my daughter is having a hard time starting a meal after a minute or two I offer a small amount of a food she will always eat like yogurt or shredded cheese. Once she takes a few bites of those items she will always start exploring the meal at hand. I let her take her time and make a big mess moving food from one bowl to another. Eventually at least half the meal makes it into her mouth and she is very happy with the experience. Hope this helps :-)

my daughter loves tomatoes and cucumbers and cheese cut into small pieces. also beans and fresh/frozen peas are great finger foods. canned black beans that have been drained and rinsed are one of my daughter favorites.

I got a really great cookbook as a shower gift you can try this: "First Meals" by Annabelle Karmel. Have fun!

J.,
You might try making a kid friendly trail mix using things like Cheerios, Goldfish cracker, raisin, anything that size that your daughter likes. She can help you make since it is just taking things out of one bag and putting them in another. If you make it in a gallon Ziplock bag when everything is in the bag you can seal it and let her shake it up. The best part is you can change the ingredients so it doesn't get boring

We just talked about this with our feeding specialist. Some of her suggestions were frozen vegetables. You can wet them and roll them in salt if she doesn't like a vegetable. At least then they're friendly. Cutted, peeled grapes, frozen. Pirate Booty -- it's seaweed something. Our son really likes it. Natural cheetos (no cheese = no mess). We tried these at the eval., too and they were a big hit. These were all her suggestions and I haven't looked for them in stores, but she said they would be easy to find.

Our son likes anything he can stick a finger through. Black olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. He's got all his teeth and is a good chewer, so I leave the skin on so he can put them around a finder.

Have fun! It's a fun, messy stage.

I have an 11 month old and we give her almost everything to eat with her fingers. Here are some suggestions - cut up cheese, crackers, soft cooked veggies (cauliflower, brocoli), small pieces of cut up fruit (pears, banana, halved grapes, kiwi, strawberry pieces), soft meats cut in pieces, hard boiled egg pieces, scrambled eggs (as long as you don't have a concern for allergies), little meatballs, pasta (they have so many neat shapes), cherios of course, chex cereal, cut up tomatoes. Hope that helps and have fun!

L.