Food for My 11 Month Old

L., for some inspirational ideas...you'll love these 2 websites (my favorites):

http://weelicious.com/

AND http://wholesomebabyfood.com/

DELICIOUSLY YUMMY!!!

ENJOY!!! : )))

LOL,
L. (MAMA to 14 month old Dylan Orion....29 September 2007). : )))

I don't see anyone mentioning this, but I found a great free recipe blog called weelicious.com. I think the author, I forget her name, is a part of these boards too, so you may hear from her. But I have checked out her various recipes and am just amazed at how much variety and possibilities there are for my boy. For instance, the other day, I found her recipe for potato/kale/mozzarella purree. My 13 month old LOVED IT! Even though he's got 7 teeth and is good at chewing, on those days that he has teething pains, purees are the food of choice for both of us. I have to admit, I actually ended up making more of that potato/kale/mozzareela puree, but made it more like mashed potatoes for the rest of my family and they all loved it too...
Most of the recipes are SUPER easy and take very little time to prepare, which makes it easier on busy moms like yourself!
Good luck!

at 11 months she is close enough to a year for yogurt (YoBaby is made with whole milk and more nutritious at this age, or regular yogurt is fine, too), brown or white rice with olive oil, cooked noodles cut up small (think rotelli or the sprial kind that are easier to chunk up) with any type of pasta sauce, most steamed veggies (as long as you can smoosh them between your fingers, they are soft enough for her to eat), real applesauce (homemade or storebought), cooked beans (same rule as steamed veggies), scrambled eggs or chunked hardboiled egg whites, steamed fruits like pears, apples, and peaches, chunks of bananas, etc. honestly, both of my children by 10 months were eating most of what we did for dinner, just smaller portions and appropriate foods (i.e. no tough meats, etc) toast with butter is always a big hit at that age, just give her tiny pieces to mash between her couple of teeth. you can also add any of these foods to the cereal you already feed her to add new textures and flavors. kids do get bored with what they are eating and like different things, just like us. also, cottage cheese has been a favorite of my 20 month old since about 11-12 months :) your daughter will let you know what works for her and you will know from the first bite if its somethin you are comfortable feeding her (her ability to swallow, etc) have fun with your new adventure!!!

You seem to have the most positive outlook. I applaud you. Making home made baby food is so easy, less expensive then store bought and since you get to pick the ingredients, more healthful too. Weelicious had daily recipes and recipes by stages as your baby grows. Congratulations!-www.weelicious.com

full on recipes are fine, but finger foods are her next important skill to learn to feed herself. Bits of Cheese, thoually cooked beans of all varieties, whole peas, chopped cooked veggies like green beans and carrots, bits of bread, egg yolk, cheerios, crackers, pasta.

as for recipes lentil soups are good, quesadillas, encheladas, lasagnas. There is a book out called First Foods that has good baby/ toddler/ child recipes.

Try finger foods. My 8 month old (with only 2 bottom teeth) prefers to feed herself with her fingers. Cooked frozen peas, small pieces of pear, banana, or whatever fruit... toast with cottage cheese or whatever, grilled cheese, quesadilla, Joe's O's, muffins baked with veggies in small pieces, meatloaf (bake some veggies in), really anything softer cut up small. Also, making "smoothies" with baby food and water (maybe a splash of juice) in a straw cup (those multi-colored cups you can get in a pack of some # from Target) are great and easy and fun. My kids loved these and did these until they were around twoish- easy way to get veggies and easy on the go meal. You can teach her to drink out of a straw by putting liquid in the straw and having her drink from it while holding it above her mouth with your finger over the hold- so she has to suck and it is relatively easy- may take a couple days... but well-worth it.

Hope that helps.

my sleep blog and sleep consultant business www.lullabyluna.com

Their gums are just as sharp as teeth, you can and should be giving her finger foods to help her get used to new textures. no salt black or kidney beans, tofu, cheese, whole wheat noodles, corn, peas, yams.... give her your healthy food, much better for her than the jarred stuff.

check wholesomebabyfood.com
for some ideas

try giving her finger food. my daughter sometimes refuses to be fed. but she likes to feed herself plain pasta, tofu, egg white and broccoli.

Any grains and veggies that you have on your plate can be given to her - just make sure the vegetables are cooked a bit longer for her.
Of course you also want to make sure there is no butter or other dairy in her serving, although you can probably try yogurt now (we started our daughter off with goat milk yogurt, as goat milk is more easily digested and closer to the makeup of breastmilk than cow milk).
My daughter never liked "baby" food (purees and such) so we always had to give her some variation of what we were eating. Lots of steamed veggies (cut them up into bite-size pieces), brown rice, beans, pasta, whole wheat couscous, soft fruits, tortillas, and that sort of thing.

Try steaming any kind of squash (which is excellent for babies) and then making like a soup with chicken broth and frozen corn. I'll also add some goat cheese if I have it around. Put it in a blender afterward if needed.

My boys loved oatmeal at that age, and still do now. If she has any experience with lumpy foods, she should be fine gumming it to chew it. I cook the whole oats in milk, add a little cinnamon, some raisins (they get really soft with the hot oats), and a little honey to sweeten (I know you aren't supposed to give honey to babies under a year, but I only gave them honey that had already been consumed by other members of the family and we would have been sick from it if it had been contaminated with botulism). If you don't think she is ready for that, you could try the Earth's Best oatmeal in jars - that's what I gave my babies before giving them my homemade oatmeal and they loved that too. It is smaller pieces and meant for 9 mos and up (if I remember correctly) so she shouldn't have any trouble with it.

We started feeding whatever we were eating. I would just hold some aside before adding in any seasoning and make sure it was extra cooked. I also used an immersion (hand) blender which makes blending up small portions easy. And you have the control to thoroughly puree or leave a little chunky.

Just give her whatever you eat (unless you are having microwave burritos or something really unhealthy). You know the foods to stay away from - nuts, shellfish, strawberries, egg whites, etc. just give her a taste of your hamburger cut up in extremely small pieces. Give her ripe fruits (cut up) cooked veggies, tiny pieces of chicken, etc. She is almost past the 12 month mark, so then you can start giving her milk products - cheese, yogurt. Just be careful when introducing new foods. It takes 7 exposures to bring on a reaction (hives, vomiting, diarrhea, etc)