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Weaning

Fingerfood questions

35 replies

DanielMummy · 29/08/2006 10:16

My 8 and a half month old is mostly rejecting being spoon-fed now, so I'm having to think of more fingerfood ideas as main course, rather than just for snacks.
I came up with the idea of making little stuffing balls. I have a packet of Sage & Onion stuffing mix which has no artificial additives, that I'm thinking of mixing up with milk and chicken stock rather than just water. However I'm not sure whether sage is suitable. I don't really have any knowledge of herbs and spices. Anyone know whether I can give sage to my baby. Or what about other flavour stuffing mixes?
My second question is regards some of the baby fingerfood products that are labelled as only being suitable for over 12 months old. Is this just because of the choking risk or is there any other reason? My little one will be 9 months in less than 2 weeks time. He already has 7 teeth and I think that supervised he could possibly try a cereal bar or biscuit. I'm thinking of either Organix, Cow & Gate, Peter Rabbit or Heinz ones specifically aimed at toddlers. Before I buy some, can anyone tell me some good reasons why not?

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Thomcat · 29/08/2006 10:21

How about giving him:

slices of avocado
slices of plum, peaches
slices of apple that have been gently boiled in a little water to soften them a bit?
a whole banana to gum
blue berries, squashed a bit first so they aren't little round balls
toast cut into soldiers


not sure about stuffing balls tbh.

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Mum2FunkyDude · 29/08/2006 10:24

I would look out for salt in your vegetable stock and stuffing! rather try broccoli or others steamed veg, my 9month old likes eating his fruit cubed for him, I have to give it one at a time as he stuffs his whole mouth full. Also try wholemeal toast fingers that is lightly buttered or with some full fat cream cheese, or rice cakes, on aitch's Baby Led Weaning site you might find more ideas for instance porridge pancakes etc. Hope this stears you in the right direction! Oh and eggy bread ( if you do not have a family history of allergy) beat 2 egg yolks ( no egg white as the protein in egg white can cause an allergic reaction under 12 months) and soak a slice of wholemeal bread with the crusts removed in it and pan fry over medium heat in a bit of olive oil for about 4-5 min a side, making sure its cooked through!

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Mum2FunkyDude · 29/08/2006 10:26

Oops try again here

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catrin · 29/08/2006 10:28

If you search the archives, there are zillions of threads on this to help you. Sage is fine, though suspect stuffing mix is v salty as is stock, which would be a problem. There is no need to buy finger food stuff. Try fruit, veg, bread, cheese, pasta, fishcakes, noodles - anything you make can be finger food.

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Thomcat · 29/08/2006 10:29

Oh yes and whole steamed carrots or broccoli. Or asparagus, cauliflower, slices of sweet potato that have been gently steamed.

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DanielMummy · 29/08/2006 10:53

Thanks for all the ideas. Have tried some of these, peach is his favourite, but some good new ones here too.
Forgot to say that there is no salt in this stuffing mix, all it has is wholemeal breadcrumbs, dried onion flakes and dried sage.

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DanielMummy · 29/08/2006 10:54

And my chicken stock is homemade. It has no salt either. I have about a million cubes of it in the freezer.

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laudaud · 29/08/2006 11:46

We bought baby biscuits when DD was about 7 months and ended up eating them ourselves as we felt they were far too sugary. Just because products are marketed for babys or toddlers doesn't mean they are good for them IMO. As well as many of the things already mentioned DD loves breadsticks (the Italian ones) and Baby bel cheese (broken into bits), ham and melon cubes

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TooTicky · 29/08/2006 11:50

It's possible to cook veg , mash it up, add cooked rice/quinoa if you want, maybe a little flour, shape into little patties or sausages and fry/bake.

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DanielMummy · 29/08/2006 12:54

Love that idea TooTicky. And guess it might take a bit of milk too.
Didn't say but part of my stuffing idea, was to get some milk into him, as he's often rejecting most of his bottle, apart from the one first thing when he wakes up, so his daily milk intake is currently below the recommended pint.
Previously I would do Ready Brek or similar for supper to boost his milk intake, if it was on the low side that day, but now that he's not wanting to be spoon-fed, Ready Brek doesn't make for ideal finger food.

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SoupDragon · 29/08/2006 12:57

Is it Enid who has a chicken nugget recipe?

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MrsBadger · 29/08/2006 13:05

Enid's chicken nuggets (sure she won't mind me linking)

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laudaud · 29/08/2006 13:07

here's an Annabel Karmel recipe which is very tasty for chicken apple balls. You can use your home made chicken stock which I guess will make it taste even better


Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley
50g/2oz fresh white breadcrumbs
1 large granny smith apple, peeled and grated
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water
flour, for coating
vegetable oil for frying



Method

  1. Using your hands, squeeze out a little excess liquid from the grated apple.
  2. Mix together the first six ingredients and chop in a food processor for a few seconds. Season with a little salt and pepper.
  3. With your hands, form into about 20 balls, roll in flour and fry in shallow oil until lightly golden and cooked through (about 10 minutes).

    NB: Suitable for freezing
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aitch71 · 29/08/2006 18:55

hi danielsmummy,
you mentioned a bottle, so if you are ff-ing you could try the porridge pancakes. i add a spoonful of formula to the oats before i add the water, so that's an ounce of milk calories in my book. and dd very often eats three pancakes in a sitting, the greeady get.

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DanielMummy · 29/08/2006 22:24

Chicken apple balls and chicken nuggets sound great ideas, as he does like his chicken.
And Aitch, yes he's now entirely on formula. I cut out the final breastfeed a couple of weeks ago, as I'm back to work in a fortnight's time. I've bought some oats today and have just made up a pancake ready for tomorrow morning, so lets hope he likes it. I'm not sure if I got the right sort of oats though, as each oatflake is huge. I'm only used to the powder type of Ready Brek.

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aitch71 · 30/08/2006 00:09

they sound like the right flakes to me. hope he enjoys them.

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bumbleweed · 30/08/2006 20:12

aitch, the porridge pancakes have gone down well in my house twice now - thanks for the idea

you can make them with booby milk too

although my dd only eats about 2 inches squared of pancake

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aitch71 · 30/08/2006 21:19

great, bumbleweed. although i can't take the credit for the recipe, it was hub2dee who magicked it up.

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bumbleweed · 30/08/2006 21:39

DanielMummy, my dd is 10 month and eats barely nothing too - I started BLW because she was a spoon refusnik

I offer food three times per day and she throws it round the lounge, smears into the high chair and eats maybe a little sometimes

I seem to go through periods of being cool about it, and then others of worrying and desperately wanting her to eat more. When I was in my last worry phase I read this and it has reassured me alot

Funnily now I am more chilled she is tucking into a bit more - finger foods mainly though, and especially when I sit near her but get on with something else, its almost as though she senses my anxiety and when the pressures off she can mess around a bit more freely

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bumbleweed · 30/08/2006 21:39

aitch, any ideas for turning spinach or lentils into finger foods that arent totally mush?

I keep falling back on toast but dont want to give too much bread as it does contain sugar and salt, and I would rather offer things richer in iron and vit D given how little dd eats

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DanielMummy · 30/08/2006 22:41

Bumbleweed - I'm just partway through testing my little one with egg this week. If it all goes okay, i'm planning to make him quiche (without the pastry) in various flavours, for which spinach would be ideal. Not got any good ideas for lentils, the only thing i've done so far is dhal which definitely isn't fingerfood. Perhaps you could include lentils in TooTicky's patties idea.
And i've had a bit more success with the spoon today, particularly with pudding.

Aitch - my little one did enjoy a couple of mouthfuls of porridge pancake this morning in between decorating the kitchen with it. And that was after guzzling down a large helping of rhubarb and apple yoghurt.

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aitch71 · 31/08/2006 10:29

bumbleweed, that's a great page. i'll link to it once i get my computer sorted (mine is on the fritz and this is my husband's so i don't have the password for the blog at the moment to make changes...)
i just steam spinach leaves (not torn or anything) and she eats big clumps of them. there's a picture on the blog. and have you made mawbroon's oatcakes yet? i made them last night and am about to leave a grovellingly appreciative message for her. the baby liked them, they were SUPER-easy to make and my DH and i also think they are the best oatcakes we've ever tasted, so it's a result. i think they'll be good to take out as well.
i am, however, a big fan of lentils (particulalry puy lentils, as it happens) and there is a great recipe for sage and lentils in the nigella book whichi i add bacon to and eat by the tonne. so i am wondering if i could make little croquettes out of that mixture? will keep you posted.

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aitch71 · 31/08/2006 10:30

danielsmummy, about hub's pancakes...

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bumbleweed · 31/08/2006 15:38

aitch, your dd sounds so adventurous with food, I am

I will try just steamed spinach with dd ......(has visions of cream carpet and dark green soggy blobs and screams inside)

if you have success in making lentil croquettes I would love to hear about it - I absolutely love the idea of other people messing around and telling me if it works

I havent tried mawbroons oatcakes yes as have very little time to cook and bake and really need quick mealtimes solutions

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bumbleweed · 31/08/2006 15:39

danielsmummy

what are you doing with egg - just giving tiny little bits and then waiting to see if any allergic reaction?

I cant wait to give egg - think of cooking an omlette and adding .... whatever .... then giving it the next day cold cut into strips - that would be so easy

let us know how you get on

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