Meals for LO (yah, another food post)

Slpafford

So the board seems pretty slow today so I figured I would ask this question. What does your LO eat?

I feel very overwhelmed when I try to think of meals for LO. LO goes to bed before we eat dinner (he is usually only home from school for 45 min- 1 hr before bed) so having him eat what we are having isn't really an option since it isn't ready by the time he goes down.

Also is your LO getting 3 meals of solid food a day? What are some easy/healthy things to feed LO for lunch/dinner?

BelhurstBride

Can you make your dinner or at least part of your dinner earlier for DS? Or leave leftovers from the previous night's dinner for him? Or start crock potting so you can all eat together?

My kids have always eaten what we eat so I really don't have any other suggestions than that. I'm all for the least amount of food prep possible.

ludali

BelhurstBride said:

Can you make your dinner or at least part of your dinner earlier for DS? Or leave leftovers from the previous night's dinner for him? Or start crock potting so you can all eat together?

My kids have always eaten what we eat so I really don't have any other suggestions than that. I'm all for the least amount of food prep possible.

This is what I try to do most nights - she's in bed by the time we eat, so I try to save a bit from that night for the next day.  If its something she shouldn't eat (like shellfish), I'll save other parts and then I have some frozen items ready (like cooked ground turkey, poached chicken breasts).  I don't make too many things specifically just for her anymore...except fruit purees. I still make and freeze some fruit purees to add to her plain yogurt.

Bunnyfer

Lo is still rocking the purees. She does eat some finger foods.. But not a fan... Though she loves her puffs.

Ashesha13

LO gets usually two meals a day since he does go to sleep before I usually cook. But the nights dinner I out some aside for him before adding too much salt or strong seasoning and use that for lunch the next day. And breakfast I try to make enough for a couple days. We've never done purées. And just getting to two solid meals a day.

LokiLahve

For dinner she eats what we eat. I second the idea if saving some leftovers for the next day if possible...that seems easiest to me.

I don't really have much advice on the dinner front...it's the only meal I don't make things specifically for her.

WildRumpus

He eats what we eat, even without teeth. Pasta has gone over well.

danal613

Not doing much yet either, but this weekend we introduced mashed potatoes and avocado. He loved them both.

V&G101808

N eats what we eat.  I've noticed that lately he seems to be a grump half way through dinner so I think he's pushing up his own bed time.  I've been thinking a lot about this lately because I can't have dinner made any earlier - so my thought was to keep leftovers for him and feed him earlier the next day (before DH and I eat dinner).  So this way he still gets "our" food, but he gets it at his preferred time vs. our dinner time.

Quick easy meals I've made when we're eating out/not eating yet: shredded chicken & cheese quesadillas.  Make ahead/freezable meatballs, omelets, broccoli & cheese muffins.  He'll eat shredded chicken, rice and beans every day if I'd feed it to him.

thoughtfulmommy

We also feed DS what we eat. He gets three meals a day. He only eats puréed fruits, everything else is solids. We have frozen food for him if our meal isn't as baby friendly (chicken fingers and humus) but realistically he eats everything we eat.

Some easy go to foods we use if we are eating out are veggies (I'll do batch and he gets them for lunch and dinner the next day), cheese, humus, cottage cheese, avocado and banana.

I find that they surprise you. LO loves asparagus, carrot ginger soup and curried cauliflower, onion and choice chicken, not what I was expecting.

Slpafford

Thanks for the input ladies! I think the entire "solid food" thing still stresses me out and he has been eating them for months now. I guess now that he is eating more table food than purees I am kind of over thinking things. I don't think it helps that DH completely FREAKS OUT of LO so much as makes a weird noise when eating solids.

How small do all of you make the pieces of food you are serving LO?

thoughtfulmommy

Slpafford said:

Thanks for the input ladies! I think the entire "solid food" thing still stresses me out and he has been eating them for months now. I guess now that he is eating more table food than purees I am kind of over thinking things. I don't think it helps that DH completely FREAKS OUT of LO so much as makes a weird noise when eating solids.

How small do all of you make the pieces of food you are serving LO?

I am still making the food into "finger stick" size so long and skinny. That way he can grab it but it is not too wide so he is not taking in too much food at once.

janneann1127

He eats 3 meals a day but still a lot of purees. He really digs the purees and has been slow to warm up to finger foods, but I do try to give him a few things that we are eating every meal. Some things we like to do are: scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, shredded pork, black beans (his FAVE), waffles (I give him a strip). Obviously some easy ones are soft fruits cut into small pieces like watermelon, peach, cantaloupe, or avocado.
I second the idea of using leftovers. We try to do family dinner every night and let him eat with us so he can start getting used to it, but if you can't do that, then leftovers are probably your second best bet.

vulpini

E refuses to be spoon-fed now, so he gets finger foods and store-bought pouches. 

He eats cheerios, toast, slices of fruit, steamed, roasted, or soft raw veggies, cubes or strips of chicken or beef (we've offered fish but he didn't eat it), small shapes of plain pasta, bits of tortilla, cheese, and roasted regular or sweet potato, boiled corn off the cob, etc.  He used to get yogurt, cottage cheese, oatmeal, and rice cereal, but now he only eats a couple spoonfuls of those at best.  We've also given him scrambled eggs, but he got a rash around his mouth, so we're holding off on offering them again for a while.  

If what I'm making for dinner isn't baby-friendly or dinner is too late, he gets quick things like toast, steamed frozen veggies, fruit, or a pouch. Otherwise he eats some version of what we eat, with less seasoning or no sauce.  Yesterday I made him roasted zucchini sticks, which took about 15-20 minutes to make.

J&Jaggies06

DD mostly eats what we eat.  We've adjusted our family schedule to be able to all eat together, so yes, that means we eat early.  When we aren't having something baby friendly we usually have grilled chicken on hand with peas, green beans, carrots, or some fruit.  

Some quick easy things I've found are a hummus sandwich, anything pasta, cinnamon toast, yogurt, apple sauce, cheese.  Honestly, there isn't much she doesn't like so it is pretty easy.  

girlmama83

@v&g101808 could you share your broccoli and cheese muffin recipe?

kkay1982

He eats three meals and a lot of it is what we eat. Unless it's yogurt or puréed prunes he almost feeds himself anything else. We use some pre made frozen meatballs, precooked pasta or some egg and potatoes muffins for quick meals.

LEMSA

Breakfast: yogurt and a pancake. I buy fruit, purée it, freeze in ice cube trays. I put a frozen fruit cube in the microwave for 30 secs, then mix w plain yogurt. He'll eat that for about 3 days.

He's also diggin veggie patties. Like the morning star ones. Toss 1/2 a patty in the micro and he's happy.

I have zip and steam bags. I just toss veggies in, add water, micro and out come perfectly steamed veggies for him to eat.