How do you cook meats and steam veggies for finger foods? Any gadgets?

Mrs.CJ · March 2014

For baby foods we basically fed DD organic purees from Plum and Sprout. She's 9 months and getting into finger foods baby puffs, chopped banana, avocado, steamed carrot (Gerber).

As we start to expand her vegge/meat options how do you prepare your baby's finger foods? Are you cooking meat/veggies with pots/pans (sautee or steaming) or are you using a food steamer or other gadget? Just curious if a gadget like a baby food steamer would be a good investment for food prep of finger foods or if really they are more for making baby purees (which we are good there) and we should just sautee/steam using pots/pans.

Sorry for such a silly question

TIA!

CJ

ASmallWonder · March 2014

Baby-specific gadgets barely make sense for purees and they definitely don't make sense for finger foods

Pick yourself up a steamer basket and use that or roast your veggies. Meats you can do a number of ways but giving them some of what you're eating is the easiest. Don't be afraid of spices but try to limit salt. I love my salt so I try to set aside some chicken that's unsalted, for example.

LisaLisa1980 · March 2014

Just regular pots for steaming veggies

RootBeer29 · March 2014

We just give her what we're eating.

dvmsara · March 2014

For veggies, I would get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-1102-Medium-Microwave-Steamer/dp/B005D6XYGS/ref=pd_sbs_k_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D62EDVXPKXGYXHCH0GD

For meat, I generally just cut up what I'm eating.

I would be very careful buying a "baby gadget" when a similar "normal" item has the same function--things are almost ALWAYS way more expensive when they're branded as a baby accessory, lol!

opheliainwaders · March 2014

RootBeer29 said:

We just give her what we're eating.

This. Also, DD much prefers food that's seasoned over the plain stuff.
She really likes roasted veggies; we just throw them in the oven with olive oil and a little garlic powder. Ditto meat - we don't steam it, we just give her pieces of what we're eating. Maybe try something like salmon if you're wary of things that are hard to chew? We made broiled fish with butter and herbs the other night, and she gobbled it up.

Also, if you want to make a baby-sized serving of something like frozen peas (DD will happily munch on peas for what seems like hours), I just throw a handful of them into a cup with a little water, and microwave for 15 seconds. It thaws them out perfectly.

=Lee=B · March 2014

No special meal prep at all. She's always eaten what we are eating (sometime her might be steamed a bit longer or something). She has always had the same spices and flavorings as us...whether it be spicy or what ever. We've never given plain meat or plain food while we ate the good stuff.

We have one of those pots that have the second chamber to put on top with the steam holes in the bottom. We had it long before she came along but that is how all her veggies were steamed.

cyprissa · March 2014

I just hold back on the salt and give him what we eat 95% of the time. I also keep some organic frozen peas and carrots on hand that I can thaw in 30 secs for him to munch on.

Mrs.CJ · April 2014

This was all very helpful! Thank you! I think I would have bought into the gimic of needing some baby gadget, but this reaffirms that I can just steam with the microwave or a regular steamer. Thanks!