This is kinda like a baby edition “what I ate” post. [Again, mind the disclaimer]
(10-12 month old) baby eats:
7 am – nurse
9 am – breakfast: 1-2 scrambled eggs, 1/2 cup halved blueberries, 1/4 of a home-made coconut flour pumpkin muffin
1130 – nurse
1 pm – lunch: 1/4 cup steel cut oats with applesauce, 1/2 -1 banana, 1/2 cup peas
4:30 pm – dinner: 1/4 -1/2 cup shredded chicken, 1/2 cup corn/carrots/green bean veggie medley, 1/4 avocado, 1/4 cup brown rice pasta with olive oil
6:30 pm – nurse to bed
The range in amounts above have to do with his appetite and where he was at 10 months vs. 12 months…sometimes he eats and eats and eats, whereas other times he doesn’t seem to want too much. It goes in phases – I’m guessing revolving around teething and growth spurts.
It may sound insanely type-A, but I have 4 categories of food and I really try to get something from each in each meal. It’s not always perfect based on what we have on hand and what he’s in the mood for, but as longs I hit 2 out of 4 I’m happy.
I’m always trying to add more things to each group – pushing him to try new foods and develop his palate as best as he can within the confines of his allergies.
The categories are as follows:
fruit
-blueberries
-banana
-pears
-apples/applesauce
-grapes
veg
-peas
-carrots
-corn
-potatoes (white, sweet)
-squash (butternut, pumpkin, etc.)
-green beans
-spinach
protein
-eggs
-ground beef
-ground pork
-shredded chicken
-shredded turkey
-baked fish
other
-avocado
-quinoa
-oatmeal
-gf pasta
-rice/corn puffs
-home-baked goods
There may be more but that’s what I can think of off the top of my head. For now, those are our allergy friendly successes.
Coconut flour has been a really fun ingredient to learn to bake with (not that P needs to be grain free, but not all gluten free mixes are very nutrient dense). These muffins are my favorite, I’ve made them so many times I don’t even need the recipe anymore, plus they enable me to sneak pumpkin into his diet. Also this banana coconut bread.
Random other tips:
The bags of frozen vegetable medleys are super easy ways to make sure you always have veggies on hand. I pour some in a tupperware the night before I want to use them so they are thawed and ready to go. Peas were the first winner, followed by corn and carrots, and only recently green beans (I sometimes break them in half to help him out). It took a while for him to get how it all worked, so don’t give up if your little one isn’t into it! P now pops peas like they’re candy.
I cut blueberries in half and grapes in quarters. I slice bananas and then cut each slice into either halves or thirds. He would happily shovel the whole banana in his mouth in one fell swoop, so this way I can slow him down (letting me mutli-task in the kitchen longer). Sliced pears and apples he can whittle down with his few teeth just fine. I only dice the pears if they’re super ripe so they don’t mash everywhere before they make it to his mouth.
Olive oil and coconut oil are my go-to’s. You can replace almost any fat in any recipe with those two things and they can satisfy both the savory and sweet options.
Canned purees – like pumpkin, squash, sweet potato – can be added to oatmeal or rice porridge to bulk up the nutrients pretty easily. P doesn’t like them plain (like he did when he was a baby), but adding a little cinnamon and molasses/maple syrup helps. [No honey for babies] You can also bake them into muffins or blend them into smoothies (I still can’t get him to drink liquids well enough for the smoothies yet, but maybe other moms have better bottle/sippy cup success than I).
In that same vein, spices and herbs can be awesome to experiment with. I haven’t branched out much beyond cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, but I’ve heard lots of success stories with cumin and curry.
Try food at different temperatures. P prefers many things cold, oddly enough, including oatmeal and veggies.
Try different textures. P doesn’t like baby food purees. He wants to be able to chew I guess. This is why I add the home-made applesauce I made (in massive amounts) to the steel cut oatmeal. The applesauce sweetens it naturally and the oats offer more texture. Win win.
I’ve found the brown rice gluten free pasta to be the best in terms of texture and nutrients. Quinoa pasta can be a bit too hard. Corn pasta is so-so, but it’s hard to find organic non-GMO brands. Cooking GF pasta is tricky enough for an adult, but even more complicated if you’re trying to get it soft enough for a baby, but not mushy and gross. You have to wait for the water to be fully boiling, then cook it until it’s just slightly overcooked. Then immediately drain it and pour cool water over it to stop it from getting mushy. Tossing it in oil right then will prevent it from sticking (but feel free to leave it plain for various uses). I cook ~1-2 cups of dry pasta at once and take ~1/4 cup per meal out and re-heat, then toss in olive oil. Warming it first and then adding the oil softens it up just fine.
Quinoa is too difficult for him to eat solo, but if I add mashed banana or squash to it and feed it to him in a porridge like form, he seems to enjoy it.
Moms – If you have any other ideas and/or tips, feel free to add in the comments section!
Looks like you are doing great! One of my daughters favorite breakfasts at that age was oatmeal with mashed up hard boiled egg yolk. Also, she loves frozen peas, and if he’s teething they may be soothing for his gums.
You are doing a great job with P’s allergies. My 16 month old boy loves kiwi and when I make oatmeal in the crockpot with apple, cinnamon, and brown sugar and frittata. For special treats he likes kale chips and okra chips. I ate pretty healthy before but I find I’m even better with a kid now because whenever I eat now he wants to try too!
you are doing so great with all the allergies! good job!
U are a fantastic mom…. P is a lucky boy! Oddly, he and I have a lot of the same allergies, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he is doing…. Its helping to give me ideas!
Thanks for all the GREAT ideas mama! Can’t wait to go grocery shopping again for Drake. I wish I could get him to eat more eggs, but it’s so hit or miss with him! Plus he’s soo messy, whenever we do berries it’s like a blue explosion haha I usually mix in quinoa with bananas or applesauce. I also wanted to share this easy recipe with you, since you know how time in the kitchen can be tough! I used half an orange instead and doubled it but I thought you might enjoy it! http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=2265911117&group=0&frame_type=b&blog=3108718&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5haG91c2VpbnRoZWhpbGxzLmNvbS9haG91c2VpbnRoZWhpbGxzLzIwMTQvMS8yOC9yYXNwYmVycnktY2hpYS1qYW0uaHRtbA&frame=1&click=0&user=0
awwww…thanks stacy. I’m sorry you have so many allergies. Hopefully I can help give you some ideas?
Love all your posts! My niece is 12months and after lots of different cups my sister stumbled upon the Camelbak baby cup (think its called Ebby) It’s BPA free, doesn’t leak and is really sturdy… Maybe it will be a hit with P 🙂 Good luck with all the food – you are a great mama!!
While I wouldn’t wish the life of a parent with an allergy stricken child on anyone, I am so thankful to have your input and ideas for allergy friendly baby foods. Thank you so much for this. We just re-tested my son and found that although he’s cleared his soy allergy, he is (still) highly allergic to tree nuts, peanuts and still has pretty harsh readings (skin and blood) to sesame, dairy, wheat, eggs – and a mild allergy to rice. RICE! Our allergist said to continue feeding it if he seems to be having no reaction as his skin response was pretty slight. We cleared coconut too which was a huge relief.
I have been using a couple allergy friendly cookbooks I found on amazon for things like pumpkin muffins made with oat flour (amazing), etc., but I truly apprecaite any and all of your tried and true tips! Happy almost birthday to P! Mason just turned one on tuesday. Time flies when you’re having fun 🙂
I think this may be my first time commenting though I’ve been reading for years! Good job, mama. I don’t know how you keep all this straight in your head! My daughter is almost 10 months and so far no allergies, but her iron was a bit on the low side at her 9 month appointment. Trying to spare her from the constipation that comes along with iron drops, the pediatrician said we should try to improve it through diet before we resort to that. So this last month I’ve had to really make a conscious effort to make sure she gets some at every meal with a Vitamin C food etc. That alone has been challenging enough but I’ve finally hit a groove.
P is so cute. I can’t believe he is almost a year old. Love all the updates 🙂
I puree butternut squash and mix it with a bit of butter (in your case you can mix it with coconut oil) and it makes a great pasta sauce. My son loves it…..it kind of reminds me of mac & cheese but super healthy.
Stella, I do this with pureed peas with salt and smother it on explore Asian mung bean noodles. Tastes like Mac and cheese to me too! Those noodles are high pro and so easy to digest
yum! great ideas – both peas and squash sound great.
awesome! have you tried chia seeds without any issues? I’m nervous to try seeds since i got a semi-firm “no” from the allergist, but truth be told i think he’s so old school he doesn’t even know what chia, hemp and flax seeds are!!!
thanks so much lindsey 🙂 i know what you mean – I’m really just trying to create something positive out of the situation so it means the world to me that i can reach you, and others like you.
Hooray for clearing coconut!!!
Happy 1st birthday Mason 🙂
Feel free to send any links w recipes or whatever my way!
hi kathleen! thanks so much for your kind comment.
im so sorry your little one had low iron counts – how did they even discover that?!?! good for you for trying dietary changes to spare her some GI woes. ill keep you in my thoughts 🙂
ill look into it! thanks so much yolanda.
wow – kale and okra chips! go you! what a adventurous eater. ill have to give that a try!
thanks for the ideas sara – i don’t know why i didn’t think to do savory oats yet. i love ’em!
Here’s a recipe I’ve used for years. Both my kids love them and help make them! They’re so easy and stay together really well even though there is no type of flour or eggs. They should work for your son, with gluten free oats.
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups oats
1/4 cup oil (we use olive oil, but I bet coconut would be yummy)
cinnamon to taste
Mix it all together, form into cookies at bake (375 degrees? I always guess) until brown around the edges. Perfect!
Yup! No issues… I always get nervous trying new foods, especially nuts & seeds. I add the chia seeds to his applesauce or yogurt. I have added ground flax to his banana purees too. Doesn’t even seem to notice 😉 Whenever I give him Peas though he seems to get an upset tummy and really gassy. Oh how I wish they talk…Would make things so much easier! haha