What to feed a one year old???

So I know this question has probably been asked before, BUT what do you feed a one year old?  Ethan is already eating the little gerber meals and all of that, but I feel SO bad giving him a microwavable meal.  Are there any quick easy dishes to make them?  He hates marinara so any spaghetti dishes are out.  I cant really give him the things we eat...like greasy pizza or spicy enchiladas and we usually just make salad as a side dish.  All my friends always suggest just give him stuff of your plate, but he still seems too young to do that with the stuff we eat.

[tiredbuthappy]

dd actually did very well eating the things we eat- even with only 2 teeth!
It may be time to alter what the rest of you eat, because eventually you will want him to be able to sit at the family table and share a meal. i think dd got a total of 3 gerber meals- and those were for those days where there was literally nothing in the house or the meal was something she couldn't eat because she was too young like shrimp.

when cooking spicy foods, set some aside prior to seasoning. if it's not too spicy, you can even try it and see if he likes it. DD loves things that i would've hesitated in feeding her at first- especially garlicky and flavorful sauces and dishes. or, try giving components. for example, if we are having wraps or fajitas for dinner, dd will eat some rice, shredded cheese, chicken, etc... DD LOVES pasta of any kind, so i usually have some in the fridge to serve with whatever meat/veggie we have.

of course there are some meals that you love to eat and he can't. On those days, i may have some fresh coldcuts (usually turkey) on hand. Cheese is a staple. I whip up a box of macs n cheese occasionally, and keep some chicken nuggets in the freezer as well. There are always frozen peas, carrots, and corn in the freezer. Yogurt, oatmeal, cereal, grilled cheese, etc... are good in a pinch as a meal as well.

I remember being nervous about feeding DD. We didn't have the best eating habits and rarely sat down for family meals. Having her start solids actually helped us develop a better diet and better habits.

[AnnieBrooke]

I always have the following on hand, and my son has eaten them all quite happily since before a year old:  
ham (which I cut into little cubes),
peaches,
sliced olives (boy, does he love those),
tomatoes (which again I cut into little cubes),
pretzels that look like little grids (not bigger than an inch square),
Cheerios,
cucumbers (cut small),
edamame (usually I buy the kind already out of the pod)
frozen peas (served frozen)
green beans (again originally frozen, but like the edamame, these I cook)
and occasionally
blue corn chips

He will eat happily of any of thes and I can put them on his little divided tray with each in a space, which takes his fancy too.

I didn't waste much time on anything from Gerber.  Babies' gums are hard and strong and they can gum up a lot of stuff.

Have fun!
,

[AnnieBrooke]

Oops, forgot to mention raw sunflower seeds, which he loves all the time.

[Jenny100]

Jameson is 14 months. His favorite breakfasts are; a scrambled egg and peach dices, OR yogurt and banana slices, OR oatmeal and pear dices,OR cheerios and milk;
Lunches could be, turkey and cheese sandwich cut in tiny dices, pasta with a little sauce, (I know you said yours doesnt like sauce though), mac and cheese, peas--which he LOVES. He also loves my homemade soups--I just give him the veggies and noodles on his tray.
I also give him fruit with lunch too---dices, slices, or applesauce.
Dinner is whatever we have--any casserole, pasta, mashed potatoes, stuffing, all veggies, even meats cut VERY VERY tiny.

And I agree with those who say their one year olds just ate what they ate--youd be surprised. Getting close to one year old--I was still feeding him "baby" foods at our dinner table, and he would reach for our plates and throw his stuff on the floor!!! lol I started giving him our table foods and he LOVED them. And they are MUCH healthier without additives and preservatives.And much TASTIER! Baby food is quite bland.

As you start giving him new things you might be surprised at what he loves---I was surprised at how much Jameson loves peas!! Usually you hear how kids HATE peas and he LOVES them.

[annemom]

My 10 month old refuses to eat these days. she was good, but she has had diarrhea since wednesday and its on and off. Dr said he would not give her any medicine since she had no fever or vomiting, can anyone please give an idea what can cause this on and off problem. I did not change anyhting in her diet.

[babyscience]

Wow, so they do eat alot...I have been stifling him.  He is getting sick of the baby food, but then I have him try something else and he hates that too!  So I have wasted a lot of money just getting him to try things.
I think I am going to get some frozen veggies, because when DH and I get fresh they just rot in our fridge...we just cant eat them fast enough.  We are constantly going to the store to buy fresh items.
I have tried cheese with him and he just gags the moment it hits his tongue, but he will eat it if it is mixed with something.  Oh when I say gag with things...he has gagged to the point of throwing up, so maybe that is where I get so scared with him!
I think I will just have to start preparing him little things on the side, then work him up to our meals.
I am going to print this out so I remember all the good ideas....keep them coming!

[babyscience]

It could be from teething, ds had that alot off and on.  Then it would go away and a tooth would pop out.

[April2]

Avocado is another good first food to eat and it's high in protein and other vitamins. I used to use canned fruits and veggies since they're softer. Grilled cheese sandwiches are always a hit. Mac and cheese, yogurt, scrambled eggs, toast, most casseroles if they're not too spicy, soups, especially chicken noodle, cheerios, pastas, crumbled hamburger meat. Can't think of anymore at this point!  

[Jenny100]

I LOVE those new bags of frozen veggies called "steamers"---you just cook them in the bag in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. No waiting for water to boil, etc. and you have a bag of peas, beans, corn, whatever. They last the whole week with Jamesons meals.

Jameson likes avocado a lot too. And I get the little individual cups of diced fruits--probably a little more expensive, but they taste better than canned. I always think canned fruit tastes like the can. Lol
I agree with how hard it is trying to keep fresh fruits and veggies on hand--its hard to use it before it goes bad sometimes. I do a lot of frozen. It still has a fresh taste and all the vitamins, but you don't have to worry about using it so soon.
He loves strawberries too-- and I also make smoothies with milk,strawberries, and yogurt that he loves.

[tatorbug40]

Colten too would gag sometimes when we give him a new food,  so I don't force it on him and try it again a few days later, and usually he takes to it then and loves it-  my DD, now almost 4, never has liked red sauces-  pasta sauce, pizza-  I thought it was wierd-  I would just put a little butter and parm cheese on it, and she loved pasta like that-  Colten on the other hand loves it,  I am now realizing that it was WAY less messy to have a kid that didn't like RED sauce!  :)  

other then that-  most of the items listed above are items we feed both of our kids...  

[Darkestlight]

My DD is 14 months old and eats everything we eat. You think of it she eats it.

[babyscience]

Jenny100
I always wondered how long veggies stay for once cooked.  It is good to know a week.  I am always quick to throw stuff away, where I have had friends that cut mold off cheese and eat it...yucky!
tatorbug~  I will consider myself lucky that he doesnt like the marinara.  I forgot it is on pizza.  He loves the crust and one day I gave him my crust and it must have had the sauce on it because he was gagging.  I couldnt figure out why, now I know!  I must wipe it all off before giving it to him!

[Jenny100]

I read on Google that refrigerated cooked veggies are still even good at two weeks!! I draw the line at one week though--I really cant imagine theyd be good after TWO weeks? Maybe, but I don't want to taste to see! lol

I have a hard time wasting food---my sweet Grandma taught me never to waste anything. I'm the mom who takes the old ketchup bottle and puts it upside down on the new one to get the last 2 teaspoons of ketchup out!!! lol
HOWEVER---I really cant bring myself to eat things that are more than 3 days old--like leftover food I made. It just seems yucky to me.
But the actual guidelines are longer--so its just a personal preference I guess.

[mami1323]

I got lucky, Jayden eats anything and everything.  I give him scrambled eggs in the morning or cereal mixed with fruit, farina (like grits), pancakes.  Then he will also pick at cheerios.  I can give him a sandwich cut into pieces at lunch, he even eats hamburger meat.  He eats macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, turkey, chicken.  Dinner, chicken or lasagna, string beans, even creamed spinach he likes.  He can eat graham crackers.  Jayden will eat almost anything.  Mashed potatoes.  He doesn't seem to get full either...lol.

[pertykitty]

addison has always had (for the most part) ground up veggies so she will eat spaghetti squash, all squashes, broccoli, frozen peas and carrots you name it.  for breakfast oatmeal with fruit , eggs, sometimes pancakes with banannas.  she will eat rice or quinoa with veggies and avocado.  maybe small pieces of ham and cheese.  pasta with either sauce or some butter and parm cheese.  she eats chicken, pork, some hamb meat.  i dont make multiple meals, but i know if she isnt ready for what we eat or its shrimp or something she cant, i make her leftovers or pasta.  


sometimes i cook a yam  and chicken with apple slices MMMMMMMM.  she isnt picky which is good in our house lol

[CYW]

cameron had began eating some table food, depending around 11 months old.. at 13 months he was done the babyfood and onto the solid food table food.. he is 14 and a half months old and will eat ANYTHING!!! so i would start with easier things as someone posted.. pasta, poatatoes etc...

[mlb1234]

I have tried a lot of the above foods with my 10 month old.  She also gags a lot(and throws up) but I think it is their mechanism against choking.  They have a very sensitive gag reflex.  She also tends to gag/puke more if you give her pieces that are too big or feed her too fast.  (Dinner time can be a very long drawn out occasion and take up half the night!)  Some other foods Izzy likes that aren't mentioned above are bagel pieces, soft pita bread, small curd cottage cheese, Eggo waffles, pancakes and muffins.  For regular cheese she likes the kraft deli selects slices which are soft and I can just tear off small pieces for her.  
Breakfast is the easy meal - I also have a hard time thinking of things for the other meals (and dread giving her microwave meals or the junk I am eating!).  Over the weekend my mom made yams which were wonderful - boil them for 12 minutes - that's it!  Add a little brown sugar and butter and I think Izzy will love it!

[babyscience]

Oh my gosh I am getting hungry at all the food possibilities.  LOL, you guys eat a whole lot better than I do!!  I can never decide on what I want to eat, so it is that much harder to decide for both of us.  I usually make DH decide on what to eat...he does all the cooking anyways!  So I need things I can do for ds, since I do all the feeding. The yams sound really good and easy, so do all the breakfast choices.  Is it okay for him to have eggs now (he will actually be one in 2+ weeks...YIKES!)?  I would love to see if he would like a sandwhich, because I have a feeling he will eat cheese that way.

So tonight I just tried mashed potatoes with gravy and it had some turkey in it.  He ate this for thanksgiving (minus the turkey part) so I thought he would like it, although it is a different recipe.  He didnt like it!  Crazy kid!  He puts his hands to his head when he is done and shakes his head no...he did this 4 bites in.  I got the gerber mac and cheese out and he ate almost all of it!

[tiredbuthappy]

i know what you mean about fresh fruit going bad. it happens ALL the time in my house. So we keep a lot of freeze dried fruit on hand for DD too. Trader Joes has freeze dried mangos, strawberries, and bananas. DD eats them like candy, and the price is reasonable (especially compared to the amount of money i waste on throwing away rotten fruit)

[pertykitty]

i make mac and cheese and put small broccoli pieces in it.  jessica sienfeld has a great cookbook for picky eaters using pureed veggies snuck into foods so they get all the vitamins.  

i LOVE dried mangos!