BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Feeding Solid Food => Topic started by: MommyMoulton on March 29, 2012, 22:52:16 pm
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I bought pears and broccoli this week at the grocery store and I have no idea how to cook it so that I can feed it to my DS as a finger food. He refuses mashed / lumpy foods. And I'm trying to get away from purees and baby food.
thanks
Melissa
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For the broccoli I'd steam it lightly, break it into little pieces, and let him have at it. Maybe you can add a bit of salt to the water for a bit of flavor. I'm also a big fan of butter on my broccoli. ;)
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I never cooked pear for finger foods as long as it was really ripe. When they were really little I may have peeled it.
Broccoli I would cut into small pieces and steam it in a bamboo steamer. It was great for pincher grasp practice that way. You could do large pieces as well, letting baby hold onto the stem and munch on the top part. Steamed broccoli is pretty soft and mushy.
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I never cooked pear for finger foods as long as it was really ripe. When they were really little I may have peeled it.
Same here ;) actually Z only eats fruit whole, skin and all ::) if its ripe they just munch on in!
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Ok this may be strange. But I don't eat pear. How do I know If its ripe? Can I just cut it into cubes?
Tx I'll try broccoli tomorrow. Basically like little trees he can pick up! Fun fun!
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You can usually tell if it's ripe by how it feels. If it's hard, then it's not ripe. A ripe pear is kind of squishy.
I would avoid cubes as that could be choking size and try more of a spear shape instead.
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The harder pears are great cut into wedges (half lengthways, then half again, and again. Then it is easy to remove the strip of core from each wedge) and baked with the skin left on. Just lay them on a tray and put them in the oven. Test with a fork to see if they have gone soft inside. The baked wedges are great for finger food as the outside is quite dry to touch so easier to pick up whilst the inside is almost a puree so lovely and soft to eat.
You can also steam wedges but only a few minutes or they go really mushy and collapse. These can be a bit slimy to pick up.
Same kind of shape and size of all sorts of things baked are brilliant finger foods, apple, carrot, sweet potato, turnip...
yumm yumm we often have home baked sweet pot and turnip 'chips' here.
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You could poach the pears if you want to serve them earlier rather than waiting for them to be ready. http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/poached-pears-for-babies-and-toddlers.html
The only issue might be with peeled pears (either raw or cooked) is they tend to be quite slippery and difficult to hold so the suggestions to leave the skin on once their ripe might be a good one only my son has always refused pear when it's not peeled. Fuss pot!
Alternatively you could grate them into pancake batter?
For the broccoli you could just boil for 5-6 minutes until softened and serve as florets. I've seen loads of babies holding the stalk "handle" and eating the fluffy part but my son used to eat the stalk and hold onto the other part!
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Joining the party (hope you don't mind, Melissa!)
As for the pears, have you girls had problems with choking? I offered a small piece of pear to DD2 last week and she bit (she doesn't have any tooth yet) and I had to pick it up so that she couldn't choke.
Making it softer doesn't lead to this problem? Do they learn to suck?
Sorry for so many questions, DD1 was only spoon fed, so I can't wait to start BLW with DD2! ;D
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Lidia- typically if they take a bite that is too big/hard, they will gag it put. They are only choking if they are not breathing. Softer is easier for them to handle at first.
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Thanks Amy! ;)