Finger Food ideas? mspi and oat avoidance

[chasehutt]

Hi Guys

So my 8 mo is now being reintroduced to foods one by one for a seven day trial period. Ie; carrots 7 days then add something else watching the whole time for rxn or blood in stool. SOO my question is this, we are diagnosed with mpi and now being told to aviod oats because we're pretty sure there was a reaction.

I want to start giving him things like cheerios and puffs so that he can use his little fingers to pick it up, also because it would keep him occupied - but I need ideas!! Right now I can only give him bananas and carrots and cereal. The next food I introduce could be a snack item but i dont know what to pick with the oat and mpi ...

can anyone recommend snack items that are oat free and milk free that would be YUMMY for a 8mo

Thanks for any suggestions. I do give him the banana in a fruit mesh thing and i do the carrot sticks but hes not that into them yet.. healthy I guess hehehe

[~ Vik ~]

Hi! I'm wondering the same thing! My ds has mpi as well, and I've been wondering what fingerfoods to offer too. I'm going to hang around and see what suggestions there are!

[scarlettsmom]

My dd looooooves cooked peas....she has them morning noon and night lol, I have a whole big pot cooked every few days, it's great I just throw a bunch of them on her tray while getting both girls' meal ready. Wheat might be a good next step, we've gotten many finger foods from that.  Cooked 100% whole wheat pasta, organic mini shredded wheat, and whole wheat cereal puffs (be vigilant about reading the ingredients, we only do Barbara's shredded wheat until recently we started arrowhead mills that has Vit E derived from soy and we're trialing trace soy now).  Very ripe pieces of pear, scrambled eggs and little pieces of turkey.  We have a milk, oat, corn, allergy (among other things, but those are the biggies).  Most of the stuff you have to do from scratch...

[Mashi]

In the UK we have a range called ORGANIZ that make finger foods, my DS loves them. He is MSPI and I am keeping him off all gluten, not just oats so I know the difficulties.  Lots of the Organix do have cheese so those are out but there are 3 or 4 that are milk, soy, gluten free.

http://www.organix.com/Our-Foods/Food-For-Babies/Finger-Foods

The three along the left are fine - milk, soy, gluten free - the carrots sticks, tomato slices and crunchy rings.  DS goes NUTSO over them.  Have helped him with finger coordination and learning to chew as well, but they are great because in the end, they really do just melt in their mouths.  Organix do a line of rice cakes that are fine also.

Other than that, our finger foods are sweet potato fries (chop a sw pot into french fry like sticks, rub a dab of oil around them, wrap in a foil packet and pop in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool and presto!  We also do squash cubes the same way (take longer to cook though and sometimes I boil them a couple of minutes first to start them up).

I make "The Famous Sausage Recipe" in the Recipes board here (Annabel Karmel's chicken balls if you have one of her cookbooks) and they are great finger foods. Also make mini hamburgers, which I mix a few spoonfuls of applesauce (homemade) into the meat before making the burgers to soften it up a bit and add some taste. 

I have been making millet pancakes as well - a lovely suggestion by Bethany (Peek-a-Boo) but I just wing it when it comes to the recipe and the past two times it hasn't worked out  so I need to get a proper recipe before I share.  They are super for fingers, I make them about 2" in diameter and DS can pick them up and bite them off, and get pieces in his mouth.

Slices of pear, banana and zucchini (courgette) are good finger foods as well, and go down well here.

One thing I find with finger foods is that I always say "Wow, you ate very well today!" and then pick DS up out of his highchair and find 75% of it in his chair   

If I think of any others I will let you know!

[~inbalance~]

Hi!  I use a bamboo steamer to cook diced carrots & broccoli (learned about it in a cooking class!).  My DS LOVES them!  He really enjoys the challenge of picking them up, sticks are too easy and he loses interest.     I'm going to try doing it with asparagus and sweet potato too.  I give Cheerios and puffs too, but have learned that they are so full of sugar which weakens the immune system, so I'm going to try and avoid them (especially the gerber puffs - the Cheerios I buy are the low sugar ones, but sugar nonetheless).  But rice puffs would be perfectly ok too.  Also, our nutritionist said that frozen wild blueberries are wonderful finger foods too (not thawed).  I'm going to try those next.  And I'm going to try peas soon too. 

HTH

[Spectra]

I found in the Organic section of my grocery store a LOT of items.  I buy rice puffs, they are like Rice Crispies but without all the additives, and they are bigger so easier to pick up.  I also found there a box of cereal that is identical to Cheerios, but it's made with rice and corn flour!!!  Totally awesome.  I picked that up because my daughter loves to eat dry Cheerios, but my son will grab them and I'm worried he'll try to eat them.  This way if he does he won't get a reaction.  In that same section there are tons of different rice cakes, cookies, breads, or mixes to make your own.  And of course all the fruits and veggie items.  The organic stuff is great because they don't contain the hidden milk or soy items.  Regular Rice Crispies contains oat/barely, whereas the Rice Puffs are just organic brown rice.  Love it.

[scarlettsmom]

One thing I find with finger foods is that I always say "Wow, you ate very well today!" and then pick DS up out of his highchair and find 75% of it in his chair  

Lol!  Same here 

Great suggestions...I'm taking notes...

[chasehutt]

Wow thank you for those wonderful suggestions. I think I will try the peas even though I hate them! ha, I think I avoid them because I dont like them. Im also going to whole foods I think they have a selection of rice puff/healthy options in the gluten free isle.

Martina Rae - I like the idea of a bamboo cooker, does it cook better than boiling/steaming? I have tried doing carrots but I think I cooked them too much and they are just mushy and he squashes them. Maybe I will do the cubes too. I have to cook some up today. I liked the idea of swt pot fries. I also have the anabel karmel book so will look into the protein section (chicken saus,turk) etc. I have not given him protein yet.

well this is great, thank you ...
My biggest concern previously with these items was chocking but seen as though you all recommend it, Im going to give it a shot. I guess the more I try him with them the less he will gag. I also think hes just not used to it because we've had to be on formula (strictly) for so long. very excited about the new foods finally. Thanks

[Mashi]

another one that works well here is scrambled egg. we only do the yolks, not the whites. a tiny bit of milk (formula) added to the yolk and fry it up.  it's good when you get the larger chunks he can pick up and soft so he won't choke! plus, then you have eggs on your menu which opens up doors to other foods as well!

[~ Vik ~]

Thanks for all the fantastic ideas! I'm going to check the organic section of ourgrocery store too and see what they have

[chasehutt]

I found a rice pasta today adn gave him some of those which he enjoyed. Definately kept him occupied, however when I lifted him up it was EVERYWHERE - my goodness! Im looking forward to trying new foods.
Thanks again ladies

[birdie]

I served DS a Beachnut sweetpotato chip from the baby section at Walmart alot. They are like a rice cake but without wheat or dairy, which we were trying to avoid.

Also, I got to where I started to make large pots of stew and froze individual portions. This saved me so many times, especially if we had to eat somewhere else. The stew had bite sized pieces of assorted veggies and chicken. "Stew" was actually one of his early words.