Finger Foods (6 months+)

[Meg's Mom]

Andi - here is what babycenter.com says about tuna in the US

Some states provide more specific tuna guidelines for kids. The Washington State Department of Health, for example, offers these recommendations: no more than 1 ounce of tuna per week for kids weighing 20 pounds, and no more than 3 ounces (half a can of tuna) for kids weighing about 60 pounds. If your child's weight falls between 20 and 60 pounds, you'll have to estimate. The Rhode Island Department of Health also recommends buying "light" tuna instead of "white" tuna because it's thought to contain less mercury.

Visit the FDA's website for specific recommendations on fish consumption in your area, and to find out the mercury content in a variety of fish.

Here is the recipe:

TUNA PASTA W CREAMY TOMATO SAUCE (makes 3 portions)

1/4 c small pasta shape
1/4 c chopped onion
1 clove crushed garlic
1 Tablespoon veg oil
1/2 cup canned crushed tomato
1 6oz can tuna in oil, drained and flaked

Cheese sauce
1 Tbl unsalted butter
1 tbl all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

cook the pasta according to package instructions, but w/o salt.  saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.  Stir in tomoatoes and tuna, cook for 4 mintues. 

cook cheese sauce:
melt butter in sauce pan, stir in flour to make a paste, and cook for 1m.  Gradually stir in milk, bring to a boil and cook for a few mins over low heat until thickened and smooth.  Stir in grated cheese until melted.

Mix in the cheese sauce w tuna and tomatoe and stir in pasta.

Artemis still opens her mouth "just a little" but will eat loads albeit very unenthusiastically!

when maddie does this...won't open her mouth...this is my cue that she wants to feed her self w more finger foods.

thanks for the recipe H!

[~Sarah~]

So I just did my first official BLW recipe...totally by mistake 

I was making meatloaf for the family tonight and I ended up having too much meat, so I thought I would make hand sized meatloaf.

I had ground turkey and ground beef I was working with, but you could use any ground meat you wanted.  DD LOVED it and ate almost a whole one...it was crazy!

It is not hard at all, I will give you the entire recipe I made, but like I said I made one family sized meatloaf and then made about 12 hand sized meats.


1.25# ground turkey

1.25# ground beef (lean)

1/2 C instant oats

1 egg

1/2 Lg onion chopped

Spices:  Garlic salt, onion powder, pepper, dried oregano, dried basil

mix all together not overworking the meat (gets tough otherwise)

place aprox.2# in loaf pan-cook at 375 for 1hr (I squirt a layer of ketchup over the top of mine before baking)

with left over 1/2 # meat, take about palm sized chunks and form into long rolls and flatten slightly.  Place on baking sheet and cook at 350 for 15-20 min (I cooked for 30min and the were overdone, so just keep an eye on them)


Nothing fancy, but boy did my baby like it!!  Oh and it is Dairy and Soy free-normally I use bread crumbs instead of oats.  You also could grate some veggie in there, I just was not thinking of that at the time!

[bakershaker]

Chicken Bites
  boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup  of oat bran
• 1/4 cupof wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp coarsely ground flaxseed 
• 1/2 tsp  pepper
• Pinch garlic powder
• 1/2 cup water or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1.Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or coating lightly with best-quality olive oil.
2.Cut chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Set aside.
3.Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.
4.Combine water and egg in a medium bowl. Dip each piece in the water/egg-white mixture. Then dip each piece in the coating mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated.
5.Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden

[Kimberlina]

Prawn Paisano

• Fully cooked King prawns (approx 200g / 0.5 lbs)
• Spaghetti noodles
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• olive oil
• Oregano, garlic granules, parsley to taste

1. Boil noodles until al dente (approx 5-7 minutes).
2. Add olive oil to a skillet and heat. Add garlic and brown. (It browns quickly, so do add the garlic AFTER the noodles are cooked!)
3. Add drained noodles and stir fry. Add spices to taste. Turn heat right down or remove from heat.
4. Add warmed prawns and serve! (I keep the water from the pasta and steam the prawns over the hot water for a few minutes.)

This is my mum's recipe and my DH and I used to have it every so often, but salted to the max! We had it last night for the first time since DS (7.5mo) was born, and DH was dubious about giving him prawns. I checked the internet, and babies under 1 are fine with fully cooked shellfish as long as there is no known history of shellfish allergies in the family.

DS LOVED HIS PRAWN (he actually swallowed ALL of it!) and had a blast figuring out the noodles. An altogether quick and mess-free meal!

[Kimberlina]

Salmon Fishcakes - TOP 100 FINGERFOODS by ANNABEL KARMEL

"Fishcakes are often an easy way to encourage toddlers to eat fish. You could also make these using fresh, flaked salmon."

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 5 minutes
Suitable for children under 1 year old
Not recommended for freezing or reheating: uncooked mixture can be stored, covered, in the fridge for 2-3 days

Ingredients:
1 x 213g can red salmon, drained
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
2 spring onions, finely chopped (I used a small shallot)
2 T tomato ketchup
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 T mayonnaise
2 T flour
2-3 T sunflower oil, for frying
salt & pepper, to season

1. Remove the skin and any large bones from the salmon. Whiz the bread in a food processor to make into breadcrumbs (I just used my fingers). Combine the flaked salmon, breadcrumbs, spring onions, ketchup, and lemon juice in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise a teaspoon at a time until the mixture binds together - you may not need it at all. Mix well and season with salt & pepper.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Put the flour in a small bowl and season with salt & pepper. Take tablespoonfuls of the salmon mixture and roll into balls. Roll the balls in flour, flatten tin the pan with the back of a spoon or spatula and fry for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally. Blot on kitchen paper and cool slightly before serving.



Jack loved it, but a fairly messy meal for him! The fishcakes crumbled (not sure if it was just my preparation!) and got everywhere - but it was fun for him to chase it around and get it in his mouth! I made a few small ones for him and some larger ones for me, and there was plently left over... But as the recipe does not recommend reheating, you may want to only cook half of it and save the other half, unless you have a todder or 2 as well!

[~inbalance~]

I got this from my Spout Right book, pg 246 ( http://www.amazon.ca/Sprout-Right-Lianne-Phillipson-Webb/dp/0143173502 ) and tried making some last night.  Ended up being a hit with both boys so I thought I'd post.  It's from the toddler recipes, but it's equally great as a finger food for babies as well.  I'm sure if you wanted you could do all sorts of different veggies in it.  It's probably a good alternative as well if your LO isn't keen on meats.

2 carrots
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
handful fresh dilantro and/or parsley, chopped
3 cups mixed canned chickpeas, kidney beans, and adzuki beans
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups breadcrubs (you can substitute 1/2 cup breadcrumbs for 1/2 ground sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds)
2 to 3 eggs

1. In a food processor, pulse carrots, onion, garlic, and cilantro until finely chopped.  Add beans and olive oil and pulse until combined.
2. Add breadcrumbs and 2 eggs and combine thoroughly.  If mixture is too dry, add another egg.  Let sit for a few minutes.
3. Form into 24 small patties or sausage shapes.  Brush a nonstick grill or frying pan with olive oil; heat over medium heat.  cook patties about 5mins per side until golden brown, or bake at 350F for 15mins, turning once. 
Suitable for freezing.

I bet you could make cool shapes out of the patties as well to make it more fun. 

[Kimberlina]

BLW Pizza Toast!

I got this recipe from the BLW Cookbook, but returned it to the library today so this is just from memory! Very easy to do for lunch, and Jack just LOVES it! (American translation in italics)

Ingredients:
Slice of bread
Tomato puree (paste)
Grated cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice!


Toast / Grill one side of bread. On the un-toasted side, spread tomato puree (paste) & sprinkle with oregano or seasoning of your choice. Then top with grated cheese & any other toppings you desire! I add a few chopped red peppers, I put them under the cheese so they don't fall off so easily. Pop under the grill (broiler) until cheese melted. Cut into 4 and serve while warm!

[Kimberlina]

Another IDEA, if anything else!

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PUREES YOU BOUGHT/MADE BEFORE YOU DECIDED TO GO BLW?!

We're using them as a sauce for pasta/rice (quick and easy meal!) or a spread for toast!

[Kimberlina]

PANCAKES! (American-style!)

Jack LOVES pancakes! They're easy to make and you can let your creative side show, too! I recently posted the links to some lovely recipes on another thread, but thought they could be useful here, too!

~~~

I like American-style pancakes best, because they're fluffier and easier for LOs to eat! My dad's recipe is MIA, so I've been having to make due with some ones that I found on the net! (The website will let you switch from US measurements to metric, so don't be put off if it says "cups" and you haven't got any!)

*** This one is GORGEOUS, but calls for a bit more ingredients: Fluffy Pancakes
*** This one is just as good, and the ingredients are more readily available: Good Old-Fashioned Pancakes


Here's a few pointers on the perfect pancake (if you've not made American-style before!): (Tips for) Perfect Pancakes


And here is a list of translations from UK to American re: ingredients! Common Substitutions for American Ingredients 


~~~


I will sometimes pour Jack's pancakes into strips or small circles, but I LOVE making initials, mickey mouse heads, squiggles, etc. This guy may be able to give you some inspiration: Pancake Dad!

[Kimberlina]

Egg Free French Toast with Bananas

1 ripe banana
3 fl oz (around 1/3 cup) milk (you can use breastmilk/formula for younger babies, although using cow's milk in cooking for your baby is acceptable after 6 months of age, provided there is no family history of cow's milk allergy)
pinch cinnamon
drop vanilla essence
whole-wheat bread

Place all the ingredients (except the bread) into a food processor and blend well.
Dip in pieces of bread, making sure the mixture coats them well on both sides.
Fry in a little unsalted butter or oil over a high heat until golden.

(Originally from this website)

[Mrs Coops]

My kids LOVE sweet potato wedges I chop it into wedges (leave the skin on) heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toss the potato with a little extra virgin olive oil and season if you like, then roast for 25 minutes until browned and crisp. Both kids eat their body weight in the stuff

[Lemonthyme]

Here are a couple from my blog http://mamacook.blogspot.com/

Quiche / Frittata (1 serving for a 1 year old, possibly 2 servings for smaller babies on finger foods.)

Ingredients

1 egg
Approx 10g grated extra mature or mature cheddar
Approx 5g ham chopped into small pieces
Splash of full fat milk
Spray oil or a little unsalted butter, melted.

Method

Grease a ramekin; you can use spray oil for this or some melted butter.  Break and mix the egg in a bowl mixing in the other ingredients.  Pour the mixture into the greased ramekin.

Bake for approx 20 minutes at 200 degrees C.  It took 22 minutes in my oven but I would think it would depend on the size of your ramekin (as if it's of a narrower diameter, the mix will be deeper and take longer to cook.)

The mix souffles up as it cooks then sinks back a little as it cools.  Ideally put this in when you're using the oven for something else but it would taste fine cold so with a bit of forward planning, you could probably make lunch and tea at the same time.  I'd also be tempted to make a spare one for my work lunchbox sometime.

Potato Cakes - 6 months plus if accepting finger foods (or baby led weaners) - 1 portion for my hungry horace!

Ingredients

1 cold jacket potato (cooked)
A handful of the cheese of your choice, grated
1dsp chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and drained (optional).
Herbs of your choice (optional) chives or garlic chives would be good
Oil

Method

Scoop out the flesh of the potato and mash or pass through a potato ricer.  (I love potato ricers, I'm rubbish at mashed potato but they make it almost foolproof.)  Mix with the other ingredients apart from the oil.

Put some greaseproof or baking paper on a try and brush the greaseproof paper with the oil.  Form the mix into small cakes (and I mean small, think a 10p piece in diameter and about 2/3 cm thick).  Put on the tray and brush lightly with oil.

Store in the fridge until ready to cook.  Bake at 200 degrees C in a preheated oven for 15-20 mins (18 was perfect in my oven.)  Take out and allow to cool till at a safe temperature before serving.

[Lemonthyme]

Another one from my blog http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/05/spinach-and-feta-mini-muffins.html


Spinach and Feta Cheese Mini Muffins - makes approx 15 - ok for baby led weaners and probably 9 month old plus traditional weaners on finger foods (oh and Mummies, and Daddies...)


Ingredients

100g Frozen chopped spinach
2 eggs
4 tbsp milk
100g Feta cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
150g SR flour
A few grindings of nutmeg
Unsalted butter to grease the pan

Method

Either leave the spinach to defrost or if you're impatient, heat in the microwave gently until defrosted.  Cut the feta into small (approx 0.5cm) cubes.  Mix the eggs, milk, olive oil and cheese then mix in the spinach.  Melt the butter and brush a cupcake pan with it, or be fancy and use a silicon cupcake pan (no, it's not being really fancy really and I have to admit I formerly didn't see the point but after making savoury muffins and having them stick fast to the cupcake cases, I'm now a convert.  I just have to buy one now but in the meantime I'm using a traditional cupcake pan and greasing it.)

Mix the wet mix into the flour and nutmeg.  Do so until *just* combined.  The rule is with muffins that you don't overmix.  Spoon a desert spoonful into each hollow.  Bake for 15-17 mins et voila!  Just don't eat them all before your little one gets to them.

[creations]

Some more finger food ideas
melon cut into long strips/wedges and leave the skin on.  The skin gives LO something to hold onto while gumming down on the flesh.

avocado same, soft enough to mush in the mouth but the skin helps LO to pick it up.

toast, pitta bread or chapati cut into soldiers/fingers and can be topped with variety of things: melted cheese, houmous, home made tomato sauce or any of the purees you already have in the freezer (fruit, veg).

steamed asparagus is great, already the right shape for grasping in a little fist.  anyone worried about finger foods could remove the flower head as this is the softest part and can be bitten off in one go (then probably spat out) but the rest of the spear has long fibers which mean LO can munch and suck and unlikely to get a big chunk come off in their mouth.

[Lemonthyme]

I did try on healthy cookies but I never made it work that well.  I came up with some no added sugar muffin recipes, here are a couple of favourites:
http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/07/no-added-sugar-apple-and-sultana-mini.html
http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/05/restaurants.html

Let me know if you get the cookies to work.  I'd love to steal the recipe!