Protein finger foods

[jessmum46]

So DS has decided spoons are not the way forwards yoghurt, cereal, rice pudding - yes, but anything at all dinner-like then turns his head away and shuts his mouth.  He is completely happy to feed himself and pretty dexterous so not concerned about him not eating, just a bit at sea with ideas for healthy balanced meals without a spoon!  I'm not really into BLW, or haven't been but think I may need to be.....

We already do pieces of fruit, tomato, celery, cucumber, cubes of cheese, dried fruits, bread/toast sometimes with cheese spread on, rice crackers.....so not much protein really.  Can I have your thoughts on how to serve meats/eggs etc??  I've seen the spoon refusal thread and will browse the BLW thread too

[cath~]

For eggs you can make them into an omlette and cut into strips. 

Or these are really good, very quick and easy, and you can change the fillings to whatever you have to hand:
http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/mini-pea-and-feta-frittatas-for-babies.html
eg I have swapped the pea and feta for sweetcorn, grated cheddar and chopped tomatoes. 

These are also similar but have some pieces of chopped bread in them too:
http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/courgette-and-feta-bites-for-babies-and.html

For meat, you could just give eg small pieces of roasted chicken.

My two both love these turkey meat balls/loaves:
http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/turkey-mini-meatloaves-for-babies-and.html

(again, very quick an easy to make, and freeze well)

I make them loads.  If he gets over his spoon aversion they go very well with a tomato (and veg) sauce, and some cous cous or pasta.

A tuna sandwich also goes down a treat.

Or you could make fish cakes
eg http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/salmon-and-spinach-fishcakes-for-babies.html

As you can tell, I quite like this blog - there are loads of other good ideas on it too!

[TB9]

DD2 loved loved loved hummus (and still does!)

Meats for her were best from a soup or stew, so that it wasn't so tough.  She also liked flaked salmon with mayo on toast, or with crackers for scooping...most times she just scooped the salmon right off the bread and jammed it into her mouth (which is what she still does at 2yo, now that I think about it, hahaha)

[M and N's Mom]

Cooked chickpeas are soft and a good size to pick up. DD liked them as a toddler.

[weaver]

Eggy bread is always a winner

Also I think the advice on peanuts is to give them now, so if you're happy to do that, peanut butter on cracker could be good. Or any other nut butter really.

Cubes of cheese or tofu.

Peas and beans (not baked beans! borlottis, butter beans, chick peas) are fun picking up practice. 

Sausages  - he can just pick em up and chew on them.

Those little fruity rice cakes spread with cream cheese make a nice snack too. 

Falafels.

[zeri]

we did shelled edamame beans, patties made with quinoa, omelette or scrambled eggs....

[creations]

not baked beans!

I've given DS baked beans when he was younger, there are some with low sugar and sodium, depends how much they are likely to eat in one sitting really. I always made sure there was no other salt in the other meals and only served baked beans from a can rarely.

bean or lentil (mini) burgers, I used to make in batches and freeze them interwoven with baking paper so I could lift out a few at a time. DS only really liked them if they were seasoned with herbs and spices otherwise they were too bland.

home made pate with fully cooked livers, no salt (and do I need to say no alcohol?). Really easy to make, freeze in in tubs or ramekins, spread on toast or crackers. My DS liked to eat it just in cubes actually!

slow roast meats such as pulled pork or lamb shank are lovely and soft (just watch recipes for salt and sugar again)

home made fish fingers. if you want them long and rectangular start with a fillet and slice it to shape. If you aren't bothered by the shape then I now make fish-bites, I buy the fish in packs prepared for fish pie and freeze it in small bags of a few pieces in each bag, this way you get a variety of fish.  I coat in whizzed cracker crumbs as they are pre seasoned and give a crunchy outside without being heavy on the coating.

sprats, if you can get hold of them, fried, served whole. The bones are a great source of calcium and because they are super tiny and also fried crunchy there should be no problem with them...or if you are concerned leave those for a few months.

Or just a small serving of whatever meat/protein you are having. Longish strips or hunks of meat may be more easy to pick up and keep hold of for gumming and sucking.

[jessmum46]

Sorry I forgot to come back and say thank you for the great ideas! 

B is still not keen on eating from a spoon unless it's something sweet so we've been experimenting.  I made the frittatas - thanks Cath he liked those the first time but less so the next, but they were so easy I'll try them again.  Peanut butter or cream cheese on bread/toast/crackers is going down well, as are pieces of sausage.  He dived at a piece of quiche I was eating the other day and devoured it, so I may try to come up with a low-salt version of that for him.  Also had great success with some fish cakes today which DD also loved (kind of adapted from a recipe I found elsewhere):

250g mashed potato
250g flaked fish (I used cod as it's what I had but I guess any would work)
Squeeze of lemon juice
Teaspoon of sweet chilli sauce
About 30g or so grated cheese
An egg

All mixed together, shaped into about 8 fish cakes and rolled in crushed up rice crispies (breadcrumbs  would perhaps have been better but used what I had!) and fried in a little sunflower oil.  Very yummy and plenty of protein .

[weaver]

Quote from: weaver on March 11, 2015, 13:22:38 PM

    not baked beans!

I've given DS baked beans when he was younger, there are some with low sugar and sodium, depends how much they are likely to eat in one sitting really. I always made sure there was no other salt in the other meals and only served baked beans from a can rarely.

I wasn't issuing a blanket objection to baked beans we eat them all the time, just underlining that I meant other forms of bean, kidney beans, etc etc

Katherine, really don't fret about him not liking the spoon.  LO1 never tried it, and LO2 refused point blank, both are absolutely fine, and both are veggie to boot, so no meat or fish but still healthy.   Sounds like he's very keen to eat lots of things, which is great.

If you have a silicon muffin tin, or just an ordinary muffin tin with paper cases, you can make 'pastry free' quiche, which is just whatever you want (peas, grated cheese, finely chopped/minced spinach, small pieces of meat or fish maybe) in a egg mixture like you'd do for a quiche.  Super quick and easy. 

Omelettes I found depend very much on the texture to gain acceptance - mine like the omelette folded in half and cooked a little bit extra to make it firm.  Then cut in strips for easy handling.

For frittatas, I've only recently hit on the trick of roasting too much veg when I do roast veg and then doing a frittata a few days later - sweet potato frittata is really yummy!

[creations]

mine like the omelette folded in half and cooked a little bit extra to make it firm.

Same here. I use one of those tiny one-egg pans which makes a perfect omelet in seconds.  I used to add a tiny bit of ketchup to the beaten egg before frying, it was the only way DS would eat it. It looked the same but he knew on the first bite and either continued if it was in there or didn't if it wasn't.

[Domestic Engineer]

Mine eats scrambled eggs every morning - I microwave them, so it's like one big fluffy piece, then cut it into bites with a fork. Sometimes he eats with his fingers, sometimes with a fork. (Have you tried letting your son stab food with a fork for himself? Mine eats everything with a fork but still can't manage a spoon.)

Quesadillas are a lunchtime staple in our house. Just cut into wedges - perfect finger food.

For dinner, you can try letting him eat meat off of the bone. DS loves to eat chicken or pork chops off of the bone, especially if he gets a sauce to dip. You have to watch with a chicken bone to make sure he doesn't take a bite of any chokey bits, but I've never had that happen. When we roast a whole chicken, the part of the wing that's like a mini-drumstick is always for Henry.

Finally, you can try smoothies for liquid protein. You can use just yogurt and ice since you're probably not ready for cows milk. Strawberries puree up really smooth without much liquid needed. He might be old enough to manage something thick through a straw, though it could take a while to catch on. I started by putting my finger over the straw, then putting the bottom in his mouth to help him get the idea.