what do you think about my lo's eating?

[zelda]

my lo (14mo) pretty much only eats finger foods.  this, combined with my being a horrible cook and his refusal to eat 'mixed' food and sauces, is making life a bit difficult.  luckily and unluckily for me, he doesn't like a lot of cooked/prepared food.  i mean that meal prep is easy, but we don't have a lot of variety in our plan.

does anyone have suggestions for easy, healthy finger foods?  evidently these are the rules right now:
1) crispy is preferred but not a must
2) anything that goes on a spoon is v. bad
3) anything remotely mushy, also bad
4) no sauce and nothing hidden

these are the things he eats:
BREADS - homemade fruit and veggie muffins w/o sugar, toast, swedish bread, cheerios, whole-wheat or egg pasta and rice cakes.  where i live, there are no other cereals without sugar.
FRUITS AND VEGGIES - most fruits, dried fruit, broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper and green beans.  also accepts carrot salad from dh but generally rejects everything orange.
PROTEINS - almost everything.  commercial fish sticks.  loves eggs.  usually eats cheese and always drinks his milk.  yoghurt recently rejected.

i know it doesn't sound so horrible, but lo also has the tendency to drop foods that he eats too often.  *sigh*

any and all tips deeply appreciated.

[Sylvia.]

well i guess there is really no way to make ds eat, my dd is similar and i do worry, have you tried avocado, corn on the cob, sultanas, cucumber, does ds eat with you or alone, my dd love fried tomatoes, i just get a whole tomato and barbecue, she also loves fried mushrooms and asian greens, i have not been able to feed dd for months and months, oh the other thing i do with dd is give her a meat done, t-bone steak, lamb shank, chicken drum stick .... and leave a small amount of meat on eat, dd loves this most of the time, all the best

[zelda]

hi russyl, thanks for answering. 

avocados are neither here nor there.  he might eat a piece and then reject the rest.  raisins and prunes are always ok, corn sometimes ok but he finds it hard to pick up.  cucumber and tomatoes are no-gos.  i have actually never seen anyone actively reject tomatoes to the degree that lo does. 

we have never tried mushrooms, so that's a good idea.  do you fry them together with the asian greens or do you give them separately?

[Sylvia.]

separately, with the mushrooms i slice then and fry them in olive oil, i add crushed garlic, we love all love this, have you tried rice, dd just loves rice, try fried rice add peas very thin strips of carrot ....... i think it is just a stage, try not to worry, easier said than done, i still worry all the time