Need Recipes for 9 Mo Who Likes "Grown Up" Food and Not Baby Food

I use this website which has tons of information on every type of food you could think of. They also have great recipes as well.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Have Fun :)

He can eat whatever as long as you put it in the babyfood grinder or the blender. If he has a couple teeth, let him chew small bites.

Giving your baby what YOU eat + lots and lots of fats/infant specific nutrition (which you're doing) is the absolute best thing on the planet (as long as you're not starving) for not having a picky eater. Jarred Babyfood and even *worse* toddler food CREATES picky eaters. (Although table food is usually the WORST thing for weight gain, because it takes soooo much more of it to = formula or breastmilk, and it takes energy to digest it. So when you're trying to plump up baby, make sure that table food is ADDED to formula or breastmilk, instead of substituting).

Human brains "file" chemical signatures to = "food". Around the age of 2 any chem sigs that HAVEN'T gotten filed get a gag response. So as far as having a kid who'll "eat anything" you're doing things *exactly* right! Yay!

When you're cooking it yourself, he CAN eat all the things you are, just subtract and add. Instead of milk, add formula. When it's too spicy, just pull a small amount out BEFORE you add the 'heat' and stick it in a small pot. It's really not any "extra" work (in my experience) to have 2 pots going. Most in one, little in the other. Most in one, little in the other. Cream for mine in the beginning, formula for him in the end so I'm not cooking the nutrients out. Whereas I'd cook veggies crisp, I just let his cook longer so they soft &/or chew them up for him (I know, it sounds gross, but the enzymes in your saliva help babies a- digest the food, b- make their own enzymes, c- swallow, because saliva is "slippery" so it makes it easier for them to gum & swallow it.). The other option is "seperating" out the ingredients... EX) if you make yourself a turkey sammie... chew up some turkey for him, slice tomatoes into little cubes, mince lettuce up fine and stir together with mayonaise. Soups... pull out the solids and put them on a tray when he's at finger food stage, and put the soup part in a sippy cup or bottle.

When you're ordering out or eating out, just ask the staff. EVERYONE ON THE PLANET believes that THEIR food is "best" for babies. You'll make a LOT of friends for feeding your son "good" food. When you tell them it's for a baby so no stars, be prepared for BIG smiles, and even extra dishes brought out just for baby.

Know, though, that formula has a gazillion more calories & nutritional density than table food. (Try eating nothing but formula or breatmilk for a month and you'll need all new clothes several sizes bigger). Make sure that all the rest of the "tasting" and grownup food is AFTER he gets the majority of his nutrients from his formula.

Hi Jess,
Have you tried www.weelicious.com? Tons of yummy recipes for kids and she also has a section for infants, just click on the drop down menu for "recipes." I've tried about 8 of her recipes and they've been a hit in our home.

Hi mama-
How about pureed but still semi chunky soups? One of my favorites is zucchini soup. Cook some zucchini (either steam it on the stove or in the microwave). I like mine with a tsp of olive oil, garlic, onion, and mrs dash. Then, blend it with a mixture of veggie broth and water until it is the consistency you like. I use less liquid because I like chunkier soup. It's also great 2nd day, because the spices have time to sit in the soup. Lastly, top it with bacon crumbles. Since your baby is non dairy, skip the parmesan cheese sprinkles. I also tried one with a dollop of sour cream and some avocado slices on top. There is a non dairy sour cream....strange, but doesn't taste bad. Anyway, you can top with salsa, etc. It's a favorite for my hubby and I.
Other soups-- black bean, basque--cabbage, pintos, salsa, and veggie stock. I have found that you can sub veggie stock for just about anything, and skip the dairy for most items.
I also like to do rice...all kinds....
And fried barley. Boil barley until tender, then in a skillet, add salt and pepper or whichever seasoning you like, some garlic, an egg (or egg whites), some light soy sauce, and a few veggies like carrots or potatoes. Chop them really small so that they get super soft. If you want meat in it, add some ground turkey. The pieces are small enough for him to eat without choking on, and not so bad if he can't chew them all up. Small bites.
Granola-- you can make your own, and I know that my nephew, from the age of one, has loved granola. He like the one with nuts, so I had to chop them extra fine until he could really chew them. It's roasted oats, nuts and dried fruit, some honey to stick it together...google it for a recipe that you like.
Home made apple sauce, pear sauce....with cinnamon...clove...
Blend some carrots into your mashed potatoes. I just boil carrots and potatoes, drain the water, mash them, and add whatever non dairy liquid that you use to mash it together. A twist on potatoes. You can also do that with squash. Any veggie that gets soft enough.

Hope that helps some
Good luck!
-E. M

How about scrambled eggs mashed up really fine?
Does he breastfeed? You can make yogurt, ice cream out of breast milk.
Pretty much any fruit or veggies can be cooked/pureed.
Vegetarian refried beans (you can make them at home - just cook up the beans, add olive oil and any spices you want, like cumin, and mash them)
Pasta wheels with oil make great finger foods.

I really love brown rice and lentils. Here's one from Deborah Madison's 'Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone':

1.5 cups brown or green lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 carrot, finely diced
1 rib celery, finely diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Chopped parsley
*1 T garam masala (my own add-in. Delish!)

Put lentils in a soup pot, cover with 6 cups cold water and bring to boil. Skim off any foam that rises, then add onion, garlic, bay leaves, carrot, celery and 1/2 t salt. *Add in Garam Masala. Lower heat and simmer until tender (firm, not mushy), about 25 minutes. Strain and reserve water for soup stock if desired. Remove onion, bay leaves, garlic; taste for salt, season with pepper. Stir in the oil and a few drops of red wine vinegar to bring up the flavor. Garnish with parsley.(not for baby-- parsley garnish,that is, if you are using curly parsley. Drier than Italian and could be harder to swallow.)

I usually made a separate pot of rice, also seasoned well or cooked in stock. Then, both can go into a food mill. Simple whole food (protein and carb, with veggies) and very flavorful.

let him eat what you eat, minus the salt and sugar, and packaged foods. Let him have little soft chunks.. my daughter (same age) loves banana and avocado chunks, nice and fattening and I put egg yolks in her cereal with fruit every day. she will only eat meat with a bit of gravy, but a tiny bit because of the salt. she eats everything we do.

**Added** As interesting as chewing food for your baby and spitting it out to feed him, That would introduce alot more, like the bacteria in your mouth that causes cavities... blah.. thats pretty gross!

Here are some of the things I make for my 11month old..and I agree its hard to come up with new ideas.

zuchinni (in a pan with some unsalted butter)
black beans
shreaded cheese (tofu kind?)
meat in the crock pot (corned beef, pot roast) and scrape of as much sauce as I can
roasted potatos in the oven
pasta
ham (cut into cubes)
banana
cateloup
pork (oven roasted)
tortilla
good luck!

Sweet potato mash with cheese, broccoli and carrot. My son loves it. You could add some chicken or ham if you like too.

Also, pasta, cauliflower, broccoli and ham with cheese.

And for babies, white rice is fine, brown rice may be too hard for digestion. And wheat pasta isn't good for babies either, as of high gluten levels. Use plain durum pasta, made in Italy. They're gluten free.

Lots of babies LOVE spicy food - there's nothing wrong with it.

The no dairy is definitely more challenging to have them eat what you eat. On days you want a break from cooking, you may try looking at the vegan selections at places like Whole Foods or even try the other more varied baby food pouches from Ella and Plum Organics. They are definitely way more flavorful and varied than the standard jars. Plum also does training meals that you can find in the frozen section of Whole Foods, although not sure how many are milk-free but they list all on their site (my younger son had a milk allergy until he was 12 months).
http://www.plumorganics.com/index.php