Good protein sources and green veggies for toothless 10 mo?

[mambera]

So I'm a little worried about lack of variety in my LO's diet.

She is very good with solids. I have a supply issue so I can't count on her getting everything she needs from BM. (Pre-solids I made about 24 oz per day and she needed about 30, so would get 5-7 oz formula. Now I think it's more like 16-20 oz BM, and she will sometimes get 2-3 oz formula but won't take more.)

No teeth so she's still on mushy food. Her main protein sources are egg yolks, brown rice/lentil porridge, and strained whole yogurt. Sometimes a little fish (salmon or soft-fleshed white fillet like sole). Green veggies are mostly spinach and broccoli bc those are easy to cook with the porridge, couscous, potatoes, etc.

We don't eat much meat at home (DH doesn't eat red meat) so I'm not experienced with cooking it.

I feel like I am feeding her the same foods over and over, and I am worried about protein and iron (I'm somewhat anemic). Her diet is mostly

egg yolks
fish (~1x/week or maybe less)
brown rice/lentil porridge
yogurt

couscous (whole wheat)
potatoes
sweet potatoes
acorn squash
green peas

avocado
olive oil

spinach
broccoli

apples
pears
bananas
oranges
strawberries


Suggestions welcome!

[Chamomile Girl]

My LO loves soft tofu. I just give it to him in cubes, and it pretty much disintigrates once in his mouth. Hummus is another favorite here, which has both iron and protein. Any beans actually will give you both of those.

[colsxjack]

Your LO is getting a very good and balanced diet in my opinion.
She is getting protein, vitamins and nutrients from the fish, eggs, yogurt and grains. She is getting healthy fats in the avocado, olive oil, fish and yogurt.
She is getting a variety of colours of fruits and vegetables which will give her a wider variety of vitamins and nutrients.

You do not have to feed her red meats if you don't want to have them. Chickpeas and lentils have high amounts of iron. Serve the lentils with foods that help increase intake of iron absorption and you can easily get iron from vegetable and grain sources. Broccoli, tomatoes, cantaloupe, oranges and strawberries are examples of foods which help increase iron absorption.

The only thing I could see you adding is some blue/purple fruits and vegetables such as blueberries. Try to see her as eating from the rainbow. You can't go wrong if she has a variety of colours that have her eating from the rainbow.

As for teeth. Babies do not use their teeth to chew until they get molars. The baby teeth are only good for biting. Your DD can eat foods that are cooked until soft enough to bite but still finger foods and she will "chew" them with her gums and suck on them and stuff.

[Carhootel]

my lo loves tofu as well, and hummus. I had good luck lately with shepherd's pie for dinner - I put peas in with the mashed potatoes on top and then the bottom was ground beef (we're trying to get iron in too) and carrots and onions all chopped up and sauteed. It was delicious and SUCH a popular food for ds

[Holiztic]

That's an awesome diet and exactly what my DS was eating at 10 months (though he had a couple teeth)

Keep up the good work, mama!

I personally do not recommend tofu/soy for anyone, especially a baby! Estrogenic, goitrogenic... I know there is debate on this topic, so I am voicing my personal feelings and I am not trying to engender argument!!

[Abraisme]

Beans are a good suggestion as well.. Also, if you cook everything in cast-iron it should put enough iron into the food to compensate (if you're worried). All in all it sounds like your LO is eating perfectly!

[MamaPhD]

Another tofu lover lives in my house! You can give chicken (if you don't want red meat). My DD ate a whole chunk of grilled lamb (yes I cut it up into tiny pieces!) when she was 9mo and had no teeth. I gave her a piece kinda as a joke and voila, she loved it! At 16 mo, she still only has 6 teeth in the front and gums most everything, including steak.

[Pookietooth]

She seems like she eats a lot to me - at that age my ds would only eat a few foods, which was quite distressing to me at the time. I am assuming you are working outside the home and are providing your own milk along with solids? I would try pretty much anything you are eating, with the exception of choking hazards (like raw veggies or hard fruit, hot dogs, etc.). If your care provider knows about baby-led weaning it would be helpful.
You can try turkey too -- ground turkey shaped into little mini meatloaves or tiny cut up pieces of turkey breast meat.
Also, kale chips can be yummy and easy to chew -- just toast some kale in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Coat it with oil or salad dressing first to make it tastier.
You can try freeze dried fruit, available at Trader Joe's. It kind of dissolves in the mouth.

[mambera]

Tofu... You give it uncooked? I never know what to do with tofu and DH always hates whatever I try. I guess I could give her some chunks of raw tofu. It doesn't seem very appealing though.

Beans... She likes hummus, I can give that more often. Am I stupid to worry about BPA in canned beans? I guess I am overthinking it.

Our food... We eat rather spicy, mostly vegetarian food. She likes spicy but I don't want to overload her. Plus I'm not sure she can chew most of what we eat.

Chicken... Can she chew chicken with no teeth? I'm a bit wary of ground meat, I don't eat it myself. I feel like, who knows what else went through that grinder. Can you tell I'm a little OCD about food?

Kale chips... I love that idea! I am always looking for alternative dark green leafies (besides spinach) for us too, I never know what to do with them though. DH hates boiled greens. I am definitely going to try this.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

[jillmamma]

My kids liked to eat shredded cheese at that age too as a finger food. Or cook a chicken breast and shred it finely.

What about green beans? Cut into small pieces and cooked well that would make good finger foods too. Or peas? My kids loved peas too at that age and would just pick them up one at a time and use their gums to mash them in their mouths.

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by mambera

Tofu... You give it uncooked? I never know what to do with tofu and DH always hates whatever I try. I guess I could give her some chunks of raw tofu. It doesn't seem very appealing though.

DD (10 months) loves raw tofu, but I definitely don't. Usually if I cook a pound of tofu, I'll leave a bit uncooked to give her, since she seems to prefer it raw.

I was never a big fan of tofu, either, until I started deep-frying it. Just cut in cubes, drop in hot oil and fry until they're chewy (or even until they're crispy). Not terribly low-calorie or low-fat, but quite delicious! I just stir the fried tofu into whatever I'm cooking: curries, spaghetti sauce, stirfry, whatever. DH loves it (and he never liked tofu much either).

You can also make baked tofu: cut in thick (1/2 inch) slices, marinate it in a strong marinade overnight, then bake at 250 degrees for a LONG time (think 1.5-2 hours), flipping it every 1/2 hour, until it's dense and chewy.

One other thing you should try: go to an Asian imports store, if you have one in your area, and see if you can get your hands on some pressed tofu. This stuff is much denser and meatier than American grocery-store tofu, and holds its shape in food much better.

Beans... She likes hummus, I can give that more often. Am I stupid to worry about BPA in canned beans? I guess I am overthinking it.

Not stupid! But solvable. What I've read about BPA in cans suggests that simply rinsing canned foods in cold water before cooking will solve the problem. DD loves hummus, too.

Our food... We eat rather spicy, mostly vegetarian food. She likes spicy but I don't want to overload her. Plus I'm not sure she can chew most of what we eat.

I'm always surprised at how much DD likes spicy food, too! I'd follow her lead on both spice and chewing, if I were you. She'll tell you if it's too much, and if she can't chew it, she'll just spit it out. IME, most cooked vegetables and beans are perfectly reasonable for DD to eat.

Kale chips... I love that idea! I am always looking for alternative dark green leafies (besides spinach) for us too, I never know what to do with them though. DH hates boiled greens.

You could try slipping spinach/kale/other greens into foods like lasagna, spinach pies, curries, soups, or dishes like saag paneer. DD loves creamed spinach.

Here are the main protein sources that DD likes:

• full-fat yogurt mixed with pureed fruit (cheaper and healthier than the sugary baby yogurts). We like any fruit for this purpose, but apricots are particularly high in iron: if you soak a few dried apricots in hot water for 1/2 hour, then puree in a blender, you can freeze the puree in ice-cube trays and then just mix one cube with a few tablespoons of plain yogurt. Helps sweeten the yogurt, and also adds a good punch of vitamins & iron.
• cheese (cubed or shredded)
• black beans and garbanzo beans (I usually cook dried beans, but well-rinsed canned beans are ok too) in curries, soups, quesadillas, whatever
• Nutrela soy chunks (boiled and rinsed) - I mix these into burritos, spaghetti sauce, etc.
• scrambled eggs

As for green veggies, her favorites are:

• frozen peas
• steamed green beans, cut in small pieces
• broccoli (I sprinkle Parmesan on top - yum!)
• creamed spinach
• kale (I sautee this sometimes with a little blue cheese)

Consider fresh herbs as a source of vitamins/minerals, too: parsley, basil, mint and cilantro are all good green vegetables and can be added to all sorts of things to improve their flavor and nutritional content. One of DD's first foods was pureed green beans with fresh mint. Some folks also up the iron by using seaweed flakes, though we haven't tried that yet (DH hates seaweed). That reminds me, I was going to try DD on some nori. I'll let you know how that goes!

[firewoman]

Beans, beans, beans, beans all kinds. Better than tofu, IMO.

[Anna's Lovey]

A that age my lo loved mayonnaise baked chicken.
season some mayonnaise with a seasoning blend and some salt and rub the mixture over chicken thighs (bone-in and skin-on tastes best). Place on a foil-line roasting pan and bake at 400, covered in foil for the about 20 mins, and then uncovered for about 45 minutes--until light brown on the top. You can even rub add some thickly chunked carrots and potatoes to the mixture for a complete meal. The chicken thighs come out tender and juicy. I used to cut the chicken into tiny bits and then squash it a little bit before feeding it to my lo. She loved It!

As for veggies, I'd suggest just trying every veggie in the supermarket to see what your lo will eat. Try boiling veggies in chicken broth if your baby is picky about flavor (mine is).

I second the bean idea. My toddler loves kidney beans and white beans.

Also, little cheese cubes. my lo ate a lot of cheese at that age.

Another good option is soups. Boil some kind of meat (pork beef or chicken) for the stock and then add sauted vegetables(carrots, onions, bell peppers) and a handful of grain (pasta, barley) and some cubed potatoes. You can even add cabbage. My lo loved soup broth at that age. You can make a big pot and keep it in the fridge for a few days.

Good luck!

[AndtheStars]

I started adding a Tb or so of creamy almond butter to most of my DS's (8 mos) soft foods. A TB in his yogurt, a TB in sweet potatoes, a TB in oatmeal/cereal in the morning. I know this won't work for nut sensitive LO's but he seems to like it and it gives a good boost of healthy fat and protein to whatever he's eating.

For those of you that don't like usual preparations of kale/collards/greens, I heat two TBs of olive oil in a big saute pan, turn to med/med high and throw in chopped kale. I toss it around for about 15 minutes or so and then add chopped sundried tomatoes, chopped garlic, little sea salt and pepper. Cook for another 10 mins or so until reduced. The kale gets chewy, not mushy and the garlic and tomatoes cut the bitterness. My DH and I love this! I imagine that LO's would like it too if it was blended. The kale might be a choking hazard off the stove.

OP, I think that you're doing fine with the foods you're offering. I think that food and flavor is such a novelty to LO's that they don't notice if they eat the same thing 5 days in a row.

[cheryllynn]

I also have an adventurous 10 month old eater.

So you know my preferences, I am not going to use soy in any form as someone else mentioned (high in estrogen, hard on thyroid plus the soy in this country is mostly genetically modified).
I also avoid: corn & peas, cow dairy including cheese

Here's how I cook chicken:
bake chicken breast, cut up into smaller pieces, place in food processor with low sodium chicken broth (or make own chicken stock), steamed carrots, potatoes and puree.

In pot on stove, I add bone in chicken thighs and cook until tender. Cut meat into small pieces, use water from cooking as liquid, add veggies like steamed carrots or cooked squash or cooked green beans, we've even added sauteed onion or garlic. Puree.

Tonight I am going to add a bit of curry as a spice in her chicken dish and yes I'm going to taste first!

I am purchasing a pressure cooker so that I can cook my own beans so that we don't have to deal with either the BPA or other chemicals in cans plus the high sodium content in canned beans.

I took a pressure cooker class and all the meat took about 15 minutes to cook and was tremendously tender, just delicious. More on pressure cooking at http://www.missvickie.com/

I bought a sirloin steak, broiled it until medium well which is when you cut open the steak it is very pale pink in the middle. Cut into small pieces, add to food processor with low sodium beef stock. The steak doesn't need to be fancy-cooked as it's just a means to cook it in order to cut it up and then puree it.

When I started feeling like I was in a rut cooking, I started looking at different spices and have added tumeric, thyme, coriander, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon.

ETA: I am in a state where I can purchase raw milk and have located a goat dairy farmer which I am very excited to meet soon.