Needing solids help...

[cristeen]

We're not veg, but he really doesn't seem to care for meat (and seems to be allergic to beef).  So I'm hoping I can get some good ideas here.  He's 16 mos and mostly ff at this point.  He's getting a little bit of BM when I can get him to drink it, which is maybe once/week. 

Restrictions:

We are grain-free, and I really prefer not to have them in the house (I have a hard time not eating them if they're in the house, and I'm the one that needs to avoid them).  Unfortunately right now one of the guaranteed foods he'll eat is toast. 
We are soy free.

He is dairy allergic.

The only beans I can reliably get him to eat are my baked beans - but the pure volume of sugar in that recipe makes me resist that.  All other beans so far get spat out, hummus is hit or miss. 

He will not eat avocado.  It winds up on the floor.

He won't eat leafy greens - or really anything green.

He won't drink coconut milk.

He loves fruit.

He'll eat anything that's orange, it seems. (citrus, sweet potato - but not if it's mushy, carrots, apricots, peaches, etc.)

He won't eat potato if it's soft - only if it's crispy (not mashed or baked, but will eat roasted or fried). 

He'll eat egg if it's cooked right (scrambled and cooked, but not scrambled in the pan; or over medium but not over hard). 

He seems quite texture driven - no mushy foods (soft potato, avocado, hard-cooked egg yolk), no pasty foods (pb, refried beans).  He likes crunchy (fried toast, apples), and things with chewable texture (citrus, egg). 

His mainstays right now are sourdough bread fried in olive or coconut oil (he doesn't care for the bread when it's soft), eggs and apples.  He ate almost an entire jar of home canned peaches today (2+ peaches for dinner with his toast) - I can't do that every day, but I can definitely add the home-canned fruits to his menu.

We're still working on cups and he's only interested in playing with straws.  The only things he'll willingly drink other than formula is coconut water or he drank the juice from the peaches today. 

I'm just really struggling with what to feed him at this point - without meat, dairy or even beans.  I'm more than happy to try different bean recipes to find one he likes if anyone has some that their kids love. 

[maciascl]

I forget what is ok at what ages, but what about sunflower butter or tahini? Other veggies like green beans or asparagus?

[kismetbaby]

I keep meaning to respond to this Cristeen.  Wow, that's a lot of restrictions, that's hard. I know, cuz we're in a similar boat. My DS seems to have some texture issues too.  Along with a picky, picky palette.

Have you tried goats milk?

Quinoa--so, so good. Protein, vitamins, gluten free and it can be added to anything. It makes a great morning porridge.

Coconut oil-- you can add this to whatever he'll eat, veg, toast, porridge, etc.

Will he eat oatmeal?  

I'll keep thinking on it for you!

[kismetbaby]

Have you tried Hemp milk?  I can't stand the stuff, but I know it is very good nutritionally and you might give it a try.

DS just surprised me today by eating some of my Lara bar.  The only ingredients were dates, peanuts and salt.  (But there are other flavors without the peanuts).  I was excited by that and I know that Lara bars aren't hard to make at home either.  But the store ones are vegan and gluten free.

With the quinoa you could cook it up into little fritters maybe with some egg to hold it together.

How about seaweed. DS will eat these roasted seaweed snacks from TJs. He won't eat anything else green, but that stuff he inhales. . .and its crispy so your guy might like it.