As it turns out, watermelon is a terrific finger food for my kids. When they hold things, they tend to squeeze them really hard so foods like banana and avocado won't work as finger food. Well, watermelon is quite fibrous and doesn't yield much when grasped by a baby hand. However, the babies can still bite and chew the watermelon, even without teeth. Finding more finger foods has been a goal of mine lately so I was pretty excited with this discovery.
Lucky for me, watermelon is very much in season and I picked one up at the grocery store. $5 each - regardless of the size. Naturally, I picked the biggest one I could find. And because it was so enormous, I made Billy chop it up - HOLY SH!T. I have enough watermelon to feed the twins until Christmas. I have some in the fridge and three very large, very full freezer bags in the freezer.
And of course, I don't even like watermelon. Figures.
On that note, any other finger food suggestions? My biggest issues are things that are too small for Sebastian to pick up (for example: he is really bad with Cheerios) and things that are too squishy. I have used the "roll it in some cereal dust" idea and this has helped but does not turn a squishy food into a non-squishy food. Big winners so far (in addition to watermelon) are bagels, croissants, sweet potato fries (when I don't burn them), Arrowroot biscuits, Club crackers and strawberry quarters. Note the overabundance of carbs on this list. Sorry, Dr. Atkins.
I didnt even know you could freeze watermelon! I bet the kids got full of juice though.
ReplyDeleteWe got a lot of use out of these feeders for mushier foods: http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Fresh-Food-Feeder-Pack/dp/B000GK5XY2
ReplyDeletePerhaps this'll help you expand your repertoire, although you've already got a pretty wide selection!
Cereal bars instead of yogurt sometimes for breakfast. I agree about the "rolling" business - never worked for us. I didn't realize they had never had watermelon. Can you freeze it? Hmm....
ReplyDeletemore carbs: have you tried different shaped pasta? Or the Gerber puffs/wagon wheels?
ReplyDeleteHow about diced carrots that are cooked so they aren't a choking hazard, but not too much so they're not just squish..?
Watermelon is awesome. I can't wait for the twins to be able to eat more stuff.
ReplyDeleteI just steamed the snot out of vegetables, too. Carrot, parsnips, green beans, broccoli florets, sweet potato strips, squash pieces, even apples slices baked down with a touch of cinnamon and brown sugar. Peas are really good when they get better at the small stuff. I used to have them eating so well...now I feel like we have spiraled down to chicken nuggets and pasta....sigh....
ReplyDeleteMy nephew loves just about everything you put in front of him and some of his favs are/were: graham crackers, Gerber puffs, the 'feed bag' stuffed with frozen apples, mangoes, bananas, etc. were AMAZING esp for teething!! Blueberries are a bit hit, his fav food now! Pieces of Cinnamon Raisin bread. Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteMy guys also loved the variety of pasta shapes and soft cooked vegetables. What about frozen fruit? My two love frozen raspberries, blueberries, and cherries (cut into quarters)- less squishy when they're frozen, but can get messy as they start to defrost. (They usually eat them in the buff.) Also, beans are a favorite- black beans, red beans, chickpeas, etc.- and olives. Good luck!
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