AND WE'RE BACK! A Catch up and some meal ideas

I've been struggling with a Babe who all of a sudden decided that the fantastic nap routine she FINALLY got on was NO GOOD and that she much rather nap on the go, which has meant that between that and 2 trips to Canada in the last couple of months I haven't had much time to sit down and post anything here. 

Over the past couple of months (from 10-12 months) I can't say that I have noticed any big changes in  MiniMe's approach to eating, her likes and dislikes, or her appetite.  She is still excited by food more often than not and even on the days when she isn't feeling well she will still eat most of what we are offering her.  

At 10.5 months her bottom 2 teeth FINALLY came through and we have noticed that she is trying to rip stuff like bread into smaller bites using them, but without the top guys it is still pretty difficult.  She definitely prefers her food in smaller bite-sized pieces. Every day I will offer her something in a bigger piece but she leaves it until I cut it up smaller (strips of chicken, toast, banana...anything).  The bite sized pieces I offer her are still large enough that she needs to gum them though. 

While we were away visiting family in Canada we ate out a lot and most places were very accommodating making us veggies without salt, sweet potato fries without salt, bringing a side of toast and peanut butter, or an extra scrambled egg.  She helped things, of course, with her big smiles and goo goo eyes.  I often ordered something that we could share and then a side of something else to share because the KIDS menus just weren't appealing. 

We are back home now, trying to get over the 2nd lot of jet lag and resume normal service.  Here are a few things we have had over the past couple of weeks to offer some inspiration. 

Breakfast: Corn Flakes softened in milk, banana and peanut butter and jam bread roll ups

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg with cheese, blueberry porridge bar and yogurt

Brunch: French Toast, scrambled egg, beans and yogurt

Snack: Peanut Butter with mashed banana (slices of banana and a coffee for mum) 

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese and broccoli 

I cut the spaghetti strands in thirds so they were easier to schlurp up 

Dinner: Beans, avocado and cheese

Dinner:  Pizza with cheese,ham and mushrooms (I make my own dough so there is no salt) 

Lunch: Minestrone Soup with Alphabet pasta and hummus bread roll ups 

10 month meal ideas

At 10 months MiniMe is still toothless! While this hasn't really stopped her from happily gumming most foods there are still some things that I am just too nervous to offer her.  One example is larger pieces of meat.  I shred pork and chicken for her, and crumble up mince and sausages but I just am not ready to give her larger pieces, yet.  I have also noticed that she isn't very good with gumming toast anymore. I don't know if it is because she is so used to chewing and swallowing that she gets impatient with things that take more work to break down.

Here are a selection of meals we have shared over the last few weeks.  We continue to combination feed so at breakfast I often offer her some sort of cereal and then fruit she can pick up and feed herself.  

Spring veg soup with giant couscous and cheese. Courgette, asparagus, peas, spinach  and green onions cooked in veg broth with giant couscous.

Weetabix with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.  MiniMe loves berries, we tend to have them every morning.

Toasted bagel with almon butter, banana, kiwi and blueberries (and Cheerios). Surprisingly, she finds toasted bagels much easier to eat than regular toast.  Maybe because bagels are softer? 

Baked Potatoes with baked beans and grated cheese.  She ate the cheese waiting for the beans and potato to cool off. Grated cheese, and beans for that matter, is great for practicing the pincer grip.  

Cream of Wheat cereal (like Ready Brek in the uk but wheat instead of oats) with blueberries and banana. 

Chicken curry with sweet potatoes and peas, rice and naan.  I shredded the chicken up to make it easier for MiniMe to gum and she devoured the lot.