Finger food ideas for 14 month old?

[PassTheCremeEggs]

14 month old has decided she only wants to feed herself now which is fine, but trouble is I am drawing a blank on things to give her for lunch/supper and need ideas!

Things she loves are things like omelette because they're easy to eat - she only has five teeth (all at front) so chewing isn't that easy! What other things can I give her that are a similar consistency?? I have the Annabel Karmel book which I fondly imagine myself using but in reality I'm not going to spend hours making salmon footballs.... Ideas for quick, easy and relatively healthy things please!

I would say pretty much anything at that age. My 14 month DS is the same. He's currently eating pasta bolognaise partly with spoon and mostly with his hands! He has very few teeth too so I either use small pasta or chop it up. It's not as messy as you think, just keep the sauces etc fairly thick.

DS was an epic spoon refuser and fed himself from 8 months (with limited success and a lot of mess on occasions!). He's now 22 months and a brilliant eater so first of all, don't worry!

Some ideas that she should be able to cope with with limited teeth...

Pancakes - fill or top with cheese, ham, spinach, cream cheese, banana, grated apple, whatever and cut into strips

Scones - dead easy to make and can be made with cheese or veg and topped with hummus or cream cheese

Pitta fingers, crumpet fingers

Egg pockets - google for recipe

Fish goujons - either cut a bit off fish if you're cooking it for yourself and coat in olive oil and breadcrumbs, or m&s do ones with no additives (chicken too)

If you have more time on your hands, mini burgers are great. There are few things I won't make into a burger! Beef mince, lamb mince, pork mince, turkey, chicken... Just add herbs, egg, maybe some grated cheese and tomato paste for red meat ones and grated apple for white meats

Rice balls (made with risotto rice) also good, along with potato wedges

There is an amazing book called the baby led weaning cook book that has lots more ideas.

Hope that helps!

Great ideas bunting! My dd is 15 months and loves strips of red pepper, cucumber and cheese. She also likes pasta twirls with cream cheese, maybe with tuna mixed in or tomato sauce too.

Btw I have ripped up and thrown away Annabel Fucking Karmel and her shit bollocks book.

My 15mo loves any type of muffin so I make batches of fruit or veg mini muffins and freeze them. Theres nothing I won't stick in a muffin :) Love the scone ideas too.

Oh, bubble and squeak balls with Sunday leftovers are popular too.

Try chicken in a nice sauce with rice

Lasagne

Any pasta dish

Wedges and roast veg

My DS only has 6 teeth but he can chew just fine with his gums. The only things I don't give him are grapes, cherry tomatoes and carrots (too paranoid about choking). Otherwise he eats whatever we eat.

Try the BLW recipe book. Lots of great recipes

How could I forget pasta twirls googie!

DS bloody loves them with pesto (his record is 62

Also second englishgirls muffin tip.

I also forgot falafel (easier than you'd think) and courgette fritters (grated courgette in a pancake mix).

My DS was a complete spoon refuser so anything was finger food in our house, korma and rice, roast dinner, fish pie, really anything.

Have you had a look at the babyled weaning recipes? I borrowed this book from our library when I needed a bit of inspiration

Pasta is always a good one or toast with scrambled egg/ beans. This does mean you have to load spoons for her though. Sandwiches on soft bread can be gum chewed quite effectively!

Yogurt on a spoon for her to feed herself.

Soft fruit like strawberries, or roasted veg- pepper strips, cherry toms etc.

I used to give dd what we had and she would play with it/ chuck it on the floor/ eat a small amount. As long as it's appropriate ie not too spicy, or salty etc then it should be fine.

Englishgirl, the muffins sound like a great idea - what's your recipe?

Lovely stuff, thanks everyone! It would definitely be easier if we all ate together but DH and I don't eat until about 8, long after she's in bed! I'll start

Stupid phone...I'll start cooking earlier for us all and keeping ours back, or keeping some of our supper for her lunch the next day.

For tea I cook big batches of bolognaise, cheese sauce, veg, etc and freeze (those Annabel Carmel ice cube trays have come in useful for something!), i also freeze chicken/fish goujons, mini burgers etc. Then all I need to do is cook pasta/rice etc. Lunch we usually have together (scrambled eggs, sandwich, etc). Seems to work ok.

DH and I used to eat late but once the DC started eating I had tea with them and DH eats when he gets home. He works pretty erratic hours so I prefer it this way.

bear there was a great Hugh Fearnley-whatsisname spread on savoury muffins in the Guardian last year. I'm sure it would come up if you googled it (sorry, haven't worked out how to link!). They're yummy!

We also don't eat at the same time as DS, apart from weekend brunch. I typically save some of our evening meal or adapt what I'm cooking (ie I'll make burgers for DS if I'm cooking with mince and put them in the fridge for the next day). Has become second nature.

Now that he's older, I'm also less worried about the occasional pre-prepared thing that we can all eat, such as quiche or (whisper) pizza.

Thanks everyone you've given me some great ideas. Just needed a bit of inspiration!

bear it was the HFW recipe I used originally but I just make it up now. Muffins are very forgiving they don't need exact measurements. As an aside I use a silicone mini muffin tray from poundworld and its as good as an expensive bakeware I've owned.

Thanks EnglishGirl, I'll give them a try!

Ds loves sandwiches - either cheese, ham, egg or tuna - cut into little strips. I also give him some chopped tomato and cucumber pieces and let him feed himself (he is 13 months).

If you're looking for something really easy then hipp organic do a lasagne which is actually little pasta pieces in the sauce and I can tip them onto the tray for him and he loves eating it with his fingers!