Quick lunches for 9/10 month old?

[OhDeer24]

My little girl is 9.5 months and I am struggling big time on what to feed her. She loves egg and cheese so she has some cheesy scrambled egg most days. She likes to munch a strawberry and blueberries, and I also give her pasta with a pouch veggie puree as a sauce. She used to eat toast with smashed avo/peanut butter but she’s not a fan of this anymore. I tend to feed her little bits of whatever is on my plate if we are eating together, but we’re not always eating together due to logistics.

She won’t eat puree unless it’s from a pouch, but other than egg or pasta I’m struggling to come up with food ideas for her. If possible I want to avoid processed meats like sandwich meat. Ideally things that can be done quickly, I thought wraps would be a great idea but it says online not until they’re 1 as can be too gummy.

ideas greatly appreciated!

I’ve found pitta bread a life saver for quick lunches, if she’s off toast maybe she’ll try pitta as it’s softer? - topping can be any combination of:

banana
smooth salt & sugar free peanut butter
ditto almond butter but it’s v expensive
avocado
Ripe pear
cream cheese
cheddar
sliced & chopped tomato
leftovers from last nights dinner!
cucumber sliced with skin off

with some fruit or steamed veg to go with if needed. Sweet potato steams really fast and she loves holding the wedges and feeding herself.

OR pre prepared stuff - mine loves sweet potato pancakes just mash it up with flour & milk and lightly fry, you can add egg too. Make them the night before they will keep in the fridge for a few days.

or tin of mixed beans quickly warmed on the hob mashed up with pre made passata (no salt etc)

I’ve also found just letting her have a sachet one or two lunches a week really takes the pressure off, I often supplement it with other bits & bobs but does make life easier.

I’ve got a 7 month old so currently in a similar boat. I feed her what I eat, but I am bad at having three meals a day.

Depending on what you have for dinner could you save some for lunch? I always put cooked potatoes/veg to the side for her lunch. And when I do make her food I bag some up in freezer bags to do when I don’t have time to cook. Last week with the left overs from the roast I made her bubble and squeak and froze it in portions.

Just some suggestions what ‘we’ have:
-Boiled potato with Tuna and peas.
-Jacket potato with baked beans (reduced salt/sugar tins).
-Pate on toast (apparently can only have pate once a week).
-Pasta/Rice with veg/left over meat.
-Blended veg in a omelette.
-Tinned tomato, toast and left over meat.

But we do ‘BLW’ as she’s never really took to purées. Essentially I think she needs a carb of some description, at least one type of veg and some protein.

Its a minefield out there as there’s so much conflicting advice and unless you eat super healthy (which I don’t all the time), it’s difficult to just give what we eat (left over dominoes!)

As for bread I’ve got a loaf of mix-seeded-organic from m&s that I chopped up before putting it in the freezer that seems to be going down well.

I used to do postage stamp-sized sandwiches of wholemeal bread with cream cheese and a bit of honey or high fruit jam. (Did PBJ too but sounds like she won't want those.)

Also, baby breadsticks with humous mixed with a bit of greek yoghurt for dipping.

Chunks of soft pear, peeled cucumber, banana.

My LO is the same age and he’s ok with wraps if they have been toasted a bit but they do fall apart. By far one of my favourite go-to life savers has been the warburtons soft pittas, they are pre-cut pockets. Fill with some grated cheese and other fillings of choice, pop in the toaster, let it cool slightly so the cheese hardens up a little and holds everything together and slice into fingers with some houmous or avocado dip.

Ive also used the pre-made puff pastry to make little mini straws or ‘pizzas’ with different fillings and toppings. You can freeze them uncooked too which saves time later for a quick lunch.

I find having a few things in the freezer helps for quick lunches.

These two recipes have always been favourites but there are lots of others out there. I'm guilty of often doing the same things as I know they get eaten (has been quite hit and miss with recipes I've tried).

https://bibado.co.uk/blogs/recipes/cheesy-sweet-potato-and-carrot-tots
-the preparation takes awhile but you can make in bulk and freeze (I normally roast the sweet potato whole rather than boil as it's quicker not having to peel and chop it)

https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/egg-and-cheese-mini-muffins/
-I make these with carrot and they freeze well

Avocado it a good thing to put on the side if they like it since its healthy and you don't need to cook it.

Look online for a recipe fir egg and banana pancakes. The basic version is just egg and banana beaten together then cooked, but some add other stuff.

Also egg muffins... basically a crustless quiche, baked in a muffin tin.

Also I know you said you wanted to avoid lunch meat... but you can get cooked chicken breast. Or just cook your own, slice it up and keep in the fridge.

A couple of quick meals I do for my 4yo and 1yo are: omelette with pre boiled and very finely sliced broccoli or green beans or asparagus, served with microwaved sweet potato.
Sweetcorn and tuna salad - just sweetcorn and tuna from tins mixed with aforementioned boiled and finely chopped green vegetables, tiny drizzle of olive oil and would be nice with some chopped up tomatoes too. I serve that with a kind of coleslaw - finely grated carrot mixed with more coarsely grated apple.

Oh, I put some cheese in the omelette too and cook it in a bit of butter.

We do freezer things too for quick lunches - spinach & sweetcorn muffins, courgette fritters, spinach & ricotta puff pastry, courgette pinwheels, black bean & quinoa cups - all quick to make and freeze

Or my favourite which are left overs from tea the night before! Lentil spaghetti, cauliflower gnocchi, spinach Mac and cheese, broccoli orzo

These are all from a baby/family cookbook (what mummy makes) and similar

If I'm out of ideas or need something very quick crumpet with soft cheese spread

I used to do a lot of veggie fritters when I had babies and toddlers. Loads of recipes online, pretty simple and can be batch made and frozen too. Sweetcorn was a favourite. They're older now and wouldn't touch a veggie fritter with a bargepole - I miss those days! Orzo or baby pasta cooked with chopped frozen mixed veg and mixed with cream cheese to make a sauce was another quick lunch.

I never make (or buy) anything specific for baby, they will have leftovers, whatever bits are in the fridge, or some of whatever I have. Those pouches are such a waste of money and so processed.

That last bit is exactly my problem - I don’t eat 3 meals a day and I don’t think that Taco Bell counts as a nutritious meal for a 9 month old! 😂

DD loved eggy bread with some fruit or veg in the side at this age. She was also a massive fan of pitta/baby breadsticks with hummus and some sticks of cucumber.

If you want to do a spot of preparing you could make and freeze:

Baby Dahl

Savoury Muffin

Fritters

It's always handy to have something in the freezer. Especially as the weather is hopefully due to warm up and you may be eating lunch in the garden or park