BLW-best fruit and veg

[mamma1mia]

Hi all, just started BLW and want to know what fruit and veg your LOs have liked. So far my LO has had banana and avocado both of which are quite difficult to grip. I would like to offer her apples and would like to know the best way to prepare them so they are not to hard for her to eat. Any tips would be very much appreciated.

Try grating them. Also good for carrots.

Rice cakes were another early favourite.

That's a good tip, hadn't thought of that. Thanks

I used to steam slices of apple for 3-4 minutes. You could also slice it very very thinly. Apples are tricky because big chunks can break off easily which are then a choking hazard.

Pear is a good apple substitute this time of year though - you get 12 slices out of one and it's nice and soft, and the skin is similar. They're in season atm so should be cheapish :)

Sorry if this sounds a bit daft, but do you get your bog standard rice cake or baby ones?

Thanks Bertie, will definitely give pear a go.

Salt free normal rice cakes are fine, break them into 2-3 pieces and they are nice and easy to grip (probably easier to grip than mini round ones and much cheaper).

DD enjoys chunks of pear, whole strawberries (not great at this time of year), segments of clementine (which she sucks dry and spits out), tinned prunes with the stones removed (very messy, she rubs her hands in them and then sucks) and dried apricots torn in half so she can get to the sticky middle bit. Veg wise she loves sticks of fairly well cooked carrot, strips of roasted pepper, halved tomatoes, sticks of cucumber and roast potatoes, roast butternut squash and roast parsnip. She will happily eat broccoli and cauliflower if they are in a curry or a cheese sauce but is not convinced they are food otherwise.

Thanks Veronica, you've given me plenty of ideas and my LO new ways to create mess:)-it's all good fun. I love the look of excitement on her little face when she encounters something new.

Blueberries and melon sticks seem to please dd.

My DS loved raw pear, roast root veg like parsnip, carrot (sometimes with with cumin seeds), sweet potato, butternut squash (all cut into big chip shapes to make them easier to hold). He liked the fruit (plums, nectarines, peaches) to be whole so he could hold it and gnaw bits off - much more fun and messy I suppose! I took a bite out of them to give him somewhere to start.

Other favorites were roasted asparagus, steamed purple sprouting broccoli (nice long shape and different textures) and spinach in a creamy sauce.

Both avocado and banana I gave with the skin still on to make it easier to hold - DS got really annoyed when it was slippy and he very quickly learned that some bits tasted nicer than others although he still liked chewing on the hard bit when teething.

It is so much fun watching them try things with BLW - enjoy!

I can't believe the variety of veg my DD ate at the beginning of BLW. She's now 15 mo and not eating much at all - laughs at most veg and pulls a VERY cute but infuriating face!
She loved steamed parsnip, roast anything, purple sprouting broccoli (expensive!), vast handfuls of mashed potato and potato wedges were also good. She ate all fruit (except apple and pear at first as had strange skin reactions), tinned fruit in juice (still does like this), berries of any kind, everything except banana. Carrots were difficult for a while, even steamed into submission.
Enjoy the variety, before the picky stage sets in (if it does for everyone).

I also tend to give slippery fruit with skin on. DS sucks it off the skin then spits the skin out. Today he had nectarine sliced up, and ate the whole lot, leaving a pile of chewed skin!! Same for mango. He also has raspberries, blueberries, pear, orange segments, clementine segments.

Veg - broccoli, carrot sticks, finger shaped potato (boiled, roasted etc), cucumber sticks, halved cherry tomatoes or slices of big tomato, green beans, strips of cabbage, mash on pre loaded spoons, strips of roasted pepper