Brite Eats: Mini Meals for 9 months+

We started introducing baby food pouches and purees to Brite when she was seven months old. I was actually pretty excited to introduce alternatives to nursing since she has always been a lover of the leche; morning, noon and night. ;) Honestly, I thought she would think baby food was the best thing on the planet, but NOPE. Every now and then she would stomach a slurp or two followed by a face like she had just downed a shot of whiskey. Needless to say, there were lots of laughs shared between the rest of us over bowls full of mush. After a couple weeks of sour-faced food sessions I decided to try skipping the baby pouches and head straight to table foods (which is pretty much what we did with Marin too). Brite was in squishy noodle heaven! Turns out the girl likes to feed herself. Nothing like a baby occupied for 40 minutes, merrily pinching each tiny Cheerio. Not like I did anything productive with those 40 minutes because HELLO BABY PINCHING EACH TINY CHEERIO. Heart eye emoji.

The girls and I have hit a pretty good groove for now with meals they like during the day, especially because I can usually feed Brite the same things the rest of us are eating, just cut into manageable bites. And since I always love to get ideas from other moms about what their kids like to eat, I thought I would share some of the mini meals we make for Brite these days. The meals below are the ones she has eaten the last couple weeks, but we've been giving her most of these since she turned 8 months. 

Breakfast: Kashi blueberry waffles, Plum brand cereal bars, eggs, Trader Joe's Honey Nut O's, Plum brand Oatmeals (I let the bowl sit for a minute after making it so that it hardens enough for Brite to be able to eat little oatmeal balls on her own. Make sense?), lots of fruits (especially banana and blueberries), organic yogurt puffs

Lunch and Dinner: cheesy mashed potatoes, cheese (shredded or sliced), turkey, avocado, beans, steamed butternut squash with feta cheese sprinkled on top (A BRITE FAVE!), cooked noodles, steamed broccoli florets, frozen veggies (I give them to her frozen and she loves them. Maybe feels good on the teeth?), TJ's white cheddar mac n cheese, Earth's Best Sesame Street cheddar crackers, cucumber, English muffin with melted cheese on top. I also LOVE making crock-pot meals because everything you throw in those ends up being tender enough for everyone to enjoy. 

Meals around here aren't always balanced or anywhere near perfect or 100% organic, but we are giving it our best. ;)  If we are on-the-go, I will sometimes "convince" Brite she wants a pouch, but for the most part her meals include the options pictured above.  Hope this sparks ideas for you and your little one.  I would love to know what you feed your babes!