Ideas for baby led weaning foods you can try with your little ones. From staples like bananas to new things to try like chicken bone broth, see what weโre planning on feeding Sage over the next few weeks!
Itโs time for another grocery haul, only this time weโre doing things a little different. This grocery haul is all baby led weaning foods! Sage is now 7 months old and has been eating solids for about a month now. Let me tell you, she is definitely a hungry girl! Sheโs got an amazing appetite and so far (fingers crossed!) we havenโt come across a food that she wonโt eat. Iโve been really enjoying testing out new flavors and recipes, and I try to buy basics that we can use for our own meals too just to make it that much easier meal prep wise.ย
What is baby led weaning?
Baby led weaning is a method of feeding your baby where you allow them to feed themselves. Contrary to popular belief, this doesnโt just involve eating finger foods! Weโve been doing a kind of hybrid for Sage, feeding her both purees and finger foods. Even with the purees weโre still actively encouraging her to feed herself. This cutlery set has been so helpful because theyโre really easy for her little hands to grip.
Itโs important when youโre feeding your baby to follow your gut instinct. If you want to just go down the finger food route, do that. But if you feel more comfortable opting for purees, or doing a mix like us, thatโs absolutely fine too! Itโs whatever works for you and your baby. I loved taking the Healthy Happy Eaters course (use code SAGEEATS to get 15% off!) to help educate me on all things baby food. It really helped to take away the stress and overwhelm I was feeling. I highly encourage it to any parent getting ready to feed their baby.
Baby led weaning foods
Iโm going to take you through the staples that we get for Sage on a weekly basis, as well as some new foods weโre planning to introduce soon. Let me know in the comments below if youโd like to see a full meal prep blog post!
Frozen Food:
Iโve been really utilizing frozen fruits and vegetables because it makes things super easy. It also makes things more affordable when buying organic, which I try to do as much as possible when it fits within the budget. Costco is a great place to get bulk frozen fruits, vegetables and meat.
Whole frozen raspberries – I just pop these into a container in the fridge and they thaw overnight. Itโs so much cheaper than buying fresh berries, they last way longer, and they taste just as good! They go into her oatmeal, or sometimes Iโll just mash them up and pop them on the side of the plate.
Frozen blueberries – Another great frozen berry option, though Sage is still pretty new to them. Theyโre also great for adding into our smoothies!
Frozen baby spinach – This is one I have yet to try out with Sage, but itโs a fantastic iron-rich option for your little ones! Iโm going to try adding it into some of her purees.
Frozen mango chunks – The best bit about these is you donโt have to mess around chopping up a ton of fruit. Itโs all pre-cut, and once itโs thawed we like to add it to oatmeal or just mash it up and serve on the side.
Frozen peas – We use these all the time. Just boil a pot of peas and mash it up. You can then pop the mashed up peas into these food moulds, pop them in your fridge or freezer and voila! Youโve got mashed up pea portions all ready to go.
Animal Products:
Sage hasnโt yet had any animal products, so Iโm super excited to start introducing her to these new flavours!
Chicken thighs – I opt for the dark meat because itโs higher in iron, theyโre usually cheaper and to be honest theyโre more flavourful than lean chicken breasts. I also tend to opt for grass fed / organic when it comes to our meat because we donโt eat that much of it, so I can kind of justify the cost.
Chicken bone broth – This is great for adding to grains or cooking up with lentils. Sometimes Iโll even just warm it up and have her sip on it. The one I get is made in-house at the local health food store, and just contains filtered water, organic chicken bones and organic apple cider vinegar. Obviously you can make it at home, but as a full time working mama this just makes it easier for me.
Eggs – If youโve been watching or reading for a while, youโll know how much we love a good egg in the HealthNut home! We go through so many. Iโve been super into boiled eggs, but check out this Eggs 10 Ways post for more ideas. Eggs are another food that I try to get organic if I can, because they taste so much better.ย
Plant Based Proteins:
Iโve been brainstorming some meal ideas that Iโd like to start introducing Sage to over the coming weeks and months. With all of these meals Iโm mentioning, like the dahl and the chilli, weโre looking forward to introducing Sage to some new flavours via spices and herbs. Sheโs already a big fan of cinnamon. We just obviously wonโt be adding anything spicy-hot!
Canned chickpeas – These are so versatile. Weโre looking forward to trying Sage on things like baby hummus.
Canned black beans – Another super versatile food that goes great into recipes like chilli. Again, weโre not quite there yet, but Sage is so great with food I think itโs only around the corner.ย
Organic green split peas – These are great for things like stews and dahls. You could add the chicken in there too for extra protein.ย
Fresh Fruits & Veggies:
Bananas – These are of course a baby food staple. Theyโre great for baby led weaning because you can cut them in a certain way so that your little one can hold it.ย
Avocado – Another baby food essential. Itโs great mashed up with peas or hemp hearts, or even just on its own on the side of the plate. Itโs nice to have foods like this on hand that you donโt need to cook. If youโre not using the whole avocado, be sure to use one of the avocado huggers to keep the remaining half fresh in the fridge.ย
Peppers – Peppers are full of antioxidants and vitamin C, which is really important for little ones because it helps with their iron absorption.ย
Apples – Iโm planning to peel the apples I got and cook up an organic apple sauce for Sage. I can then add that to different foods and add some yummy cinnamon! I might even add something like the frozen spinach to the apple sauce.ย
Carrots – Iโve just been steam roasting these for Sage. You can see how I prep some of these foods in my babyโs first foods video.
Sweet potatoes – All you need to do with sweet potatoes is roast them up in the oven and they go all soft and gooey inside. Perfect for mashing up for little ones!ย
Butternut squash – Sage hasnโt tried squash yet, but Iโm excited to try her with it. Weโll do the same thing as the carrots and sweet potatoes. Weโll just peel it, wash it and then either roast it or steam it.ย
Watermelon – I feel like watermelon is perfect for hot days. You can just slice it up into a chunks and let your little one knaw on it.ย
Broccoli – Same thing, I just steam this and mash it up with some breastmilk. You could also mash it up with some bone broth or peas!ย
Cauliflower – Another new food for Sage. Iโm going to mash it up in the same way and mix it with the peppers, or even some banana. Donโt always default to thinking certain foods donโt mix! Babies donโt care if theyโre โmeantโ to go together!
Other Foods:
Organic pitted prunes – I feel like prunes get a bad rap but you can do so much with them. Iโll eat them just as a dried fruit, melted into oatmeal or even added to a trail mix. Iโll be making some prune purees for Sage and again popping them into these moulds for easy baby meal prep.
Pre-packaged purees – I try not to get into the habit of giving these to Sage often, but theyโre handy to have when youโre out and about. I just check the ingredients (taking care to look for the sugar content) and make sure theyโre organic. The flavours we picked up are the prune puree, the carrots, apricot and pumpkin puree and the apples, sweet potato, broccoli and spinach puree.ย
Mushies – These I just thought would be fun for her to try. Theyโre organic fruit and veggie snacks, and I picked up the banana and beetberry flavour. Again, the ingredients are very simple with nothing added, so as a treat Iโm happy to let her try them out.
Buckwheat flakes – These are a wholegrain cereal thatโs been ground up into flakes. We do oatmeal a lot for breakfast, but these just make a nice change so that sheโs not always eating the same grains. Itโs also gluten free, so great if there are any sensitivities.ย
Would you like to see a full baby meal prep video? Let me know in the comments below!ย
I came across your page seeing what other Moms do daily for their babies. I LOVE your ideas and openness about showing the way you live! First time Mom here ๐โโ๏ธ and appreciate all the work you do to help our little ones thrive!
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I came across your page seeing what other Moms do daily for their babies. I LOVE your ideas and openness about showing the way you live! First time Mom here ๐โโ๏ธ and appreciate all the work you do to help our little ones thrive!
Oh yay! Happy you find something useful.