Let's talk food

We have been introducing more and more foods to B.  I stumbled upon a site that talks about Baby Led Weaning.  One might think weaning means to wean or stop for nursing or formula but really according to the site it means this:

"* re ‘wean’. This is meant in the Brit sense, not the American. In the UK, ‘weaning’ means ‘adding complementary foods’, whereas in the States it means ‘giving up breastfeeding’."

We have decided Brady will wean himself when ready.  The goal is to breastfeed until he is one and beyond, if that's what he wants.  But we will continue more foods as he gets older because he definitely likes to self feed.

I started brown rice cereal and purees a week before he turned 6 months old.  We did purees for a good solid 2 months and then honestly I just decided to put some cut up food on his tray one day.  He of course loved feeding himself.  Then I happened to stumble upon a blog that was doing "baby led weaning" and gave lots of food ideas.  From there I've been experimenting with all kinds of foods.  And so far, it's been great for us and kind of fun.

We try to keep food as wholesome as possible and feed organic when possible.  The area we live in does not offer a great selection of wholesome food, which drives me nuts!  I have to drive a good 25 minutes to a grocery store that offers organic fruit and veggies.  Or no added hormones to meats.  And when eating out, it's not really an option so we do the best we can but some things are just not feasible at times.  When out to eat, I try to order a chicken breast or chicken tenders for him and tear off the breading.  The other night he ate 3 whole chicken tenders and one time he ate a whole chicken breast.  He loves to eat!

Brady is a great eater (most days) and I think he really gets a kick out of feeding himself.  It does make a huge mess, but that's why we have 2 small dogs - ha!

Here are just a few things new foods we've tried recently:

 Turkey meatballs with spaghetti, green peas, and roasted apples

Raw cucumber.

I just peel it, cut off a good size that he can hold and let him eat it like a pickle.

 Soft, scrambled egg in coconut oil

Other foods we've tried:

 -greek yogurt with fruit

-strawberries

-chopped cherry tomatoes

-butter beans (big white beans cooked in water with ham)

-chicken strips or chicken breast (no breading and diced, roasted)

-mac and cheese

-wagon wheel pasta

  -pancakes and waffles (Van's brand)

-blueberries

-frozen mango chunks

-graham crackers

-lean brisket

-rice

-pinto beans

-white bean hummus

-whole wheat crackers

-chicken spaghetti

-pork chops (diced up)

 -roasted apples with cinammon

-roasted veggies

 First time @ Chick-fil-a (grilled chicken nuggets and a fruit cup), cherry tomatoes, and first time eating hummus.

It's been fun watching him experience new foods.  And he really will eat or try anything we put in front of him.  I'm just hoping that does end soon.  I'm also hoping by giving him so much variety early on, he will continue to love food and be a good eater.

Tell me what kind of things your baby/toddler eats.  I'd love some new ideas.