Do we need more variety?

[Rainfall]

DD will be a year next Sunday. I've been making her baby food for a few months now and love it, but am starting to wonder if I should be making more of a variety of foods for her. I did have a really good stockpile built up of the stage 2 Gerber dinners (veg. beef, chick+veg, chick noodle, etc) but those are almost gone now.

For breakfast, she gets rice cereal. Lunch is a fruit and vegetable. Dinner is a Gerber dinner. She nurses frequently throughout the day, so that is her main source of 'food' I guess you'd say. Also, she's never had juice. I had a lot of issues with supply when I still worked and was scared to sub the juice in and fill her up on that, rather than nurse. I also can't get her to drink from her sippy.

The fruits/veggies I make and we cycle between are:

apples
pears
peaches (out of season now up here)
bananas
squash
potatoes
carrots
avocado (doesn't really like it, but if I mix it w/ banana she'll eat it)

What other fruits/veggies are relatively easy to do that I should incorporate into her diet? For the first couple of months she started solids (6-8mo old) I had a stockpile of Gerber fruits/veggies, so she's had just about everything out there, but since going with the homemade foods, her variety isn't so great. Like, can I do canned stuff or is that full of junky preservatives and such?

I'd also like to know about meats. She gets meats now at dinnertime in the Gerber dinners, but those will be gone soon and I don't know how to do meats for her. Do I just chop and puree it like I do the fruits/veggies?

I cannot get her to do finger foods. I've tried crackers, biter biscuits, puffy snacks, toast, banana pieces, Gerber Graduate crunchies, etc and she either isn't interested or isn't getting it. If I put the foods in her mouth, sometimes she'll eat it, other times she just spits it right out. She usually doesn't want more, either. She's just not interested, really.

I'm guessing that since she's a year now we can probably just puree whatever we're having for dinner...would that be ok?

Thanks for all of your help, mamas!

[tinah]

these thoughts are in no paticular order. . .
Have you tried an open cup? my bf baby can't make heads or tails of a sippy, but can handle cups and straws just fine.
Forget the purees. Unless she's delayed, she can handle people food IF SHE WANTS IT. Just stick her in her chair and put some of whatever you are having on the tray. Sure, it's messy. She's a baby.
My crew loves nilla wafers and fruit loops as finger foods.

[lilerthquakes]

Some pureed veggie ideas: green beans, peas, parsnips, broccoli. Pureed fruits: cranberries, blueberries, cherries. You can also puree and freeze chicken and turkey. Lentils are a good source of protein... as well as egg yolk.

[lilerthquakes]

Forgot to mention you should use fresh or frozen fruits and veggies... canned has too much sodium. Except canned pumpkin... you can use that (as long as it's JUST pumpkin... not the kind with added spices).

[autumnlily]

I have used canned fruits and veggies - I buy organic and the fruits are kept in water and the veggies have no sodium added. Frozen is really easy though.

Add tofu! Cut into tiny squares and roll in grahm cracker dust. I visit the "wholesome baby food" website ALL THE TIME and it has wonderful toddler meal suggestions too (all of which can be pureed)

[mrscakes]

I totally know what you mean, I worry about variety too. Especially b/c Z only eats what I make and we haven't given him any prepared baby foods. I second the Wholesome Baby Food website, lots of good ideas on there. Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason that you're still pureeing everything? Z has never liked purees, but I think by a year old you might want to make sure she's getting more textures. Still soft and small pieces though (depending on how many teeth she has).

In addition to your list Z eats:
egg (yolk only, boiled or scrambled)
peas
green beans (not his fave tho)
cheese (only small amounts)
brown rice pasta
oat and barley cereal
quinoa

I'm trying to get him eating more and more of what we do, sometimes just simplified versions. I try not to feed him too much processed food, and read labels of anything I don't make myself. You'd be amazed at the preservatives and sodium levels in even packaged baby foods.