Infant Dinners: Prepping Finger Foods

Oliver is officially a finger food lover. We had been dabbling to keep him happy in the seat and allow us time to eat but then he got impatient with the purees too. Add to that, daycare was STOKED  about him doing finger foods and I was told to start sending it along ASAP. We have been chopping up little bits for his meals since. Obviously he gets a few spoon foods still because a) I have a freezer full and b) some foods just aren’t finger worthy (greens, yogurt) but we have moved quickly to the minced variety.

Of course all this meant my system for pureeing and organizing for the week was completely blown out of the water. I tried chopping at dinner and throwing into containers but it was eating into the already crazy evenings. Then while searching for recipes on Pinterest, I got an idea. I had pins for muffin tin meals like everyone else but it got me thinking. What about some kind of compartmentalized storage system?

BLAMO!

fingerfoodsRemember those trays I used for breastmilk and purees? ANOTHER USE. A serving for a small child is said to be the size of their fist. These cubes are the perfect “serving” size. These trays also have a great lid to keep it all covered for the week. This took maybe 30 minutes to throw together. You could also just have it and keep adding to it with dinner leftovers.

Shown above:

  • Lemon pepper chicken
  • Steamed carrots
  • Strawberries
  • Mandarin oranges
  • Cucumbers
  • Green beans
  • Blueberries
  • Black beans
  • Kiwi

So now I have a lot of the work done for the week. I plan to refill with dinner options as they come available. Gonna be honest, I am pretty giddy with the super organization but I really just hope it helps the weekly grind. Happy organizing!

18 thoughts on “Infant Dinners: Prepping Finger Foods

  • April 15, 2013 at 8:06 am
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    That actually does look like a brilliant idea — my issue with my two, however, was not necessarily how to get them foods that they might eat (for the most part, I always prepare myself stuff that is wholly appropriate for the kids – except for daddy juice), but figuring out what foods they might eat — there was no rhyme or reason as to what either child might want on a given day/time. A good assortment like this would be grand . . . except there’s a real part of me that goes a bit bonkers if I ever have to throw away food.

    Let us know how it works 🙂

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    • April 15, 2013 at 10:22 am
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      That is the glory here. Got a quarter of a chicken breast left from dinner? CHOP THAT SHIT UP and put it in a spot. 10 blueberries. 2 strawberries. scoop of rice. And for older toddlers, you could just give them the tray and let them go at it. NO PLATE NEEDED!

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  • April 15, 2013 at 8:35 am
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    Wonderful idea! Hannah is just starting to become interested in small pieces of what I’m eating so in a few weeks (when I’m done the purees in the freezer) I may start trying this!

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    • April 15, 2013 at 10:21 am
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      I am serving maybe a few oz of purees with each meal to go through my stash and then mostly finger foods. So freeing in a way

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  • April 15, 2013 at 3:51 pm
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    Genius. I’m loving the finger food (aka temporary babysitter while mommy makes dinner or cleans the kitchen) stage!

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    • April 15, 2013 at 8:51 pm
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      It really is helpful. Big winner tonight? Toasted pita. Hard for him to destroy. Chewed for a long time.

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  • September 9, 2013 at 9:07 am
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    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!! This is pure brilliance! I’m going to try this ASAP! My toddler loves fingerfoods and variety.

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  • December 13, 2013 at 12:14 pm
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    So, how did the various foods last for a week? I always worry about spoilage if I prepare too much in advance

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    • December 13, 2013 at 1:33 pm
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      It seems to be fine with me but different foods handle differently. Cucumbers will get slimy after a few days but i just make sure those go first in the week. Just trial and error. And when working with such small cubes, you aren’t wasting a lot if something doesn’t keep as well. It’s 2 tbsp.

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  • May 9, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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    Hi! I was wondering just how much a child of about 20 months but the size of a child about 14 months should eat per meal of these serving size portions of ice cube tray size? He is a failure to thrive. He’s gained like almost three pounds in the past month but I worry about pushing too much? If he really doesn’t want to eat, he turns his head away. But he has to be fed or he plays and doesn’t eat.many advice?

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    • May 14, 2015 at 1:03 pm
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      Serving sizes mean nothing at this age. Every kid really is different. My ped has always told us not to make meal time a battle. Make it positive. Sometimes they really aren’t hungry. I wouldn’t push and make everyone stress out. I would defer to your dr’s thoughts though.

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  • August 6, 2015 at 9:43 am
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    Do you just put it in the fridge all week? I also had a system for purees, but now that he is over the spoon, I feel lost!

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    • August 6, 2015 at 3:16 pm
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      Yup. Just put in there with the lid on the ice cube tray. I usually needed to do some things again mid week or just taking from leftovers.

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  • September 22, 2015 at 6:01 pm
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    I love this idea! Do you feed all of those cold…even the green beans?

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  • July 18, 2018 at 3:31 pm
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    Hi I was wondering if these could also be froze maybe?? I like to do months worth of food in advance.

    Reply

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