Little Man Munchies

Last week when I saw that Tiffanie was having success with Preston on table food, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get brave about it. The problem hasn't been that he isn't interested - he certainly grabs for our plates, but it's more because he eats at 6:30 and we eat after he goes to bed.

Then I was also avoiding the big mess of self feeding.. but that I will just have to deal with, because he LOVES it!

 Although I don't know how much goes into his mouth...

Another benefactor for Logan's messy eating is Teddy..

He positions himself so that any and all falling food is his. Since they have such sensitive stomachs, we are going to have to start keeping the dogs from the kitchen until he is done. Sorry Teds...

Since he loves it so much and we aren't really ready to eat at 6:30, I tried to be creative at the store on ways I can feed him "real" food without cooking two meals. Here are some of my ideas.

These are like little gifts from above. Single serving, in a little tray, that you pop in the microwave. I figure I can put this in to heat up, give Logan a bath, and by the time it's time for him to eat, this will be cool enough for him to chow down on.

Also comes in brown and chicken flavored.

Same deal here. 1 minute in the microwave! These look big to me so one cup should last 2 meals.

Also in bow tie and penne.

These are itty bitty, baby sized pieces of pasta. I could boil some on Sunday and have for most of the week to mix with other veggies I purchased. I heard babies love some butter noodles. I grabbed some Ziplock Steam Baggies so I can throw other veggies in the microwave for easy cooking while we do bath time.

My coworker told me that she used to buy these fruit cups, rinse the sugary juice off, and whala! Soft fruit for the taking.

Don't get me started on these. Now that he sprouted 4 teeth on top in the last 3 weeks, he loves to take these and bite on them. I do mean LOVE.
But what happens when the parents get ahold of these one late night while watching a movie?
Let's just say I bought 2 bags today...

While I realize that Gerber makes these:

I like the thought of fresh or flash frozen veggies and fruit when I can. For now I will still send whatever baby food I have to school to make it easier.. then I guess I will have to find a way to send finger foods with him. They are super nice and give me lots of suggesstions. In fact they told me to try juice and I can barely pry that sippy of diluted apple juice from his little hands!

Any more ideas on quick table food for when he eats before we do? I know I can do leftovers easily and when we go out to eat I can give him things off my plate.. the kid loves the Kabobs and Rice from Zoe's and my mother in law's chicken spaghetti.

I am looking forward to the switch from formula to cows milk in 6 weeks. Between that and the baby food, I am looking forward to over $200 a month back in my wine budget pocket!