Foods for an 11 month old

Hey everyone, I'm just after some suggestions of how to introduce new foods into Aricyn's diet. I've gotten myself into a bit of a rut over the last five months (you know what its like, he likes something you stick to it!!) so at the moment he is on farex (either heinz organic stuff, porridge, different flavoured ones) and then for lunch its a yoghurt and some stewed apple and pear (which he LOVES straight from the fridge). He used to have banana and then went off that. And then for dinner he will have some vegies - like, carrot, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin and broccoli (sometimes I get exotic and throw some zucchini in there - woah baby) and then put it in the blender.
Now, I'm probably really boring as anything with his meals, and he does have toast sometimes if we are having it, and i had some cheese on bread rolls for lunch, so gave him some of that. But other than that..... thats it. When should you stop blending the food for your kids? I'm sure i just do it out of habit not cos he needs it. Please help!!!!

Um.. i think by 11 months you should start introducing some more solid foods.. such as finger foods.. as by 12 months they really should and are capable of eating what we eat. I started Jesse on vegemite toast and mixing over cooked rice or pasta into his already dinners until he got use to the lumpiness. You can also now give weatbix (from 8 months) for breakfast also. I mix in some fruit to give it flavour. Um.. with stopping blending.. just make it more and more coarse or lumpy until its pretty much solid and he is use to chewing it. I think around Jesse's birthday actually he refused to let me feed him his dinner and lunch. I can still feed him his weatbix in the mornings, but towards the end of it we share spooning it in. For lunch Jesse has sometimes yogurt, a sandwich and banana or some pieces of apple or cheese. Yogurt i can feed to him, but the rest he eats himself. Dinner he has either meatballs (i made beef and chicken ones he just munches on), nuggets or fish pieces(you can get ones with vegies mixed in), vege nuggets or tuna rissoles (i make).. and vegies.. sometimes cheese.

I just started out with things that i knew would break up easy in his mouth and went from there. Makes it so much easier when theyre feeding themselves.. its more messy and you have a mess to clean up each meal but thats just how they learn.

Thanks Kel.. I thought I shouldn't still be blending it all up.. just a habit....

At around that age, Nina was eating pretty much whatever we were eating. I just made sure it was cut up small enough for her to eat.
Nina also started feeding herself at that age, and now feeds herself everything.

Jeez I'm really behind the 8 ball aren't I... what an awful mum!!!

Don't feel bad, It's never to late to change your ways.

You're not an awful mum at all. It is so hard to know when to progress. Also you are amazingly patient to have been blending food for so long. But Jack and Tom were both eating the same as us by 11 months, except for some foods that are allergy risks - such as peanuts, strawberries (ok from 12 months), can't think what else now, that's about it I think.

Given that he has been having only blended food so far, don't jump straight into adult food, still do it step by step. Increase the finger foods, and start giving pieces of fruit, vege and meat that are not too big. Once he gets used to that, you should be able to give him pretty much anything.

Thanks manta ray.. its so hard to progress on your first one!! specially for about 6 weeks there I was doing full time work, and it was all so hectic and just easy to keep doing what we had been doing. Does anyone have any recipes for meals that can be microwaved for him on the days that I work? cos me and craig don't usually have dinner till about 7.30.. and aricyn has his dinner around 6 and a bottle at 7 then bed at 8.30. any ideas would be bloody fantastic!!!

Some of Tom's favourites are pasta (this can be left overs from a previous meal), fried rice (leftovers again), baked beans, omelette (not microwaved but can be whipped up quickly when you get home and you can chuck some vegies in like tomato and capsicum), zucchini slice (baked ahead of time and then microwave to warm up), same for quiche or anything similar. Or sometimes when he gets home from day care tired I will just give him a yoghurt and banana for dinner - often he has a warm lunch at day care (could be anything from the above list), so he is not missing out on any nutrition. HTH.

Mel.. youre not a bad mum at all!!! I so wouldve love to keep Jesse on puree.. would be so much easier! But he wouldnt let me
Um.. with recipes.. depends where you are wanting to go from here. See, Jesse was a jar baby.. wouldnt eat my home cooked stuff until now. But now i make up big batches of rissoles (chicken, beef and tuna- tuna ones are easy.. just can tuna in spring water, mix with mash potato and an egg or 2 to combine, roll into a rissole, cover with bread crumbs and fry until golden) and freeze them in bundles. So he alters now between those and nuggets etc. Rissoles are good because theyre easy for them to eat.. and they kinda break up easy in their mouth.