In today’s Swarm post, the Bees share their little ones’ favorite protein, vegetable and fruit. The answers are organized by age, and hopefully it’ll inspire food ideas for your little ones!
Baby O – 8 months
Protein: scrambled eggs, hummus, ground beef
Vegetable: by far cucumbers in rice vinegar are her favorite
Fruit: cuties (she loves to suck the juice), kiwi, blackberries, blueberries
Baby H – 8 months
Protein: Quinoa (cooked with water, very basic, we will then mix it with a veggie puree. She hasn’t tried any meat or eggs yet!)
Vegetable: Butternut squash puree
Fruit: Peach puree, applesauce/pieces, banana pieces
Liam – 9 months
Protein: black beans – we just give him canned ones now, but I’m going to try making them from scratch soon (he hasn’t tried any meat yet, but he also loves scrambled eggs)
Vegetable: green beans – I steam them whole and just put them (once they’re cooled off) on his tray
Fruit: BANANA – he can’t get enough
Cobi – 10 months
Protein: Tuna/Salmon – we usually mix it with some lemon juice, seasoning and coconut oil. He eats it with bread, in an avocado or just plain.
Vegetable: broccoli with a little butter and salt, steamed
Fruit: raspberries, or really any berry! Also avocados are a huge hit.
Little Stroller – 12 months
Protein: Fresh mozzarella cheese is definitely his favorite, but he also loves grilled salmon and eggs, especially omelets.
Vegetable: He loves almost every veggie, but frozen carrots, defrosted and mixed with hummus is a fave
Fruit: Blueberries are his favorite – we picked gallons and gallons last summer and froze them. I buy other frozen berries too – he likes them on the special oatmeal flax pancakes I make for him and I like it because the pancakes soak up the berry juice for less mess! He’s also currently obsessed with clementines, oranges and bananas. I give him the whole banana, which he eats in about five bites, and cut each of the clementine segments into two.
Chloe – 14 months
Protein: Chicken or black beans
Vegetable: Green beans, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers… she’ll eat pretty much anything!
Fruit: Apples (she loves granny smith!), bananas, strawberries, avocado
Aliya – 18 months
Protein: Fish, chicken, and pork
Vegetable: She loves steamed carrots, peas, and green beans
Fruit: Strawberries, blueberries, and avocado
Little Y – 18 months
Protein: Tofu, chicken, scrambled eggs. He’s not picky about preparation, generally speaking.
Vegetable: Steamed carrots and broccoli. Sometimes green beans. Unfortunately, we don’t give him many others… I need to get better at this!
Fruit: He loves most fruit, but bananas, blueberries, and honeydew are his favorites.
Noelle – 2 years
Protein – She hates most protein, but loves fish. I usually put breaded fish sticks from Sprouts or Trader Joe’s in the convection oven.
Vegetable – She’s in an anti-vegetable phase. Sigh. She’ll take a few bites of steamed carrots if she’s in the mood, but rejects pretty much anything green.
Fruit – Persimmons. She can eat two whole ones peeled and cubed all on her own! She also loves clementines and blueberries.
Sienna – Almost 8 months
Protein: Chicken or pork
Vegetable: roasted cauliflower
Fruit: apple sauce or mangoes
Mavrick – 2.5 years
Protein: Chicken
Vegetable: Cucumber and that’s it. I try and feed him veggies, but this child refuses it all. I’m all ears for tips.
Fruit: Bananas
Jack Jack – 10 months
Protein: She’ll eat any protein we put in front of her, but mostly we limit it to tofu and cheese right now because we’re not ready to feed her meat.
Vegetable: Again, she loves them all, but especially cooked carrots and peas which are perfect finger foods!
Fruit: Her absolute favorite is a banana cut in small slices. She can eat a whole one if we offer it!
Little Jacks – 2.5 years
Protein: Chicken in bite size pieces or cheese
Vegetable: She’s not a huge vegetable fan, but I can get her to eat some broccoli if it’s in a cheesy sauce or green beans in a garlic butter. She’ll eat raw carrots too.
Fruit: She is seriously a fruit-i-tarian. She’ll eat blueberries until the cows come home. We actually have to limit her or she’ll make herself sick. But her true love is raspberries. She’ll eat a Costco sized flat in 2 days if we let her.
Wonder Baby – 11 months
Protein: Fish, pretty much any way.
Vegetable: squash, roasted in chunks with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Fruit: canned peaches, homemade
Toddler Girl – nearly 3
Protein: scrambled eggs, bacon, almond butter
Vegetable: yellow bell peppers, raw, sliced
Fruit: Mini mandarin oranges. She calls them baby oranges and would finish off a box in a day if I let her.
Wagon Jr. – 3 years
Protein: he’s a big protein guy so it’s tough to choose, but probably scrambled eggs. He loves fish and beef and chicken and pork! I don’t know if he’s ever met a protein he doesn’t like.
Vegetable: Ugh. Can I say none? 
Fruit: He goes through phases but right now he’s on a big banana kick. He sometimes chooses one for dessert over a mini popsicle!
Lil’ CB – 3 years, 3 months
Not to sound like a total jerk, but this is tough because Lil’ CB is such a good eater!
Protein: I think his current favorites are grilled fish (especially salmon) and Korean bbq beef ribs (galbi).
Vegetables: Broccoli — sauteed with soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic. And spinach tossed in some pasta with tomatoes.
Fruit: Lil’ CB loves berries of any kind, but since they’re not in season, he’s been devouring clementines like a boss. We’re talking 4-5 in a row, sometimes!
Olive – 14 months
Protein: She used to love chicken, and she’ll eat some white fish once in a while, but lately all proteins are a challenge.
Vegetable: Cucumber, asparagus sauteed in butter with a little bit of salt and pepper.
Fruit: Cantaloupe is definitely her favorite, followed by strawberries, mandarins, and grapes. She looooves fruit way more than Charlie did at her age (he only recently started eating a wide variety of fruit).
Charlie – 3 years
Protein: Pork (bacon and hot dogs)
Vegetable: Cucumber, broccoli/cauliflower sauteed in coconut aminos (soy sauce alternative), sesame oil, garlic
Fruit: Strawberries, asian pear, mandarins. Lately he’s been obsessed with prunes and asks for them all the time!
Spencer – 4.5
Protein: Shrimp or salmon, grilled. (Or anything of the fish variety.) He can literally eat his weight in the fish cakes you get at Korean restaurants.
Vegetable: What are those?! Do potatoes count? (I’m so not joking… unfortunately.)
Fruit: He’ll never pass up a strawberry, but lately he is ALL about the pomegranate. As am I since he will sit for a long time getting those seeds out!
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What are your little one’s favorite protein, vegetable, and fruit?
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
Prettybaby is 10 months old and will eat pretty much any protein we offer her, but beef is a standing favourite. Veggies it’s a toss up between broccoli, asparagus and squash. Fruit is banana’s hands down these days. She will eat an entire banana all by herself!
kiwi / 623 posts
My LO is 11 months. For protein,new haven’t had a favorite but I give him a variety of ground turkey/pork, tofu, or Greek yogurt. He’s been the most consistent with peas but also eats broccoli, carrots, and yams. For fruit, it has to be blueberries.
coconut / 8299 posts
My son likes cheese and chicken. The only veggies he’ll eat right now are potatoes and corn. And he loves all kinds of fruits, especially grapes, blueberries and apples. I make him a smoothie every night for dinner and I throw in a bunch of veggies in it so he’s getting his daily intake of veggies. If only I could get him to eat veggies willingly!
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I tried fish sticks last night and they were a hit! Thanks Mrs. High Heels!