Cayenne (our daughter) turned one! We get a lot of questions (online and off) about how she eats and what we feed her. It’s time we did a blog post all about Caya’s food.
As soon as Caya could sit up, we had her in a high chair at the table with us for every meal. When Caya was six months old we started her on solid foods, using the eat corn-on-the-cob within the first few days and quickly learned to eat almost anything that we cut up for her.
People frequently ask “what has Caya eaten so far?” — they don’t realize how long it could take to answer that question. We tried to compile a list of some of the foods she’s eaten so far, knowing we’ve already forgotten some (especially all the cheeses). Even though this list seems long, there’s still so many things I’m waiting for her to try like sushi, chocolate, clams, jamon iberico, lox, Szechuan food, honey, and peanut butter! The items with asterisks (*) are her favorites (in one sitting she ate over 19 cherry tomatoes!)
BBQ Pulled Pork | Buffalo Fish | Crimini Mushroom |
Pork Chop | Tile fish | Avocado * |
Sliced Lamb | Monk fish | Artichoke * |
Peking Duck* | Yellowtail | Sunchoke |
Chicken (including heritage-bred) | Salmon | Broccoli |
Cornish Game Hen | Skate | Spinach |
Roasted Turkey | Tilapia | Cauliflower |
Moroccan-Spiced Turkey Meatloaf | Flounder | Daikon |
Beef Hamburger * | Seabass | Broccolini |
Turkey Hamburger * | Striped Bass | Brussels Sprouts |
Lamb Hamburger | Shrimp | Fennel |
Meatballs | Kumato Tomatoes * | Asparagus |
Lasagna | Cherry/Grape Tomatoes * | Carrot |
Potato | Green Zebra Tomatoes * | String Bean |
Japanese Sweet Potato* | Campari Tomatoes * | Corn |
Taro | Edamame | Cucumber |
Garnet Yam | Chickpeas | Peas |
White Sweet Potato | Falafel | Roasted Beets |
French Fries | Black Beans | Roasted Bell Peppers |
Sweet Potato Fries | Hummus | Butternut Squash |
Pizza | Cherrios | Delicata Squash |
Kati Roll | Kashi | Zucchini |
Breaded Chicken Cutlet | Farina | Eggplant |
Squash Soup | Cous Cous | Endive |
Pumpkin Lasagna | Quinoa | Figs |
Tomatillo Salsa | Tzatziki | Apple |
Lamb Chops | American Cheese | Banana |
Ginger Tea | Muenster Cheese | Pomelo |
Buttered Bread | Feta | Grapefruit |
Bread Dipped in Olive Oil | Mozzarella | Mandarin Orange |
Parsnip Fries | Goat Milk Ricotta | Clementine |
Pork/Chive Dumplings | Chevre | Cara Cara Orange |
Pork Wontons | Yogurt * | Naval Orange |
Apple Sauce | Blackberry | Tangelo |
Scrambled Eggs | Raspberry | Tangerine |
Bagels (Plain and Pumpernickel) | Blueberry | Nectarine |
Assorted Breads | Strawberry | Peach |
Pita | Pineapple | Mango |
Garlic Bread | Cantaloupe | Watermelon |
Assorted Pasta Shapes | Honey Dew | Bartlett Pear |
Chinese Noodles | Canary Melon | Anju Pear |
Mung Bean Noodles/Sheets | Korean Melon | Asian Pear |
Moo Shu Pancakes | persimmon | Papaya |
White Rice | plum | Red Globe Grapes |
Rice Wraps | papaya | Green Grapes |
Tofu / Do Hwa / Frozen Tofu | veal | Black Grapes |
To sum up her eating experience so far, at her nine-month check up her pediatrician asked how her eating is. When I said she’s been eating lots of foods she further inquired “Like what?” I simply listed her dinner from the night before: hamachi (yellowtail) and sunchoke. She didn’t know what either were. For our readers, it might be a fun game to see if you’ve eaten as much as this one year old.
For her birthday, my mom came over and made the traditional long-life noodles. Here she is slurping them up.
Happy 1st Birthday, Miss Cayenne Binder! Wishing you, mommy and daddy many blessings and happiness today and always. xo Leesie
Aaahhhh! She’s adorable! She’s got ‘serious eater’ written all over her face…like her beautiful mama. 🙂
Actually there are certain types of fish that should be avoided for children under a year. I know tile fish is one of them.
My oldest was allergic to soy and eggs at 6 months of age. I was very careful with the introduction of solids with him and my two youngest children.
Happy birthday, Caya!
oh Caya your hair is so long! Happy birthday! Can’t wait to see you this week.
Thanks Leesie! Miss Cayenne Binder sounds so mature right now. =)
Double thanks Kim. Sometimes she does get very serious about chowing down.
Anne, we avoid the high mercury fishes but Tile fish is one of my favorites so we have it once a year. As for allergies, we’re not concerned since we don’t have a family history of it and our doc ok’d everything. Knock on wood, she hasn’t had a problem.
Thanks Edgar!
Amy, Caya can’t wait to see you too!!
Good for you. Just goes to prove if you don’t tell kids they shouldn’t like stuff, they will like it. But artichokes? I’m impressed.
What an adventurous eater! This list is impressive. I have been introducing Alex to a wide range of foods too and this list gives me great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Cannot believe she’s one already! She’s so so cute. You should consider doing seminars on how to raise a non-picky kid.
yayy happy birthday caya!
are there pics of justins bday too???
Jeri, it helps that Lon and I eat basically everything.
Christine, can’t wait for Alex and Caya to meet and eat together.
Thanks Tracy, haha I don’t know. I think it’s half luck.
eatingfoodboy, I don’t jave pics from Justin’s birthday. We were so busy cooking. He requested something like 7 courses.
She is adorable ! – and what a wide variety of foods she has tried. She is lucky that her parents are foodies !
she’s frickin’ precious, jessica! and continue to love on her name! 🙂
Thanks Olivia and Grace. We have definitely been enjoying her name, her palate, and her blossoming into a foodie. =)
this is my first time on this website and just happened on to this section. I remember when my children (ages 40 and 48)were babies, Drs didn’t want babies to eat anything until they were at least 6mo old, but my oldest was going through formula like crazy and still hungry, so I started him on rice cereal mixed with his formula. He started sleeping all night. I asked the Dr what I should feed (I didn’t tell him he was already on cereal) and he got upset because I was even considering feeding him anything but his formula. I am so glad young people are more adventurous these days with their children. If a child is hungry for pete’s sake, feed him/her. I was a very young mother and I wouldn’t have dared go to much against the doc, but my mom told me about the cereal thing. It made my son happy. but that was as far as I would go.
congratulations on having such an adventurous young eater, you are a good mother for not telling her what she should or shouldn’t eat. all of my grandchildren are very picky eaters and I have heard the moms and dads telling “you are not gonna like that, and they don’t” have never tasted the food, but parents said they wouldn’t, so it must be true. LOL
Mamoo, it’s still recommended for babies to wait till 6 months for solid foods and we didn’t feed her anything but breastmilk until she was 6 months old. We were very lucky though. She slept 8 hrs at night by the time she was 8 weeks old. We are letting her try everything now….she tried chistorra, rock shrimp, croissant, tortilla (Spanish), shishito peppers, and more today…
Thanks for this post, I’m a fan of your blog. I have a 2 month old and I can’t wait for her to start on solid foods. I feel nursing is such a chore. It’s not a want to, but a have to. I’ll try the weening method you’ve mentioned when she’s old enough.
That list of food just proves a point that children will eat what their parents eat if done with engagement and relationship. She’s so cute and she’s very lucky to have you as her parent. Looks like a house of food heaven to me. Perfect for your little angel.
Lynn, I don’t really mind nursing but I can’t wait to stop pumping. Let me know how your baby likes food in a few months. =)
Thanks Angela! I bet your kids are great eaters too!
Happy 1st Birthday Cayenne! She looks so adorable eating noodles.
Love this blog. I’m really excited to try the Taiwanese Noodle recipe myself.
Missing the Shake and Pop team
Yumi, we miss you too! We should plan a reunion!
What a lucky girl. With this wide range of choices, I don’t think she’ll ever be a picky eater.
Hahaha, this made me laugh, only a foodie blogger would meticulously log in all the food their baby had eaten.