Support thread for moms of picky eaters - Part 2

[Mom to M&M]

We had a couple successes today in that DS ate a few raw apple slices (he used to eat them all the time but had stopped) and roasted chickpeas. Made this recipe as is but added salt in with the cinnamon and he and DD LOVED them. Great healthy snack! http://weelicious.com/2011/05/10/roasted-honey-cinnamon-chickpeas/

Meals still not great though. Chicken noodle soup has been on the outs lately, as have chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries and oatmeal. He wants to live on pizza (luckily he loves my homemade one with LOTS of veggies) and pasta (at least he'll do various sauces, including bolognese).

Today he had:

B: a medium whole wheat pancake with Earth Balance spread, some of a fruit smoothie with avocado blended in
L: small piece challah french toast, roasted chickpeas, more smoothie
S: apple slices, more smoothie
D: maybe 1/4 a grilled cheese sandwich (goat's milk cheese), 3/4 a pouch of spinach/peas/pear

For us, sadly, that's a pretty good day! Hopefully we'll get some protein in there tomorrow with bacon at the diner.

[~inbalance~]

Karen, that would be a good day here too!  Thanks for that chickpea snack recipe, I am going to try that as I am looking for more healthy snack ideas!

Actually, F ate pretty good today for a change!  We were busy this morning and didn't really do a mid morning snack, so I wonder if that's why both boys actually ate some lunch.

Today they had:
Breakfast - some whole wheat croissant, and some cinnamon raisin toast, a few strawberries (they both seem to be off strawberries atm which is usually something they can't get enough of )
Lunch - cheese, crackers, carrots sticks, turkey sandwich, leftover strawberries.  F ate a bunch of cheese which was great, and some crackers, but threw the strawberries.     T ate about 4 bites of the turkey sandwich (yay!), a bunch of cheese and crackers, and some strawberries.  Neither of them really ate any carrots.     They're not keen on raw ones.
Snack - some raisins, and some dry cereal
Dinner - slow cooker beef with potatoes and carrots.  T only really ate carrots, but F actually had a few pieces of beef, a few bites of potatoes, and several carrots. 

T then had some raisin toast before bed.   

I've got some new ideas to try this week to see if I can get them eating better.  We were at the doctor yesterday and F weighs less than I thought he would.    He is not even 19 lbs at 12.5mos, but at least is in the 50th % for height so I guess he is probably growing up and not out.  He also walks so much so that is also why he is not packing on the pounds.  I put T on the scale while there and he weighs less than I thought too, only about 25 lbs (fully clothed) at 32mos.    Again I think he is growing taller but not gaining weight. 

I know they are fine, but must focus on getting more food into them! 

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

S had a bad eating day yesterday.  Our day went like this:

Breakfast: a piece of French Toast, refused fruit puree, some Cheerios
Lunch: scrambled egg
Snack: pear puree
Dinner: cheese cubes and Cheerios

Cheese cubes and Cheerios! I think that his bottom canines are cutting (and perhaps the last top first yr molar), so I am pretty sure that is what is doing it. Still frustrating nonetheless. 

And he must know that I want him to eat because he will put a bite of food near his mouth, not put it in, and drop it in his chair and make me think he's eaten it.  He started pretend chewing yesterday.  I don't know how/if this is possible, but jeez!

I would love to do smoothies with him, but he refuses the sippy cup and I am trying to just give him his milk in the bottle atm.  Anything else goes in the sippy cup ie juice (even if he won't drink it - he likes juice, but almost always throws the sippy on the floor, only occasionally will take a few sips from it) until we start a serious wean from the bottle.  Should I try a smoothie in his bottle or wait until he starts to take the sippy?

Karen and Martina - sounds like some good eating going on over by you! FX it continues.

Karen - thanks for posting the recipe.  I am going to try it.

[Mom to M&M]

Last few days DS eats decent (for him) for two out of three meals and completely refuses the other. Yesterday he had a good breakfast (4 silver dollar pancakes and half a piece of bacon) and good dinner (pasta bolognese) but no lunch. Healthy snacks though.

Due to lack of any form of milk since we took away his bottles and subsequently discovered a dairy intolerance, DS definitely does not get enough calcium or Vit D. Definitely going to be ordering a supplement today! Protein is lower than I'd like to - he used to do stuff like roasted meats but dropped those some time ago. If it weren't for his juice smoothie we'd be in big trouble!

Samsmommy, I'd not use the bottle for smoothie or juice, but that's just me!

[~inbalance~]

Sounds like he's doing well at the moment Karen, hopefully it continues!

F is doing pretty good too, he is eating more.  T, well he's eating a little bit more than he was but still not much. 

[Jiinx]

Karen, that was a great day for eating! I'd be over the moon if Z ate like that

Sadly, Z has been not eating well the last couple of days. Argh it's so hard not to worry!

[Mom to M&M]

Yes, he's doing quite well lately, in his own limited way. He's TOTALLY carb boy - but I try to make them as healthy as possible. Like this morning he had an entire multigrain toaster waffle (Trader Joe's - inexpensive but healthy and all natural) with Earth Balance spread at home. And then at the grocery store he chomped through 1/3 of a pumpernickel bagel in the shopping cart. And on the way home had an entire sippy cup full of Naked blue smoothie diluted with water and with avocado and blackstrap molasses blended in. I'm sure he won't eat lunch. And the rest of us are doing deli sandwiches tonight so probably will offer DS extra eggy challah french toast. I'll focus on apple slices and pistachio nuts for snacks probably.

Sarah, sorry Z isn't eating well. Did you ever have her iron levels checked to see if that's a factor in her low appetite?

Martina, yay for the boys and hope it continues/increases!

[Mom to M&M]

OK so I just made a new batch of those breakfast cookies I've posted here before - but instead of ricotta I used tofu (to make them dairy free) and instead of crushed Total cereal (cause I was out of it) I used crushed Trader Joe's toasted oatmeal cereal. Like them even better this way! Hopefully DS likes them/has one after his nap.

[~inbalance~]

Where did you post that recipe Karen?

[Mom to M&M]

On this thread, a few pages back. But probably easier if I just post again. I halved the recipe here (which then made 10 cookies), but still used one full egg. And like I said above, this time I subbed in tofu (same amount) for the ricotta and used the crushed toasted oatmeal flakes cereal instead of Total. I also used half brown sugar, half maple syrup. Otherwise I did as is, though was relatively generous with the cinnamon sugar on top!

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/articles/lapine_sneaky_chef_breakfast_cookies_1.html

[~inbalance~]

Awesome, thanks!  I'm going to try those this week!

[~Sara~]

Hey gals!  Well, we're still plugging away over here...still exposing him to new foods...still trying to get him to at least try new things...to no avail.  Oh well.  He's eating pretty well, amount-wise, so I can't complain.

Karen, Aaron is SUCH a carb baby, too.  He's been asking for bread with every meal lately.

[Mom to M&M]

Hope they go over well there Martina. Matthew just happily ate 1.75 of them for snack now! He thinks he is getting cookies, I know he is getting tofu and wheat germ and all.

Sara - let me know if you figure out anything with the carb issue!

[~inbalance~]

I hope they work too.  Everytime I've made healthier cookies for the boys, they don't eat them!  How is it that they know the difference between homemade and that store bought cr@p?!?   

Today has been ok.  I got this organic corn puff type cereal that F seemed to really like for breakfast.  T ate some and played with the rest.    They both had some smoothie and some mango.  Not much of a snack for them this morning, I offered some milk and cereal bar but they just kinda nibbled.  Fair enough. 

Lunch, T did really well for a change.  He actually ate almost an entire ham sandwich!  I think it's because I made it on a whole wheat croissant instead of bread.  Will have to remember to pick up more croissants!  He ate a bunch of pear too.

F only really nibbled on some cheese and crackers.    I cut up some red pepper but neither of them touched it.  *sigh*

[~Sara~]

He thinks he is getting cookies, I know he is getting tofu and wheat germ and all.

Mwahahahaaa!

Sara - let me know if you figure out anything with the carb issue!

I'm not too worried...I like bread a lot, too and would/could eat it with every meal.  He just takes after his mama

Martina, glad things were a bit better today!  T has good taste: croissant!  Yum!