Support thread for moms of picky eaters - Part 2

[~Sara~]

Wow, seems like everyone had pretty decent days all around!  Woohoo!  The planets must have aligned or something

Aaron ate OK yesterday, nothing really to complain about.  He's been on a banana kick lately, and he's eating nearly the whole thing!  It's funny to see his little tummy sticking out afterwards.

[oe]

too cute sara - J is on a strawberry kick. I bought 2 lbs on Monday and they were all gone by wednesday! (I only had a few and DH doesn't eat them... so it was all J!)

[~Sara~]

J is on a strawberry kick.

Smart boy, 'tis the season after all.  Personally, I can't wait until cherries become available (and not at $8/lb).  Last year Aaron really liked them, but who knows this year!

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Eating hasn't been great over here (teething always messes mealtimes up), although S did eat some corn muffin (something he's never had before) for his snack this morning so that was good. 

Last night I made turkey nuggets for him and he wouldn't touch them (he wouldn't touch anything even regular chicken nuggets -- only cheese -- so I'm not convinced that he won't eat these yet).  Anyway, they really look just like the chicken nuggets you buy in the store and they are really easy to make.  DH and I ate them for dinner too - we dipped them in bbq sauce and honey mustard sauce. We thought they were really good.  I think S will eat them once he stops being so agitated from his teeth.  Here's the recipe:

1 lb of ground turkey
salt, pepper, parsley, onion powder (any other spice you want to add)
1-2 eggs
flour
whole wheat bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Combine turkey with salt, pepper, parsley, onion powder.  Put flour in one small bowl, bread crumbs in another small bowl, and eggs in yet another small bowl.  Roll ground turkey into balls. Coat each one with flour first, then dip in the egg, and then coat with the breadcrumbs.  Place on a greased baking sheet (I used cooking spray).  Use a fork to press down on each ball to create the look of a nugget.  Bake for 10 minutes, flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes. 

[~Sara~]

Those do sound yummy...and easy (Which I really like)!  I agree...don't give up on them yet.  Silly teeth

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks for the recipe!

Not looking like a good day here. Short night of sleep last night (only 9.5 hours) and EW (5:10 am) tends to do that. Had OK breakfast with another multigrain waffle (he's an addict) toasted with earth balance spread and some of his smoothie (today's is apple juice, water, strawberries, banana and avocado) but no lunch other than literally two noodles from some chicken noodle soup and a bit more smoothie. Will see how snack and dinner go but not hopeful since it's not penne pasta and that's all he wants anymore!

[Jiinx]

mm speaking of strawberries. I made strawberry vanilla breakfast cookies which was pretty good. Z had one cookie.

She really just eats well one day of the week. Yesterday she was starving and ate pretty decent meals. She was crying in the car when my MIL and I got some bbq chicken and fries..she was crying "fries? fries? friiiies!!!" <insert wail>

Thanks Karen! Sounds yummy. I made ground chicken kebabs with oatmeal rather than breadcrumbs but she didn't like them I hope his teeth come out...poor guy.

[Mom to M&M]

Mmmmm Sarah, how did you make the strawberry vanilla breakfast cookies?

[Mom to M&M]

Strange eating day here. After the non-lunch DS had two of the small breakfast cookies (with the tofu) for snack. And more of his smoothie. Then for dinner he refused the challah french toast (DH is at a work dinner and DD was eating hot dog, carrots and applesauce but had a whole pouch of blueberries/pears/purple carrot and then decided he wanted some of the roasted chickpeas and ate a fair amount. Seems like teeth bugging him though. Just so tired of him screaming at dinner time if it's basically not penne pasta or pizza!

[Jiinx]

Karen! It's from Sneaky Chef's book...Strawberry Vanilla Breakfast cookies..

I can type out the recipe tomorrow

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

So......I made the roasted chickpeas.  They are so yummy! However.

I decided to give some to DS in a non-high chair/eating setting since he tends to be more willing to new eat things that way.  I put two in my palm and he took them.  (Started to get happy.) He put them on the floor and started rolling them around.  He is obsessed with bouncing and rolling balls back and forth and omg I think he thinks these are just really tiny ones!  Seriously?! He puts every toy he owns in his mouth.  WHY NOT THE CHICKPEAS?! Sigh.

Oh well. We'll try again! Got to stay positive, right?

Hope everyone's day is going well!

[Jiinx]

ladies..such an awful day

She had a strawberry breakfast cookie and a bite of egg for breakfast. For lunch she had a few bites of pasta and a few bites of grilled cheese on bread..

for lunch she wanted nothing. Had a few bites of chicken and then put some cream cheese on bread and she ate most of it.

Here's the recipe for the cookies

makes about 4 dozen cookies
ingredients:
6 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of flour blend
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
3 cups of old fashioned rolled oats
2 large eggs
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry puree
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of strawberry jam

 preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
 Melt butter
 In a large bowl, whisk together flour blend, baking soda, salt and oats. set aside.
 In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, strawberry puree, sugar and the melted butter.
 Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Drop single tbsp onto the baking sheet, leaving an inch bw cookies. Make a small indent with your finger on each cookie and fill with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam, if using.
 Bake for 25-28 (I did 15 minutes and it was fine) or until golden brown.

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Sorry you had a bad eating day, Sarah. Thanks for posting the breakfast cookie recipe.  I will try this one for sure.

Have a question for you all:

So it sounds like most of you offer your LOs something you know that they like along with new things at mealtime.  Something I read on here, though, made me think that maybe I'm doing the wrong thing. I think someone said that they offer something their LO likes, but it is not always an absolute favorite.  Since DS's likes are limited, at dinner, for example, I always offer chicken nuggets and cheese -- two things he will almost always eat.  He loves them.  However, I wonder if I am just sabotaging my efforts to get him to try new things.  

Yesterday, for example, I put out a piece of a beef shish kabob (tried and liked beef a very long time ago, now does not), pepper from that shish kabob (new),  french fries (he will eat these from time to time), steamed broccoli (put this out quite often, he won't try).... I waited for a bit and he wouldn't touch it.  I was able to put a little beef in his mouth, but he spit it out.  He yelled at me until I put some chicken nugget on his tray and proceeded to eat 1 1/2 of them.  

I am kind of stuck between not wanting him to go without dinner, but not knowing if I'm screwing everything up by always offering chicken nuggets at dinner time.  He is teething and has been for a long time, and I know that it is interfering with his willingness to try new foods, so maybe I should just give him favorites and wait it out, but wanted to see what else you ladies do.  

Thanks!

[oe]

In our house we all eat the same thing, unless it is sushi or something very spicy... Jake has to at last try it. He is 3 so he can tell me if he doesn't like it and then I will determine whether or not I will give him something else. Usually he eats a little bit at least. Before I found he was just eating toast everyday... now, he is getting better and although sometimes doesn't eat as much as I want him too, he is at least trying new foods. I was also stuck with that whole not eating dinner thing too, but now for some reason, I don't worry about it as much and he is eating so much better.

[Jiinx]

I think what you're doing is fine. It's difficult though bc you want to expose to a lot of different foods. I think sometimes picky eaters as children don't necessarily turn into picky eaters later. I mean there are days when Z eats whatever I put in front of her and then there are days when her favourites are just not accepted.

I think it's okay that they're eating a certain type of food for a few days or weeks or whatever..it's not going to last and it'll probably get played out. Sometimes I'm just in the frame of mind of thinking "I-just-want-her-to-eat-anything!" and if it's healthy and nutritious that's fine.