Help, only eats pasta, fruit and vegetables!! (Oh and sausages!)

[**Clare**]

Hello, Im new to this board (But not to the site!!) Harvey was a fantastic eater up until a few months back, as a baby he would eat ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING!!   

Now he eats very little.... we have a roast once a week, out of that he will eat the veg, thats it.  He's had chicken casserole for lunch today and has picked the carrots out and ate the brocolli... hes now munching his way through an apple, an orange and half a banana!! Usually he'd have A piece of fruit for his 'pudding' but I dont want him to be hungry.....

He will also eat yoghurts etc and of course sweets, chocolate and biscuits which we try to stay clear of as much as poss!  His favourite meal is pasta but Im running out of ideas of what to put with it, Im not very creative in the kitchen, he usually has tuna or a cheese sauce so I am hoping you ladies will help me out with some other ideas? He did eat lasagne the other day which is a first!  Also like to chomp on abit of pizza!! (actually the more I go on I see that he doesnt eat just pasta and fruit and veg!) But there is alot he wont eat also mainly meat but also any kind of 'kiddie food' as I call it! Nuggets, fishfingers, chips, waffles, smiley faces etc

So, talking about waffles I am now waffling! And ideas anyone? Things to put with pasta and other meals I could try?

[carolyn]

Actually, it doesn't sound like he has a bad diet to me.  Veggies and fruits are wonderful for him. 

If you are concerned about protein, there is a brand of pasta in the US that is enriched with protein from lentils and other veggie sources.  I think it is Barilla.  I have been using that alot as well as some whole wheat pastas.

If he is eating pasta and veggies you have a huge variety of things you can make:

pasta with alfreda sauce (cream, paremesian cheese) and veggies
pasta with tomato sauce (add lots of veggies to the sauce --- zuchinni, onions, bell peppers, spinach)
lasagna
skillet lasagna (mix sauce, broken up lasagna noodles or egg noodles, and ricotta cheese in the skillet ans simmer for a bit...just don't bake it)
pasta with cottage cheese and spinach

The combinations are endless.

We are vegetarian so I don't worry about eating meat as long as there is protein from other source....eggs, veggies, milk, yogurt, cheese.  Personally, I think "kiddie foods" are not the best things to feed at that age.  They generally are not as nutritous as real food. 

[**Clare**]

Thanks for the advice, we are in the UK and I havent heard of that pasta? Nor am I sure I could make any of those recipes but I can sure give it a go!!

As for the 'kiddie food' we rarely eat this but its difficult when we are out and about, like yesterday we went shopping and into a cafe where all they had was sausage/chicken nuggets/fish fingers with potatoes or chips and then beans or veg... so thre was NOTHING he would eat accept the vegetables!! We got round it in the end but it was just not straight forward!! Also with a 6 year old as well occasionally if hes got a busy day he'll have some kind of 'kiddie food' with beans or veg and we have to make Harvey something different which is a pain sometimes when your in a hurry and you just want a quick meal for them....

Thank you so much for your advice, you have some great ideas! And it nice to know that its possible to get protein without eating meat, I hadnt really thought this through.  He drinks loads of milk, cheeses, yoghurts and also likes scrambled egg (sometimes!)

 

[carolyn]

I know what you mean about the kiddie menus.     It is so ridiculous that they put such junk on them. That is one of my biggest pet peeves.  We even have places here that will include a soda with a kid's meal, but will charge extra for milk.   

I don't always order from the kids menu for john, especially when he was younger.  Sometimes I just split my meal with him. Sometimes I just will order a couple of veggies side dishes for John to eat.  Sometimes a restaurant will have a fruit salad. I try to find other options, if I can.  When John was about the same age as your LO I would just grab a cup of yogurt or a peanut butter sandwich when we would go out. Or keep a banana or other fruit in my bag.

[**Clare**]

I did that last week when I went into town but he refuses to eat sandwiches also so I usually take a banana and a satsuma and a cup of water, hes fine with this and if Im going to someones house I will take some pasta in a tub or something I know he'll eat!  Yesterday I actualy ended up having lasagne and him sharing even though I really just wanted a sandwich!!

Dont get me wrong Im glad he loves fruit and veg and pasta good to, just wish he'd eat what we eat sometimes!!  Bt then life is never that easy is it?! xxx

[Luisasmum]

Just a thought...My dd will only eat food if it's in bite sized pieces and can be eaten with her fingers. As your ds will eat nuggets and fish fingers, pizza etc, maybe it's because they are easy to eat? This is the key to getting my dd to eat anything, even fruit and veg. You could try him on home made chicken nuggets and fish fingers which you can freeze for a quick home meal that you know he'll eat. Mini meatballs might also be a hit. In Australia we have these skinless sausages called chevups which are actually made from ground beef rather than sauage meat, so less fat and no ears and a-holes!!!. If you don't have them in your neck of the woods, you could try to make them yourself - it guess it would be just like making a burger pattie or meatballs but shaped into sausages.

There's a few meat ideas anyway! Good luck!

[Katet]

Wow can I swap a child that willingly eats veg rather than me having to find creative ways to get it into my children.
Honestly at this age 10-20 different food types is very normal.
I cook lots of sausages at a time & then can pull them out at other times... toddlers actually like more same than variety, so if he wants pasta & veg every day wow just cook a big batch to do 2-3 meals & freeze some portions of lasagna or other things that you can pull out for him when you are in a hurry.

[**Clare**]

As your ds will eat nuggets and fish fingers, pizza etc, maybe it's because they are easy to eat?

He doesnt eat these things, I wish he would sometimes though!  I think you're right about the bite size portions though, we do this and also the fact that at 19 months he only has 8 teeth, 4 at the bottom and 4 at the top, no back teeth yet so Im guessing this is why he likes the things he does because they are soft, meats are prob too cheewy BUT we have tried mixing very tiny bits of meat into his pasta, not even big enough that he has to chew and he still sieves them out!! 

To be honest, I have never made anything from scratch, I wouldnt know where to start!! So if you have any recipes for sausages/pasta meals that would be great!! Im always willing to give it a go if I know what Im doing!! And I will look out for the 'chevups' they may do them here I guess!! Thanks! xx 

And thanks for the advice Katet, I dont like to give him the same stuff all the time because as an adult I like variety so I just assumed he did!! But Ill feel better about doing it now! xx 

[MDHmommy]

Clare, My DS is very similar, he's very on-and-off with protein. I posted somewhere about this before, and it seems that lots of veggies really are ok. I agree with one of the PPs it's easier and quicker if you get things cut up and cooked in advance - I work during the day, here are some things that my DS will eat, and that I find are quick and easy to prep.

Frozen ravioli or tortellini - you can take out the portion that he'll eat and just throw in small pot of boiling h20. I don't use sauce, just give plain. A toss of butter is ok too (I think butter is fine, but others may disagree...I'd rather eat natural butter than "fake")

Wide whole wheat noodles, tossed with peas or broccoli florettes (buy bags of frozen veggies, put in bowl with a splash of water then zap for a minute or so) toss that around with a tbs of olive oil and parmesean.

Butternut squash or carrots, I buy these on the weekends, cut and peel then put in a bowl of water in the fridge - you can then toss them in the steamer with a perogie or two - and presto, 5 mins.

I also keep lots of blueberries and other small fruits, grapes, grape tomatoes etc. on hand to cut in halves or quarters as quick snacks. Babybell cheese, or mozerella cheese sticks are a good option too!

OVerall, I'd say your DS is a pretty good eater!

[**Clare**]

Thanks for the ideas, there are some great ideas there I will def try!! xx

[lisi's mum]

Clare, I'd love a lo with the diet yours has, mine only eats bread and satsumas at the moment, but that's a whole other post!

A while back I posted about 30 different pasta recipes on the recipe swap thread

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=42319.0

most are finished in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Maybe you'll find something

[**Clare**]

Wow! Just printed it off, thats great!! Thank you x

[LucyA]

Something you can try with meat is to cook it and then whiz it in a food processor. Eg. cook bolognese sauce then process it. The meat is then really soft, not chewy or lumpy at all.

[**Clare**]

Do you think its okay to puree meat at his age? I wasnt sure but I guess if he eats it then who cares how it comes!! We're having some kind of chicken in a sauce with rice tonight, he usually loves rice so ill try that with the chicken, see how he goes! thanks, will let you know! xxx

[LucyA]

I think it's probably better that he eat it pureed than not eat it at all - unless you're ensuring he gets sufficient protein elsewhere. You could always puree some and also offer some in pieces.

[**Clare**]

Hey!! Guess what?! He scoffed the lot!! Thank you sooo sooo much for your advice, I would have never thought of going back to puree!! He had the chicken with the sauce purred and rice, he actually ate a whole dinner!! I was so pleased!! Thank you xxx

[LucyA]

Yay!! Glad it worked!
I was going to add, he does eat other chunky foods, so I wouldn't worry too much about not eating pieces of meat at this stage, plus he doesn't have many teeth, does he (or am I thinking of someone else??)? So meat would be quite hard for him to manage. If he would only eat pureed anything I would be concerned, but that's not the case.