Can someone just give it to me straight?

[stephanie01031]

My DD is almost 16 months old and a really good eater for the most part.  I, however, am extremely picky and told myself my children wouldn't be.  I mean, I don't eat a single vegetable except raw carrots.  So, I set out with baby food and forced my daughter to eat things, even when she didn't like them.  It worked, even though i'm a hypocrite, and now she'll eat anything I put in front of her.  I have noticed a bit of rejection on green vegetables, but they give her a horrible diaper rash, so I had to cut back.  I think this has led to her losing her taste for them.

Can someone just tell me good foods to offer my kiddos at snack time and lunch/dinner?  I simply DON'T KNOW what to give her and if I do figure something out, she gets tired of it because that's ALL I give her for days.  My husband ate well as a child, but no one I'm around is offering any advice.  I want to get her to eat her veggies (fruit is no problem) but i don't know how to prepare them or what kinds kids eat.  Not to mention, my DS will be starting solids soon, too.  I'm starting to feel desperate to feed my family healthily!  Can someone just give it to me straight so I can feel better about all of this?  Anyone have any recipe ideas for veggies that kids will love?

[riuliani]

For toddlers you could probably try anything steamed with cheese melted on top.  That seems to work for most kids.  Things like broccoli, cauliflower, beans of any colour.  I actually just buy frozen vegetables.  I put them in a bowl with a couple of table spoons of water then I cover them in the microwave for 4-5 minutes on high.  Then I give the vegetables as finger food.  Peas are excellent for this.  Frozen vegetables are very convenient for getting nutrition into your little ones.  Otherwise fresh things like avocado are also very easy.

[lilmonkey]

I found it best to encourage dd to eat a variety of food is to eat them myself.  Also it will take repeated exposure (10-15X) to get them to even try the new food.  I would not get too discouraged if your lo rejects your wonderful meal the first few times.  Also, remember that like us they can change their preferences over time. For example, dd used to love cheese ( the high end stuff) but she wouldn't touch it unless it is processed cheese which I think has too much sodium.  Anyway,  here's a few websites that you can get ideas from.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/ready-solids-links.html

HTH

[woopster]

Where are you?  If you can get hold of it, Annabel Karmel has really good ideas for toddler foods.  Try the library. 

You might just have to adjust *your* diet a bit - show her what to eat.  They do better if they can see what is going on.

[mum101]

Hi,
things like spagetti bolognaise with lots of grated veges (zuchini, well cooked carrot), and peas and corn is great.  They don't really realise they are eating veges.  But I think it's very important for them to get used to each individual taste, not just covered in spag bog sauce. 

One lady on here had a great and sneakily quick recipe (and now one of DD's favourites and SOOOO quick).  Heat up in a small saucepan a small tin of creamed corn, then add an egg and cook for a few minutes until egg is cooked.  I also add peas and DD LOVES it!

I think you will find your DD will not like some things now but accept them shortly. 

But TBH I also think that your daughter will clue on later that while she has to eat healthy veges, her mum doesn't have to and will feel it's unfair and it's a risk to her becoming fussy once she realises. 

I used to nanny a child who was sooo fussy with food, he was 8 and only had a select menu, it made me determined that there simply weren't certain options in our house.  I decided that if we only give our child a healthy-ish meal (but still working in with her healthy food preferences) that's all there is.  No secret stash of frozen chips chicken nuggets to give her if she fusses!

A good tip is that when you prepare a meal for the family, with say 2 veges, a meat and a piece of bread on the side... if you know your DD will fill up on the bread and not eat the veges, don't give the bread portion until the end of the meal.  That way she's filled up on vege/meat before the bread.  It's a simple tip, but have to say it took me a while to come to work it out (yeah I'm laughing at myself right now!!).   

I also never get her kids meals at restaurants (which I was disappointed to realise are only ever chips and nuggets or white bread ham sandwiches) and she eats part of our meals (which are always more than we can eat).  So when I order a pumpkin risotto and hubby has a vegetarian pizza, that's all she can have.  Don't get anything with chips, they just eat those. 

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

Theo just eats the same food as us.

He loves his foods and eats anything except scramble eggs.

I never ate vegetables until i had Harvey and now i love them. I eat all kinds and we eat cauliflower, broccoli, peas, sweetcorn, carrots, cabbage, green beans.  We also like pasta, rice a quorn as DH and boys are vegetarians.  I should turn a veggie too as I eat the same as them. lol

Both our boys fave meal is pasta with tinned tomatoes and garlic then grated cheese on top. 

[MamaC]

I second the notion of frozen veggies.  I buy the organic combo of peas, corn and carrots.  I throw them in everything.  I also don't offer fruit until ds has eaten some dinner (like mum101 said), since he usually pigs on that and gets full too soon!  Corn on the cobb was a big hit the other night.  Artichokes, too, but dh and I feed him the leaf and pull it out of his mouth.  Good luck!

[CharlotteandCharlie]

Just wanted to add sweet potatos, cut into stripes, boiled, then rolled in a bit of graham cracker powder.  Dd loved this for a while.  You can also do it with firm tofu.

Also, (my new post) I just clued into a way to get dd to eat mashed banana and avacado, which she used to eat from a spoon when she was little.  I bought a popcicle tray, mashed them together with a potato masher, fill the tray and freeze.  Because she are still a bit chunky they don't really leak.  She thinks they are the cats a$$.  Cool for summer, sweet and very very healthy.

[First Time Mom]

For veggies and fruit after we finished with the mashed food stage I only offered my dd steamed veggies and fresh fruit. I wanted her to like the natural taste of food so I don't use any sauces, butter, or salt. I have a friend who's daughter will only eat veggies if they're covered with sauce, only eat fruit if it's mixed in a shake with milk and honey, and only drink wanter if it's mixed with juice. I think they like what they get used to. My dd now loves all veggies, especially brocolli, carrots, and asparagus. If there was a veggie she didn't like I would not put it on her plate but instead put it on ours, she then would desperately want the item as they want what we eat!

[mum101]

That's a great idea first time mom - ultimately they learn to eat what's available.