Well, this has nothing to do with my usual posts, but, it is something very real that happens in our house daily. The picky eater battle begins at lunch. Our kids will eat pretty well any breakfast item as long as it is not an egg.
Dimples is far more picky than Princess, and Princess has improved leaps and bounds in the last 4 months. But, the struggle to get Dimples to eat anything after breakfast is an indefinite struggle, and since he is so incredibly stubborn, he goes long stretches of time without eating. He will wait until he gets what he wants. I am not concerned because he will eat all fruits and some vegetables, but will not touch any resemblance of a meal or important vegetables.
When Princess was little, I purchased all her baby food. Living in the country and working in the city provided little extra time at home to prepare baby food. It was easier to buy and transport a jar of food that I could just grab out of the cupboard. As she got older and exhibited picky eating behaviour, I decided that with Dimples, I would prepare all his baby food. I was convinced that this would prevent him from being a picky eater. Although he would eat all the purees, finger foods like noodles and cheese were no go's from the start. That was the beginning of the no go food list for him. In the end, he became more picky then Princess.
So, I started investigating ways to get my picky eater to eat. I tried all the methods. The idea that it takes a while to get your child interested in food is not factual in my opinion. Dimples has probably seen pasta 40 times in his life and has never once expresses any interest in trying it. The "experts" say that a child will try a food after being exposed to it 12-15 times. If the child is not interested, he just is not interested.
With Dimples, I have determined that the problem is mostly textural. If it is slimy, slippery, chalky, or mushy, he will not touch it. If it is green or orange, he will not touch it. If it could end up on his hands, he will not touch it. It has been a very frustrating journey with him.
With all that said, he is a very sturdy, very healthy boy that has energy that is unimaginable. So, it makes the frustration even more frustrating. I had to come up with a new method to ensure that he was getting the nutrients that he needed.
Then, I decided to start hiding things in his food. This has been ridiculously easy and so far, quite successful. It is all about pureeing certain vegetables together and mixing them into things you are already making. This is something that I had tried ages ago, but had not put much thought into. I would just add whatever I had on hand, not thinking about the impact of flavor. The trick is to mask the unmentionable ingredients into a kid favorite that will be completely hidden. Like spinach juice in chocolate pudding. Or, sweet potatoes and carrots in the mixture for french toast. Watching him gobble up these types of things has been making meal time a lot easier than the constant battles of patience we normally encounter at meal time.
If anyone has a picky eater, the trick is to pureeing certain combinations of fruits and vegetables and mixing them in to kid favorites. They unknowingly devour the foods they try so hard to avoid. Try this recipe for french toast, whether you have a picky eater or not! The extra veggies never hurt anyone :) The recipe comes from the Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine.
This recipe makes 4 pieces of french toast.
2 eggs
1/4 cup orange puree (see below)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
Mix all ingredients and place in a shallow baking dish. Soak whole grain bread in the mixture and prepare in a pan over medium heat.
Orange Puree
1 medium sweet potato
3 medium carrots
Peel and rough chop the carrots and potatoes. Put in a pot and cover with water. Cook for 20 minutes or until tender (especially the carrots). Strain and place into a blender and blend until completely smooth. This will make about 1 1/2 cups of orange puree that can be put into everything from pasta sauce to meatloaf and meatballs.
The french toast is the same color as usual and tastes pretty much the exact same. At least the kids did not notice and even asked for seconds. Hubby enjoyed them as well, even though he new of the new addition.
Dimples is far more picky than Princess, and Princess has improved leaps and bounds in the last 4 months. But, the struggle to get Dimples to eat anything after breakfast is an indefinite struggle, and since he is so incredibly stubborn, he goes long stretches of time without eating. He will wait until he gets what he wants. I am not concerned because he will eat all fruits and some vegetables, but will not touch any resemblance of a meal or important vegetables.
When Princess was little, I purchased all her baby food. Living in the country and working in the city provided little extra time at home to prepare baby food. It was easier to buy and transport a jar of food that I could just grab out of the cupboard. As she got older and exhibited picky eating behaviour, I decided that with Dimples, I would prepare all his baby food. I was convinced that this would prevent him from being a picky eater. Although he would eat all the purees, finger foods like noodles and cheese were no go's from the start. That was the beginning of the no go food list for him. In the end, he became more picky then Princess.
So, I started investigating ways to get my picky eater to eat. I tried all the methods. The idea that it takes a while to get your child interested in food is not factual in my opinion. Dimples has probably seen pasta 40 times in his life and has never once expresses any interest in trying it. The "experts" say that a child will try a food after being exposed to it 12-15 times. If the child is not interested, he just is not interested.
With Dimples, I have determined that the problem is mostly textural. If it is slimy, slippery, chalky, or mushy, he will not touch it. If it is green or orange, he will not touch it. If it could end up on his hands, he will not touch it. It has been a very frustrating journey with him.
With all that said, he is a very sturdy, very healthy boy that has energy that is unimaginable. So, it makes the frustration even more frustrating. I had to come up with a new method to ensure that he was getting the nutrients that he needed.
Then, I decided to start hiding things in his food. This has been ridiculously easy and so far, quite successful. It is all about pureeing certain vegetables together and mixing them into things you are already making. This is something that I had tried ages ago, but had not put much thought into. I would just add whatever I had on hand, not thinking about the impact of flavor. The trick is to mask the unmentionable ingredients into a kid favorite that will be completely hidden. Like spinach juice in chocolate pudding. Or, sweet potatoes and carrots in the mixture for french toast. Watching him gobble up these types of things has been making meal time a lot easier than the constant battles of patience we normally encounter at meal time.
If anyone has a picky eater, the trick is to pureeing certain combinations of fruits and vegetables and mixing them in to kid favorites. They unknowingly devour the foods they try so hard to avoid. Try this recipe for french toast, whether you have a picky eater or not! The extra veggies never hurt anyone :) The recipe comes from the Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine.
This recipe makes 4 pieces of french toast.
2 eggs
1/4 cup orange puree (see below)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
Mix all ingredients and place in a shallow baking dish. Soak whole grain bread in the mixture and prepare in a pan over medium heat.
Orange Puree
1 medium sweet potato
3 medium carrots
Peel and rough chop the carrots and potatoes. Put in a pot and cover with water. Cook for 20 minutes or until tender (especially the carrots). Strain and place into a blender and blend until completely smooth. This will make about 1 1/2 cups of orange puree that can be put into everything from pasta sauce to meatloaf and meatballs.
The french toast is the same color as usual and tastes pretty much the exact same. At least the kids did not notice and even asked for seconds. Hubby enjoyed them as well, even though he new of the new addition.
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