I promised I would follow up on my progress with getting my children to eat more foods. More specifically, me only cooking one meal for the family. Well we’ve had our successes and our failures. They definitely have different palates. What works for one doesn’t work for the other. Some dinners lasted For.Ev.Er. Seriously, 45 minutes to eat 6 pieces of a pork chop. Really!? But I stuck to my guns for the most part.
Here are some of our successes:
All three liked boneless chicken breast in the Crockpot with cream of chicken soup and half a cup of chicken stock. I was amazed. I have done everything I can think of with chicken. From sauteing, to baking, to grilling and I could never get them to eat more than one bite. They just wanted it ground up and pressed into a dino shape. I didn’t have to coax them. It was just “this is dinner and this is what you’re having.” The corn. Deacon ate it all, Logan ate it but swallowed each kernel whole, Finnegan… a lost cause. I’ll battle that one when he gets a bit older and more negotiable.
Chicken tacos. Usually when I make chicken tacos I make cheese quesadillas for the boys. Not this time. Chicken tacos, that’s what is on the menu. Logan loved them. He thought they were “awesome” and had “so much flavor!” Although he didn’t want tomatoes or lettuce…he loaded up on olives and cheddar with a side of cucumbers. Deacon didn’t like the spicy chicken, but at least he tried it. He ended up making a taco of olives, corn, and cheese. Not too bad. Finnegan then cried and went to the refrigerator and grabbed the package of hot dogs. Win some, lose some.
Logan tried a bite of Mahi-Mahi. I was so proud of him. I would have been happier if he really liked it. But at least he tried it.
Trying is the biggest part of it all. However, they sometimes think they can just try something, spit it out, and make their dinner request.
The Comments:
“Real chicken! Oh No.”
“Do we HAVE to eat the broccoli!?”
“Mom! Finn put his peas on my plate!”
“Ugh. How many more bites of this?”
“Can I have A1 on this, please?”
The key to getting Deacon to eat anything is offering some A1. Logan has rediscovered applesauce, and we now have something to get those pork chops down with.
List of Things I can put on the plate:
Peas, corn, broccoli, cous-cous, rice pilaf, cucumbers, olives, pasta, meatballs, chicken, & pork
List of things we are going to revisit:
Sweet potatoes, zucchini, shrimp, shaved steak, and lettuce! My kids need to find a salad dressing. Logan is so anti-dipping. The kid won’t even eat ketchup!
So there you have it. It gets a little easier day by day.
I feel your pain! It sounds like they are all willing, just different tastes. My son eats almost anything but he doesn’t like spicy stuff and my daughter likes really plain food. Still, with four people it’s hard to find a lot of meals that make everyone happy! Love their comments.
Good for you. We are working on the same thing in our home. I’m so glad your oldest will at least try everything. Best wishes for success with your one meal plan.
awesome. I have two totally different kids – one who will try anything and one who literally pukes at the touch of new food to his lips. So much fun 😉
I hear ya. Braxtyn is such a picky eater too, but at his age it’s hard to get the point across about how important it is to eat healthy foods everyday.
My kids are SO picky, but as they get older they are branching out a little bit more!
Stick to it Sheri – proud of you!
Thanks Jennifer. It takes a lot of patience, but it is something I really, really want for our family. My proud moment: Deacon eating kidney beans right out of the fridge!
Sounds like you’re on your way!! Some progress is better than NO progress and at least they aren’t just eating nuggets, fries, and pizza! Great Job.
My picky eater makes me crazy. But it sounds lieke you have made great progress!! It is hard to have a picky kid. Now I know why I made my mom cry with my pickiness when I was little!!
We had the bite rule. They had to try it. I don’t force them to eat anything, if they are done they are done however what I make is IT. I found eventually they start eating what you make when there is no back up choice. Kids won’t starve themselves (for long at least) lol. Mine can be picky I found more picky as they get older than younger and it’s a struggle, but now I just make a meal they get a little bit of everything and that’s that. We all have foods we like and dislike and I try to remind myself this. There are also a ton of foods I didn’t like as a child that I love as an adult. Tricks like hiding veggies has worked well for me and anything you can dip especially when they are younger! You are doing a good job so far. Keep at it.
I wish they were dippers! I often get the response “wait, there’s something green in there!” – they found the spinach!
LOL I know one mom who said she blends it up fine in foods (things like spinach! But gotta love those sneaky kids. Mine are in the I don’t like anything you make mom thing… That’s okay don’t like it, don’t eat it but you might starve later otherwise.
I love this! We always had the rule that they had to try whatever was put in front of them (one bite, chewed and swallowed) and they were not allowed to say, “EW” or “Yuck,” they could say they didn’t like it and not have to eat more of it. But usually, they liked it and it became another thing to add to the repertoire.
This is fantastic progress! Can’t wait to hear more. 🙂
Stella and I had this argument tonight. I told her she liked everything that was in dinner and just pull it apart and eat it that way. She did!
Good for you for celebrating the successes! Mealtime can be so stressful. Keep reintroducing those foods – with my son, it sometimes takes 3 or 4 tries but eventually he’ll come around and “decide” he likes that particular good. Keep up the good work!
I am loving all the encouragement on this battle.
Def stick to it. I have such a picky eater. It is so hard to deal with sometimes!