My 2 Super Picky Toddlers - please help!!

amother

Lavender

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 2:02 pm

I am really going out of my mind. Dh and I are not picky eaters and for the most part serve healthy and nutritious food but somehow, dd (almost 2) and ds (age 3) are very picky.
1. What they will NOT eat: anything liquidy (so no yogurts or soups or cereal w/ milk), cheese, eggs (except the white of a hardboiled egg), beef, or fish (other than gefilte fish). One will only eat chicken if it is in a schnitzel/fried form, while the other one will eat any chicken. They both like ground chicken/chickenballs if it is in a sweet sauce.
DD does not like bread at all. DS will only eat bread if it has a sweet spread like chocolate or jelly. I have tried so many alternatives to put in the bread, and he will literally starve himself and bring home his sandwich every day from gan rather than eat the sandwich with chumus or peanut butter or whatever other healthy alternative I try.
2. They get "tired" of meals easily, so I cannot serve the same breakfast/lunch/dinner for more than two days in a row.
3. The vegetables they will both eat are cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, and olives. Ds likes pickles and peppers as well, and dd likes peas. But other than that, ALL veg are despised.
4. What they both DO like: most fruits (especially canned), pizza, ricecakes, pasta with tomato sauce, rice, cookies, and milk.
But remember: I can't serve anything too often (like more than two days in a row) or else they get tired of it.

So the conclusion of all of this is -
the only breakfast options I have to give them is fruit and hardboiled eggs.
The only snacks I can give are fruit, the veg they like, ricecakes, and cookies.
And I am totally lost with lunch and dinners because I can only make pasta w/ marinara sauce or meatballs w/ rice so often.

Please help!! I am seriously going crazy and feel like a terrible mother for barely feeding my kids. Yesterday they literally ate fruit for breakfast, cucumbers for lunch, and cookies for dinner because they rejected what I cooked for lunch/dinner Sad

mummiedearest

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 2:25 pm

wow, what fun!

here's my advice:

1) DO NOT allow them cookies instead of healthy food.

2) try some new textures. you say they don't like runny food, but you may want to try sunny side up eggs with them. they'll eat the whites in all likelihood,and it's fun to dip bred into the yolk. it's liquidy, but it's not a mouthful of liquid that way. fry the bread as an extra incentive if you have to. have you tried scrambled eggs? shaped eggs? I have hard boiled egg molds, the kids are always excited to eat shaped eggs. they're easy to use. peel the hot eggs under running water, stuff them into the molds, stick in the fridge until cool.

3) mix ground beef with ground chicken. add a little more beef every time you make meatballs.

4) consider making an "eat a rainbow" chart for them. they get a sticker in each color category they eat. make it pretty, and make a huge deal if they take a bite of anything new. get some really cool stickers for it.

5) try some less common veggies with them. butternut squash or delicata squash are quite sweet. you can add cinnamon and honey to them if you want it sweeter, even melt butter on it for extra fat. stick them whole in the oven until soft, don't bother cutting them open. my kids love squash, and I serve it plain. take them on a trip to a farmers market and have them pick produce. try something new with them.

6) have them help you cook, and introduce them to tasting while cooking. give them tastes and ask, "does this need more salt/whatever else you use?" make kid-sized aprons out of old t-shirts, they'll be excited to help.

7) use veggies in art projects. if you cut a bunch of celery off its base, the base makes a great rose stamp. let them use it with paint if they agree to take a bite of celery. potatoes make good stamps too, and I bet the core of a head of lettuce would be a fun paintbrush. be firm about taking a bite before starting to paint.

amother

Lavender

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 3:14 pm

spring13 wrote:

Will they eat pancakes? You can do a lot with pancakes. My kids are also more likely to try things if it's on a skewer or in a boreka, or if it's in chip form - they'll eat homemade kale chips or even beet chips, when they'd never in a million years eat regular cooked kale or beets. The mandolin attachment to your food processor is your friend!

You might also want to try the sneak-the-veg-in-where-they-can't-see-it method (ie: Jessica Seinfel'd cookbook). It's not a replacement for broadening one's horizons, but it can at least lessen your anxiety in terms of the overall nutrition they take in.

Thank you for your response.

I think they would eat pancakes. I have never made them before, as in my mind they are as junky as cookies, but now that you mention it, maybe there is a way to make them somewhat nutritious. Do you have a good recipe?

They won't eat borekas. The chip form is a nice suggestion. They both dislike potato chips/potatoes. Can I make these beet chips in the oven?

I have tried grating things into meatballs or into the marinara sauce. My son will finds every little piece of onion or whatever other veg he notices and takes it out or refuses to eat the whole thing Sad

amother

Lavender

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 3:22 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

OP here. I really appreciate your response and suggestions - thank you!!

Some comments/questions:

1) I feel really terrible for allowing cookies and I totally hear the suggestion of not letting them at junk, but practically, how does that work? Because if they refuse the healthy food and are living off of milk and cucumbers all day and rejected the healthy lunch/dinner I made, what do I do once 6 pm approaches - let them go to sleep hungry? (I am asking seriously, as I am not sure what to do in this scenario.)
2) I have tried every type of egg (scrambled, french toast, sunny side up, omelet, etc. The only one they will eat is hardboiled). Where do you buy egg molds?
3 & 4 - great ideas!! I think I will try that sticker chart. Not sure how much of it my oldest 2 year old will understand, but it will probably somewhat work with the 3 year old.
5) They hate all squashes/sweet potatoes/gourds. I made such a delicious sweet kugel with butternut squash-spinach for Rosh Hashana (in a graham cracker pie crust) and my son refused to try it, while my daughter tried a bit and then spit it out Sad

Amarante

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 3:31 pm

Can be frozen if you put wax paper or parchment between each.

Buckwheat pancakes are also nutritious.

You could make parve and wrap around a mini hot dog.

There are healthy versions of chicken fingers and you could make a sweet dipping sauce with disguised puréed veggies.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

12 4-in pancakes

The Dry Goods

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour.)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar

The Wet Works

2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients. (I just melted the butter slightly before adding it in with the eggs and buttermilk.).
Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff and mix just until batter comes together. Do NOT mix smooth. Set aside batter to rest for 5 minutes.
* Heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees or place a nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat.
*Test the griddle by flicking water on it. If the water dances across the surface, you’re good to go.
* Rub down the griddle with a little butter or spray with nonstick spray.
Ladle 1 scoop of batter onto the griddle. (Batter will be thick! Just spread it out with the bottom of your ladle or the back of a spoon.) Cook until bubbles form in the batter and bottom is golden, approximately three minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is golden, another a minute or so. Adjust the heat as necessary as you go along. Serve while hot!

spring13

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 3:34 pm

amother wrote:

I usually make pancakes with cornmeal and almond flour and no sweetener (will post recipe in a bit), and have pure maple syrup for dipping. There are lots of recipes out there using whole wheat flour, or adding things like applesauce or pureed pumpkin or mashed banana or even silken tofu to boost the nutritional content.

The trick to adding veggies without them being readily perceptible is to puree them: that's how the Deceptively Delicious cookbook works. Even jarred babyfood works in a pinch.

It might also help to use healthier versions of your usual ingredients - whole wheat flour or breadcrumbs, a brand of marinara with less added sugar, things like that.

mummiedearest

Thu, Oct 01 2015, 4:54 pm

amother wrote:

1) yes, they go to bed hungry. it will not kill them. my dd used to refuse to eat dinner at that age because she knew I'd let her out of bed to eat later. I put a stop to it by warning her in advance that she will no longer be given food after dinner. I warned her a handful of times before dinner, than at dinner. she didn't believe me, so she went to bed hungry. it never happened again. speaking as the world's pickiest child (I ate a much shorter list of foods at those ages, wouldn't touch chicken or meat until I was 18), I can tell you that my mom went nuts trying to get me to eat. she absolutely hates cooking, btw. going nuts will do nothing but drive you nuts. they're not going to eat if they don't want to eat. just expose them to a reasonable variety of food, and try to have a strict rule that they must take one bite of everything served. many toddlers need to try things 10-20 times to decide they like food. be patient and positive.

if you can't get them to eat after a reasonable stretch, consider consulting an OT about sensory issues. a lot of food issues have to do with textures rather than tastes. an OT may be able to help you out with this.

2) have you tried egg-in-a-frame? cut the inside of a slice of bread out with a fun cookie cutter shape (let them help), then fry it with an egg inside. I flip it and melt a slice of cheese on top. also, egg molds: http://www.amazon.com/SQdeal-H.....molds

3) I make pumpkin pie out of butternut squash. I used to hate pumpkin pie, and I've discovered that adding a healthy splash of vanilla (the real stuff, not imitation) makes it delicious. bake your squash, put the scooped out flesh into a food processor with a couple of eggs, honey, cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and a healthy splash of vanilla. I add in almond flour as well, but I think it'll work fine without. I usually bake it crustless, just bake until set. I would not put spinach into squash pie, it doesn't look appetizing to little ones. try this once, I bet you'll eat it if they don't.

have you considered making a squash/apple/maple syrup combo? I bet they'd eat it just fine. you may want to start on sweetened veggies and slowly reduce the sweetener to get them used to the veggie flavor.