Very picky 14 yo dd dinner ideas please.

amother

Wine

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 8:46 pm

I have only my 14 yo dd at home. She is very picky and want a brand new dinner from the cook book every day. She eats a little and than she doesn’t want leftovers the next day because it’s not fresh. I working and busy and idk what to do. I used to buy take out for her but she doesn’t take out anymore. What should I do. I try to make her healthy dinners but she doesn’t want the simple chicken vegetables rice salad dinners. She wants to choose her dinner in advance vi think she is spoiled. What should I do? She sometimes says that she will go to bed hungry and sh does. She is pretty thin and I’m worried about her

pizza4

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:03 pm

Maybe sit down with her and discuss the problem. You don't want to be making gourmet suppers every day, but she wants more options. Perhaps once every week or two you'd be willing to try something new that she likes. Perhaps she can help cook one dish for supper several times a week. See how you can work it out. Plan the menu together so you're both happy.
Hope this helps, good luck! It's not easy, balancing it all!

oliveoil

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:04 pm

Make sure you have cereal, bread & cheese, or whatever her "safe" foods are and then stop stressing.

Buying take-out for a kid because they're picky? Letting your teen dictate fresh cook-book suppers nightly? That's ridiculous and yes, she probably is spoiled at this point.

But, pickiness is real. It's not "shtick" like some people like to write it off as. So don't force her to eat the things she doesn't like, but surely she can make toast, cereal, grilled cheese, eggs, noodles, or cook something basic that she does like.

Then stop taking responsibility for her eating. Let her be responsible.

MiracleMama

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:10 pm

amother wrote:

mshe is busy with homework and with friends. I feel it will be like taking away her childhood....

If it’s important to her to have fancy and fresh cookbook dinners, she should be willing to invest some time in it.

Yes, she is busy, but so are you.

After a few nights of cooking she will either enjoy it and happily continue or see how time consuming it is and not want to continue but she will then have an appreciation of what it is she is asking you to do and you can have a better discussion with her at that point about how it isn’t reasonable and come up with a compromise for how to proceed.

amother

Wine

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:14 pm

oliveoil wrote:

She doesn’t take lunch to school because it’s not fresh. They don’t have hot lunch at her school. She comes home starving. Than if she doesn’t like the food she is so hungry that she looses it and starts to be chutzpah. She is and s a menu but how can I make a meal everyday just for her. Does it make sense. And she doesn’t want anything from the freezer.
Can someone post some dinner ideas. Fleshing and milchig.

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:18 pm

amother wrote:

She sits at lunch every day and eats nothing because it’s not fresh?
Why can’t she pack herself fresh food in the morning? A fresh salad or sandwich?
Honestly, this sounds beyond picky. This sounds like a disorder. Take her to a therapist.

oliveoil

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:24 pm

amother wrote:

If she's that picky, our menus won't help.

What DOES she eat? Can she make you a list of 5 things she will eat? There, you have a weekly menu.

Re taking lunch to school, she can pack a lunch that doesn't change in a few hours. Like a dry sandwich, or two slices of bread and she can spread it with something on the spot if she really cant handle even a pre-made sandwich.

My 10-year-old cuts herself a greek salad every morning, packs all the parts separately so they don't touch until she's ready to eat it, and once a week I make her five little containers of dressing. Lunch, done. I'm not saying your daughter should take Greek salad, but she has to find something that works, and she's way too old for this to be turning your life upside down like this.

amother

Salmon

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:27 pm

amother wrote:

I second this.

bigsis144

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 9:27 pm

amother wrote:

My 9 year old is like this - he is very picky about texture/temperature in addition to flavors.

His bagels must have that fresh-from-the-toaster warmth and crispness, with cold cream cheese to contrast the hot bagel.
He only eats pasta steaming hot straight from the strainer - if it cooled to room temperature, microwaving it is NOT okay.
A yogurt in his lunchbox, even with a cold pack, will never be cold enough.
The few fruits he deems edible when freshly cut become “yucky” if not fridge-cold and umbrowned.
Popcorn becomes inedible at room temperature, and so much is wasted when he makes it in the microwave for himself.
He demands that the milk be put back in the fridge between his bowls of cereal so it stays cold, even when other people are at the table and serving themselves too.
If I forgot to put the challah on the blech on Shabbos, well, that’s everything he was going to eat and now he won’t eat that either.

Etc.

It makes me ragey and I have to remind myself constantly not to get emotionally invested.

For so many weeks his lunch came home untouched that I started only giving him pretzels or saltines or rice cakes, which he eats 1/4-1/3 of the time. Usually he just doesn’t eat at school and comes home hangry.

I hope and pray he grows out of this SOON, I’m going insane

amother

Wine

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 11:07 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

It’s exactly my dd! She takes some snacks to school and barley eats it.

amother

Wine

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 11:10 pm

teachkids wrote:

Can you prep the food and freeze raw to just pop in the oven 1 serving at a time?

Also, see if freezing yogurt that defrosts by lunchtime works for her.

Freezing raw is a good idea but even raw not everything freezes well. She wants chicken Lo Mein, orange chicken, fancy fresh pastas, pizza made fresh with homemade dough. Etc. ,and she marked the cookbook with a lot of recipes.
She wouldn’t eat the same thing every week and rather go hungry.

amother

Pumpkin

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 11:20 pm

I have one like this. She really can taste the difference when something has been out- I did an experiment. She eats healthy before and after school, and in school she eats junk.

The good news? She really loves to cook. People who have such sensitive tastebuds often make very good cooks, and enjoy it. I would present the idea to dd. Maybe have her look up crock pot recipes ("fancy stews") and get up half a hour early to put up dinner for when she gets home. Or she can plan to make a stir fry when she gets home, and N
nosh some of the freshly cut vegetables as she cooks it. She can even invite friends over and cook together.

She really might take pride if she makes a meal everyone loves. Maybe try it once and see what happens.

naturalmom5

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 11:32 pm

I apologize if my methods aren't cool with this generation..

1) assuming she doesn't have severe food allergies, Crohns, or severe mental illness tell her you aren't running a restaurant

2) She won't starve to death

3) If she goes down to an unhealthy weight, cv"s, you don't need menu ideas
YOU NEED AN EATING DISORDERS UNIT.... ASAP

amother

Wine

Tue, Oct 16 2018, 12:02 am

naturalmom5 wrote:

Ok. I agree. But what is it considered a restaurant and what is normal for her to expect a hot dinner every night.