One Picky Eater

[Andrea]

Hi! I have twin girls. One of them is a picky eater. She'll eat any fruit but NO veggies or meat! Any ideas?

By the way - my toddlers just turned 2! We're in Oklahoma.

[Amanda]

Always have veggies on their plates. However, you can hide veggies in her food if she refuses to eat them. You can make grilled cheese and hide tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, or peppers. This can also work with quesadillas. Deceptivly Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld is a great book. It has recipes where you puree veggies (like making baby food) and add it to everyday food. I got the book from my local library and copied a few of them down. My son really likes the spinach chicken nuggets and I make him sweet potato fries to go with them. Almost all kids like chicken nuggets...even his daddy liked them!

Here is a link to some of her recipes:
http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/food/jseinfeld/recipes/jseinfeld_reci...

[Toddler Toddler]

Amanda, those are great ideas! Thanks for the link.

[Amanda]

Sorry new to this board and thought my reply didn't go through!

[Andrea]

Thanks!

[Jill]

Great book, I have it too and use it for ideas but mine won't eat any of those "adult" foods yet. (Twins of 17 months) I make smoothies and hide veggies in the puree; green beans, carrots, tofu, tomatoes, or flax seeds. To make a smoothie just use a banana and any fruit around the house, frozen fruit works great too! I put in yogurt and thin it with fruit juice if it gets too thick. :)

[Kristen]

It might be a 2 year old thing. . .my son will hardly eat meat either. He might do chicken on a good day, but anything else is usually a no. Oh, except hot dogs which I do not consider "meat". :)

[Tanya]

I'm lucky that my daughter loves veggies of all kind....but, she's pretty picky about most other foods, and won't eat most fruits. She also turns up her nose at most meats, so I was experimenting with other sources of protein and found that she LOVES, and I mean loves, frozen vegetarian "sausage" links made of tofu. OK, sounds gross...but they taste similar to the real thing... and they're healthy. I buy the Boca brand, but there's several other brands that make them (MorningStar is another). Now, if I give her something else for breakfast, she whines and points to the freezer until I microwave a link or two for her!

[Tanya]

Edited to add: Does your child like cheese? Try putting cheese on some veggies and see if that works. Also most kids that hate "green" veggies, still like potatoes (mashed or baked). I also third the book recommendation. However, I believe it's best to keep putting veggies on your child's plate as well. I'm told that a child's tastes change....so who knows...maybe one day he'll try them and like them! ;)

[Kristen]

For anyone in Tulsa, OK. . .re: Picky Eaters, I saw this in the paper on Sunday and thought it might interest you!
When: 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: TherapyWorks Clinic, 7608 E. 91st St.
Admission: free; attendees must RSVP by calling 663-0606; www.tulsaworld.com/therapyworkstulsa

[Andrea]

Thanks. I think Michelle is going to that one. I think the eating depends on the day around here. Yesterday, both wanted nothing to do with flautas from Santa Fe. Today, they chowed down the leftover flautas. If it's NOT of the potato variety OR peas...they hardly eat the veggies. I checked the book out of the library. The hardest part for me is finding the time to make the puree. Maybe we should have a puree party.