Having heard friends’ horror stories about trying to feed their picky toddlers, I was determined to do everything I could to avoid catering to a picky kid. We’ve delayed refined sugar (he still has not had cookies, candy, ice cream or soda), we don’t eat much processed foods, and we introduced him to loads of different healthy foods as a baby, Alas, Koen is 22 months old and not only am I still making him separate meals, but meals often end with him refusing to eat any of his former safe foods or food fight fits. My sister-in-law preemptively got us Deceptively Delicious for Christmas, but a lot of those recipes involve sneaking purees into sweet foods, which he’s not been introduced to, or use sweet potato purees, which is one of the only veggies he seems to tolerate. Carrots and greens seem to be the worst. At least he still loves fruit, pasta, and whole grain breads. I realize this is a phase and it’s totally normal, but it’s still annoying.
Strawberries are always a hit.
According to a NY Times article, it’s all JT’s fault. He was a picky eater as a child. In fact he only started eating veggies regularly after he met me, in his mid-20s. I’m still optimistic that some of the Miller kid genes (we ate everything… except mayonnaise – gross.) will triumph and he’ll snap out of this soon.
My strategy is to continue to present our food selections at mealtimes, but I’m quickly developing an arsenal of healthy, toddler-proof foods that I can fall back on. The most popular to date come in the form of popsicles and muffins. The popsicles are frozen smoothies, which usually include a ripe banana (for masking the taste of veggies), other fruits (pineapple, blueberries, mango, etc), a veggie (spinach, kale, or carrot), and plain whole milk yogurt. The popsicle molds are in the shape of a star, so if I cut them into pieces, they almost look like candy. He gets so excited that he’ll do his happy dance for them. Muffins are equally beloved. So far myfavorite recipes are Cinnamuffins, Yam, and Morning Glory Muffins. I also like to have Koen help me make the muffins. I’ll have him put the paper liners into the tins and do little things like stir or pour ingredients into the bowls. He loves to help!
Cinnamuffins (from Laurel’s Kitchen)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch cloves
1/2 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Mix the oil molasses, and applesauce. Mix together the dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Stir in the raisins. Drop into muffin cups and bake 18-20 min. Makes about 12 muffins.
Pumpkin Morning Glory Muffins
scant 1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp chai spice (use all cinnamon if you wish)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
3/4 cup raisins
1 large apple, peeled and grated
8 ounces (1 cup) crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup canned (plain) pumpkin
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients, then add the coconut, raisins, apple, pineapple, carrots, and nuts. Stir this all together. In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Grease your muffin tins, or use paper liners. Fill each muffin cup all the way to the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes and do the toothpick test. (should come out clean.) Makes 17 muffins
Yam Spice Muffins From Foods That Fight Pain by Neal D. Barnard, M.D.; recipes by Jennifer Raymond
2 cups whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1/2 cups cooked, mashed yams
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl mix whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add yams, the water, and raisins; stir until just mixed.
Lightly coat a muffin pan with vegetable-oil spray. Fill cups to the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top of a muffin bounces back when pressed lightly. Makes 10-12 muffins
June 13, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I like Muffins….lol
June 14, 2009 at 3:43 am
for our luck, e will eat most green things placed in front of him & any orange veggie – but thanks to his father is an ice cream fanatic. so i guess that balances out in the wash (as long as the ice cream is not partaken every day, right?)
thanks for sharing the yummy recipes, will have to try these soon…
June 16, 2009 at 8:27 am
I’m keeping these recipes for when I have kids. Timmy was also a really picky eater when he was little. He would only eat bread, crackers, cheese, salami, apples, CheeriosTM……and he grew up to be tall and muscular. Makes no sense. Not fair.
July 11, 2009 at 4:40 pm
leslie,
both of my children ate whatever I gave them until they hit 4 y/o. Then BAM, picky eaters. Things they loved, they now hated. They both became chicken nugget(homemade), milk, white cheese, pb, bananas, mac and cheese, and spinach salad only eaters. Pediatricians told me to not worry about the nutrition aspect because a childs body pretty much tells them what they need until they turn 7. (pb, high protein and fats that are good for babies.)
Now Sam is 15 and tries new things all the time, and Gracie is 6, and getting much better at trying new things. (She really likes strawberries again!)
so there is hope! part of it is a control issue, so I always tried not to show how frustrated I was getting (that’s the issue, they want to learn how to control mommy’s mood.) Part of it is that they are adapting to new textures and they don’t always like the textures of once favorite foods as they get older. Be patient, be gentle, and don’t let it turn into a fighting issue and you should be good!