And so the kid who will only eat bread and crackers continues. All fruit that is not blueberries, grapes or sultanas are wilfully flung to the floor.
Anything that does not look like a sandwich or a rice cake follows suit. However, we shall persevere, simply because I like making interesting combinations, and it saves me making my own lunch if she's not into it. The trick is catching it before it makes it to the floor!
First cab off the rank is the ever-loving Saos. Who knew something I envied in other people's lunchboxes as a kid would reappear in my life with such a vengeance. I'm partial to a couple with vegemite these days too.
Rockmelon was flung. Fruit stick was not.
Not so much a fan of the fruit stick, the ingredients list was a mile long and I think I'm just going to figure out how to make my own. Good for convenience and travelling though! And for something different occasionally.
homemade hommous on pita bread, sultanas and nectarine. One lonely apricot. Loved the sultanas, chewed on the apricot for nine hours, hurled the apricot. Sheesh.
I dutifully made roasted pumpkin, eggplant and sweet potato for my little lass, hoping they would catch her eye as finger food. Her eye did nothing but look at me witheringly. I had the last laugh by using it as a dip/sandwich spread for several days. She ate the lot.
But the pawpaw... are you kidding me?
This little face looks like she'd love cheese cubes and tomato with her vegemite Saos, right?
WRONG.
And finally, one of our favourites - baby burrito and sour cream. Loved the bean-and-cheese filled wholemeal tortilla, loved face painting with the sour cream, loved lobbing the kiwi fruit at the cat.
I have eaten a wider variety of fruit this week than I have in my whole life. I don't like fruit. But I also don't like waste, so while my kid sticks to blueberries and grapes, I'm incidentally getting vitamins and minerals. I'm chalking this up as a win!
As always, though, I love hearing what your little ones eat, so feel free to share! Going to increase the spoon stuff in the next few weeks so will report back as to whether she gets it in her mouth as opposed to eyebrows and ears, like usual.
xx
I have an 11yo and a 3yo, so far my success is that my 11yo used to eat everything, now he is becoming picky, my 3yo eats sauces and dips, hot chips and fruit. She used to eat vegies until she found hot chips. Every night we serve up the same dinner for her as we do ourselves, and she will eat maybe one thing off the plate and if hungry after dinner, she eats apples and mandarins. She loves raw carrots like her big brother. My apparent success I have found is due to her wanting to copy her big brother or her best friends. I have also been experimenting with my son, and rewarding him to eat one slice of mushroom when they are served up as part of a meal. He has had them about 6 times, when we finally had a break through, the other night for a substantial reward, he ate all his mushroom sauce with heaps of mushrooms in it. I was so proud of him.
ReplyDeleteOnigiri arethe current fave here and my go-to method for not-quite-as-messy-as-a-bowl-of-rice way for my babies to eat their beloved rice. And "unfortunately" my babies love their fruit - which would be fine except other than bananas, it's not a cheap option in Japan!
ReplyDeleteE (26 months) is addicted to homemade hot chips (skin on, chopped into sticks, baked in oven) dipped in tomato sauce or tartare sauce. She loves tartare sauce so much that I had a hard time last night convincing her that beef sausages dipped in it was not a good idea. Going to try the same thing with sweet potatoes next time I remember to buy some.
ReplyDeleteOh that's awesome! To be honest, I'd never have eaten a mushroom sauce at that age - no wonder you were proud! Can't blame your daughter on the hot chips thing... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I think she's onto something! I'd eat tartare sauce with pretty much anything. My kid will not go near baked veg, but this evening she ate two mandarin pieces and I cheered :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, onigiri - yum! I remember a Japanese woman on the plane over feeding her baby one and I was determined to try it out on VB! Except I couldn't find any that were veg except umeboshi, and I didn't think she'd eat it. Reminds me I have been meaning to make my own xx
ReplyDeleteMy 23 month old is addicted to wheat Bix, (he has been known to eat 5... I was just seeing how far he would go) and veg toast with avocado on top! Yum! He also loves noodles so whenever I cook a soup, I add noodles and serve them to him with chunks of whatever was in there. Bananas are his crack! It's CRAY! I have just weaned him off potato gems and onto baked potatoes. A big win is dumplings! Any kind! Some great veg ones that you can buy frozen and you have the bonus of a sauce to dip in! Woot!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I hope Abby eats this much variety at that age! She's only just mastered a spoon today, and I haven't spoon-fed her in months, so anything she couldn't eat with her hands was out. She loves weetbix at day care though, but she only goes once a week. Avocado is the BIGGEST hit here, ever. Bananas have never, ever been accepted and I'm loving the dumpling idea! I'm going to give that a go soon. And noodles!
ReplyDeleteBoth of my boys have been through this stage! Frustrating! I did a lot of hiding pureed veggies in pasta sauce for my eldest who only liked pasta. For my second, I make lots of baked goods with veggies, wholemeal flour, eggs, cheese and seeds - zucchini pancakes are the fave. I also make grated veggie muffins and roasted sweet potato muffins. These all freeze well and I find that if they eat something healthy like this at lunch time, it takes the pressure off all of us at dinner time!
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely on the right track with persistence. They will often not even try something or dislike it 10 times before it becomes a favourite food item!
My eldest grew out of this stage in 6 months, my youngest is slowly getting better each week. ;-)
xoxoxo
I'd day she is a savoury versus sweet gal - and that is a good thing - the other way can be fraught with battle. On all fronts she's eating some greta combos - maybe not worry about the fruit thing - she gets better goodies out of the veggies - and lives up to her mama's mantra! When my now 11 yo was 2 for at least 2 years he only ate white food. Bread, pasta, cheese (pale), crackers, milk and yoghurt. Drove me nuuuuuuuuuuuuts. I went mental - and was so over it! he gave that away over time and the good news is he eats almost anything now - and pretty much 90% healthy! So it can get better. The irony? He and I were diagnosed with coeliac disease three or so years ago - so guess that white diet was the tipping point - poor Moo.
ReplyDeleteThese are some great ideas for my toddler's lunch. shes not a picky eater per se, but she doesnt like a lot of the more complicated meals we parents eat, so I love the idea of hummus on a pita and wraps cut into bites. thanks for these ideas!
ReplyDeleteWhen we're at the supermarket, my three-year-old is like a kid in a candy store in the fruit + veg section. Pretty much everything gets popped into her mouth, and she'll start munching on raw broccoli at the checkout if I'm not quick enough (and occasionally get approving nods from strangers).
ReplyDeleteAs soon as we're home, however, she'll chuck world-record tantrums if dinner isn't going to be custard with Easter eggs in it (damn my dad for once allowing that as a dessert at his place!!!). *sigh*
Haha. I do love a girl that knows what she likes. And it seems very clear you've got one of those on your hands. Enjoy your incidental fruits. It's not all bad. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs a former (still?) fussy kid myself - I'd like to apologize for the food dramas fussy kids put y'all parents through. ^_~ You're a champion!
ReplyDeleteha she's not so bad. I'm just mystified as to why she'll eat seventeen pieces of boring toast, but not a nice piece of fruit? Weirdo!
ReplyDeletecustard with easter eggs?!! oh you poor thing! what a random thing to remember. My kid screams bloody murder if she doesn't get to gnaw on an apple from the minute we walk through the doors. Has to be an apple, nothing else. I feel sorry for the checkout girl trying to weigh the spit-covered thing. Kids are so weird!
ReplyDeleteAny time! I don't think Abby is picky, I think she's just comfortable with what she knows at this age. Although in the last two days she's eaten five new things!
ReplyDeleteHa I've heard of the white diet! I think kids preferences are hilarious! Even in the last two days she's eaten new things so my days of wondering if she'll ever eat anything other than bread are numbered :)
ReplyDeleteHow good are muffins! Wouldn't you believe it, as we speak she's eating mandarines. And yesterday she ate strawberry. Which is awesome, as I was getting sick of the sight of grapes!
ReplyDeleteI like her expensive taste in blueberries ;-)
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm that kind of weirdo too. I could sit down and eat a whole loaf of bread with nary a sandwich spread, but I'd turn my nose up at fruit. I swear if Joel hears me say "Nah, that's a bit too fancy for me..." one more time, he'll fly kick me in the throat.
ReplyDeletetoo fancy? Don't you dare say that near me!
ReplyDeleteLove these lunches Stacey, my 13 month old is a little fussy so I'm going to try a few of these out. Mandarins and weetbix are the go to here. Her brother ate everything in sight at this age so it can be a little infuriating at times.
ReplyDeleteIt's just so strange, isn't it? Since I wrote this post though, she's eaten mandarin, strawberries, muesli and yogurt and fed herself weetbix. Oh, and banana! she's NEVER eaten banana, not even as a little baby. Maybe 15 months is magic?!
ReplyDelete