What do you feed your picky eaters?

[FallingLeaves]

DD (5yo) is a picky eater. I am running out of ideas on what to feed her that is somewhat on the nutritious side. DH works away most of the time so I don't do a lot of cooking and I need some quick/easy meal ideas for my picky eater. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Also what your picky eater eats in a typical day would be helpful too. Thanks!

[Dreaming]

My DS has some sensory issues and is very very picky about food. He won't eat a "regular" meal at all now. He'll only eat crackers (and most snack type things like Luna bars or Pirate Booty), yogurt, applesauce, craisins, waffles, French toast and bananas.
To fill in the gaps, I make him smoothies. A typical smoothie gets: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mango, peaches, blackberries (all frozen), banana, yogurt, kale or spinach or some other leafy greens, green powder (nutritional supp), whey protein (I used to use rice protein) and juice or water.

Hope that helps if even a little bit. DS once ate pasta and broccoli and carrots and onions and different sauces and tofu and refried beans all kinds of other goodies. I know all I can do is continue to ask him to try new things.

[DaughterOfKali]

subbing

[lonegirl]

Smoothies
Frozen bananas and mangoes, vanilla yogurt, vanilla whey protein, Oasis brand Fibre Juice-a splash, 2% Milk, sprinkle of Flax meal

Pita and Hummus
Peanut butter (all peanut) and fruit spread on whole wheat bread/english muffin

I make mac and cheese (box type) but I add in a handful of shredded cheese and 1 jr. jar (babyfood) of butternut squash (I opt for whichever has the most fibre). The squash and chees make it a bit richer but add in a serving of veggies and real dairy.

[To-Fu]

Originally Posted by Dreaming

My DS has some sensory issues and is very very picky about food. He won't eat a "regular" meal at all now. He'll only eat crackers (and most snack type things like Luna bars or Pirate Booty), yogurt, applesauce, craisins, waffles, French toast and bananas.
To fill in the gaps, I make him smoothies. A typical smoothie gets: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mango, peaches, blackberries (all frozen), banana, yogurt, kale or spinach or some other leafy greens, green powder (nutritional supp), whey protein (I used to use rice protein) and juice or water.

Hope that helps if even a little bit. DS once ate pasta and broccoli and carrots and onions and different sauces and tofu and refried beans all kinds of other goodies. I know all I can do is continue to ask him to try new things.

We do the smoothie trick, too. I sometimes add almond butter and vitamin powder.

[Dreaming]

Originally Posted by To-Fu

We do the smoothie trick, too. I sometimes add almond butter and vitamin powder.

Oh! You just reminded me. Raw nuts, coconut butter and Udo's 3-6-9 are all things I add as well (just not daily except the Udo's). I bet there are tons of things to add. Smoothies are awesome.

[Julie1014]

Thankfully, DS likes V8 so he drinks a serving of the low sodium a day. I'm ashamed to say that's about the only vegetable he gets a day.
I also closely watch his protein - he'll eat cottage cheese (sometimes), Fage Greek yogurt, almond butter (I'll add a bit of baking coco and honey to make a dip for fruit, graham crackers, etc). He also eats a lot of grilled cheese. He is also open to food with white beans. I should try humus...
I almost cried last week when he ate 3 bites of a beef taco!

[a-sorta-fairytale]

DD is picky so i pretty much feed her the only foods she will eat every single freakin day.

Every day she eats
yogurt
cheese stick
glass of milk

either a hamburger/turkey dog/or baked chicken nuggets

quesadilla or grilled ham and cheese sandwich

3 or more pieces of fruit (apple/banana/kiwi/melons/oranges/clementines/berries/nectarines/mango/plums)

one veggie - she will eat artichoke/roasted broccoli/roasted cauliflower/corn on the cobb/mashed potato/baby carrots. That is it so i have one of those for her each day.



She will of course eat plenty of carbs - cheddar bunnies/granola bars/pirate booty etc but i limit that to after she has had a protein and fruit.

I just hope that with her eating a good variety of fruits that it will be okay for her to be a little low on the veggies. I did find that making roasted veggies made her more likely to eat them.

[Alison's Mom]

Originally Posted by a-sorta-fairytale

DD is picky so i pretty much feed her the only foods she will eat every single freakin day.

Every day she eats
yogurt
cheese stick
glass of milk

either a hamburger/turkey dog/or baked chicken nuggets

quesadilla or grilled ham and cheese sandwich

3 or more pieces of fruit (apple/banana/kiwi/melons/oranges/clementines/berries/nectarines/mango/plums)

one veggie - she will eat artichoke/roasted broccoli/roasted cauliflower/corn on the cobb/mashed potato/baby carrots. That is it so i have one of those for her each day.



She will of course eat plenty of carbs - cheddar bunnies/granola bars/pirate booty etc but i limit that to after she has had a protein and fruit.

I just hope that with her eating a good variety of fruits that it will be okay for her to be a little low on the veggies. I did find that making roasted veggies made her more likely to eat them.

Is it just me, or does this child's diet actually sound pretty good? My kids eat totally differently with us than with my mom, who can get them to eat almost anything.

With us, it's almost all fruit, but with veggies, it's only cucumber, carrots, and sometimes sweet bell peppers, broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, corn, but often not even those. Oh, and they love potatoes, if that counts as a veg.

Meats: chicken hotdogs, meatballs, chicken wings/drumsticks, and I think that's about it!

Carbs: bread, pasta, rice, quinoa (mixed with the rice), waffles, and anything with sugar in it!

[DaughterOfKali]

I only wish my son would drink smoothies and eat the food listed here. Feeding Therapy hasn't helped so far but I'm trying to find yet another feeding therapist to try.

[a-sorta-fairytale]

Originally Posted by Alison's Mom

Is it just me, or does this child's diet actually sound pretty good? My kids eat totally differently with us than with my mom, who can get them to eat almost anything.

With us, it's almost all fruit, but with veggies, it's only cucumber, carrots, and sometimes sweet bell peppers, broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, corn, but often not even those. Oh, and they love potatoes, if that counts as a veg.

Meats: chicken hotdogs, meatballs, chicken wings/drumsticks, and I think that's about it!

Carbs: bread, pasta, rice, quinoa (mixed with the rice), waffles, and anything with sugar in it!

ha! it might sound good comparatively (to worse eaters) but this is what i have been cooking daily for 6 years. The burger buns/tortillas/and bread is all crap too - she wont eat any sort of semi healthy bread
I have her try what we eat and 95% of the time she balks. Ds (2y/o)on the other hand eats eggs with spinach and salsa with me for breakfast and eats 95% of what we eat. The only thing he flat out will not eat is salad. So it is crazy making to cook tilapia and asparagus for the rest of the fam and yet again make a grilled cheese for miss picky.

ETA - and it isnt like she just happily eats it either. It is just that i give her a choice of what we are eating or a staple i know she will tolerate. she still grumbles but she grumbles about everything but fruit/snacky carbs/sugar.

Even this morning i tried making something fun - waffles with blackberries and whipped cream. She fought over eating half a freakin waffle. I feel like waving my white flag.