Meals

Brit448 · May 2013

My 2 year old is so stubborn when it's time to eat. What are fun meals that you make your little ones or even meals where you can hide foods so they don't know what there eating.

Sorry im mobile bumping so it's hard to Write.

TiffanyBerry · May 2013

DD eats what we eat. Or she doesn't eat. I make sure to include something she likes, so if that means I cut up half an avocado and stick it on her plate, so be it. But otherwise, she gets what we get. And yeah, when she really didn't want to eat more than one bite of what we were having, she did opt not to eat.

Also, I'm personally not a huge fan of hiding vegetables (not saying you're wrong to do it, just my approach), but we do make lots of things that incorporate vegetables in smaller ways. Soups (chicken soup with carrots, onions, bell pepper, zucchini, etc. or lentil soup with the same, plus spinach), stir-fry (with things like carrot, broccoli, and peppers), or things like salmon cakes (mostly the same veggies as above - we use those a lot - and parsley).

brettsmama · May 2013

I bought the cook book called deceptively delicious. It's great, has tons of kids friendly recipes all with hidden fruits or veggies in them. My kid is a pretty picky eater and I'm not a great cook, but he and DH like the things I've tried from the book.

jc&cat · May 2013

I say you have to pick your battles if needed and food could be part of that. We try and incorporate veg into each meal so that she gets that its the norm. With that said, there is nothing wrong with hiding veg while trying to coax another veg. For example, chopping up some peppers or squash for a turkey meatloaf that she will eat while serving oven baked sweet potatoes on the side. She'll get some veg from the meatloaf and we try and work on the sweet potatoes.

-add chopped spinach to pizza (buy store bought dough, add sauce, chopped up tomatoes and spinach and cheese on top)

-oscar sandwich is a throw back to my DS when he was small. Sauted baby spinach folded in a tortilla with american cheese

-DS wouldn't eat rice at this age however DD does. I make chicken stir fry and she eats mostly everything if the veggies are chopped small

-Hummus is big for snacks and she will eat cut up red pepper and baby carrots. DS on the other hand fights me tooth and nail on the carrots in favor of goldfish

try the weelicious.com site for ideas. 99% of the time we all eat the same thing for dinner as a family.

BelhurstBride · May 2013

TiffanyBerry:
DD eats what we eat. Or she doesn't eat. I make sure to include something she likes, so if that means I cut up half an avocado and stick it on her plate, so be it. But otherwise, she gets what we get. And yeah, when she really didn't want to eat more than one bite of what we were having, she did opt not to eat.
Also, I'm personally not a huge fan of hiding vegetables (not saying you're wrong to do it, just my approach), but we do make lots of things that incorporate vegetables in smaller ways. Soups (chicken soup with carrots, onions, bell pepper, zucchini, etc. or lentil soup with the same, plus spinach), stir-fry (with things like carrot, broccoli, and peppers), or things like salmon cakes (mostly the same veggies as above - we use those a lot - and parsley).

This almost exactly describes our house, except I do give DD an out for new foods. If she tries it and doesn't like it I am willing to serve something else, as long as it isn't a favorite food and doesn't require additional work on my part. Usually this means yogurt, cottage cheese or raw veggies and hummus. I don't want trying something new to turn into a battle of wills and so far DD is very receptive to trying new things.

TiffanyBerry · May 2013

BelhurstBride:

This almost exactly describes our house, except I do give DD an out for new foods. If she tries it and doesn't like it I am willing to serve something else, as long as it isn't a favorite food and doesn't require additional work on my part. Usually this means yogurt, cottage cheese or raw veggies and hummus. I don't want trying something new to turn into a battle of wills and so far DD is very receptive to trying new things.

Hah!i guess we so often try totally new things that we are in that situation. Usually at least half the meal is familiar. But that is true, if it's almost entirely completely new, I'll make sure she can have something else that I know she likes.

BelhurstBride · May 2013

TiffanyBerry:
BelhurstBride:

This almost exactly describes our house, except I do give DD an out for new foods. If she tries it and doesn't like it I am willing to serve something else, as long as it isn't a favorite food and doesn't require additional work on my part. Usually this means yogurt, cottage cheese or raw veggies and hummus. I don't want trying something new to turn into a battle of wills and so far DD is very receptive to trying new things.
Hah!i guess we so often try totally new things that we are in that situation. Usually at least half the meal is familiar. But that is true, if it's almost entirely completely new, I'll make sure she can have something else that I know she likes.

The more I think about it I have to admit that I don't only use it for new foods. Sometimes she just isn't in the mood for what's served and I'll let her use an out then, too. It isn't often, though, but I do like her to feel like she's capable of making that choice.

OP, I also only offer fruits or veggies for in between meal time snacks. It's all she's ever known. I figure if she's getting bites of fruits and veggies throughout the day then I don't worry so much about squeezing them all in during meals.

She's also an active participant in meal preparation. Not only do I feel that it helps her be more excited to eat what's prepared, but she generally downs her weight in veggies while we're getting dinner made. She likes to taste test.

TiffanyBerry · May 2013

What sort of things do you do to get your daughter involved? Besides the occasional watching, DD mostly just sneaks veggies off the prep plates while I'm cooking. I'd have her help with cutting, but it's mostly stuff that requires sharp knives and can't be done with something like a butter knife. She's stirred the pan occasionally, but the stove is hot and she doesn't like staying there super long. She definitely likes to help make muffins (but mostly pouring out the measured items and stirring).

But I'm at a loss for other ways to involve her in the cooking until I'm brave enough to introduce her to cutting with a real knife.

Want a personalized experience?

Meals

Re: Meals

Choose Another Board

Search Boards