Meal Ideas for Picky 4 Year Old

EmR22 · December 2013

My DD3 is suddenly a really picky eater and I am struggling for lunch ideas. She is in school a half day but is home for lunch and it's just me and her and LO. She is a tiny little thing (30lbs) and would be happy to eat chips for all meals. Do you have go to things that even your picky eaters will try? Any advise to get her to try more things? Thanks!

Ffrey1119 · December 2013

Mine is picky as well we do cheese roll ups. ( tortilla shells with melted cheese inside dipped in ranch)
Nutella on waffles or bread cut into fun shapes
Meat sticks the turkey kind
Hot dogs in ranch
Turkey with cheese rolled inside
Ranch is my secret weapon for getting dd to eat sonething

BlueJewelM · December 2013

Ditto on the pasta, I hide baby food veggies in the sauce too.

DS1 has a peanut allergy, so we do sunbutter sandwiches/crackers, I make a low sugar oatmeal and raisin "cookie" he likes. Strangely he loves fish sticks, whole foods has some we love. Also chicken nuggets from whole foods.

I make those "pinwheel" appetizer sandwiches for him if he is being REALLY picky. I can usually hide veggies in the Neufchâtel cheese in them.

he will eat cheese and lunch meat 95% of the time!

I used to say I wouldn't have a picky eater and wouldn't resort to hiding veggies...shame on me for being so naive.

carrotcake06 · December 2013

The go-to in our house is Mac n cheese. The kid would eat that for every meal. He's not especially picky, but he's predictable in what he likes and dislikes. He will eat all manner of pasta, sauce, cheese and bread.

He won't touch a potato but last night ate 4 slices of rosemary ciabatta bread dipped in balsamic and olive oil. Crazy kid.

LJUTCMommy · December 2013

I am a picky adult eater!

I think one of the other things you could do would be to offer "make your own" style foods. Like, a little taco bar (she can put whatever she wants inside the taco shell) or a pizza station (again, putting whatever she wants on the pizza).

Another thing that I've heard of is making undesirable food fun, like making a little "forest" of broccoli in a "snow bed" of mashed potatoes.

I'm an adult and my husband still sneaks vegetables in my food. Tiny, chopped carrots and baby spinach can be put in a ton of things--pasta sauce, soup, ground beef, etc.

Michelle N · December 2013

I don't have a toddler, but I've heard adding cauliflower to mac and cheese was an easy way to add veggies.

EmR22 · December 2013

@BlueJewelM what does the sunbutter taste like? Is it good -- have you eaten it? My 6 year old has a peanut/tree nut allergy so we never have nut stuff in the house but I have yet to try this.

BlueJewelM · December 2013

It's pretty tasty. It's sunflower seeds (made in a nut free facility) and has some protein in it, so it's a good snack and a sunbutter and jelly sandwich is pretty tasty.

I'm trying out some recipes on their website next week for holiday baking. Hope it goes well!

MynaBird · December 2013

Will she eat things that are fun shapes? Cookie cutters can be good for sandwiches, lunch meat, cheese slices, apples, some veggies, etc.

When I was a kid, I wouldn't sit down and eat a sandwich or a bowl of soup, but I loved me some hors d'oeuvres. So my mom bought sectioned trays and would fill them with cut-up veggies, olives, crackers and other finger foods.

janneann1127 · December 2013

Mine isn't terribly picky, but things that are always a hit: turkey corn dogs (trader joe's!), anything with hummus, cheese and crackers, or smoothies (I put all kinds of fruit in plus a yogurt & some OJ). Have you tried buying fun-shaped pasta? That could be fun.

LokiLahve · December 2013

I'm a FTM so obviously no experience on this topic....but would the "fun food" stuff you find on Pinterest maybe make him/her more interested? Food shaped like animals or trucks etc. I've seen the hotdog octopus, Mickey pancakes, etc. just food for thought (see what I did there)

BelhurstBride · December 2013

From the moment DD1 started solids she's been eating what we eat and I've always refused to make a separate meal for her. If she want as to be picky she knows what her back up choices are; red peppers and hummus, carrots and broccoli with yogurt drip, berries with Greek yogurt, apple with peanut butter.

Lunch time is leftovers from dinner or one of her back up choices.

We have lots of conversations about why we eat what we eat. I admit to her that I'd love to live on chicken nuggets, French fries and pizza too, but then we couldn't have special treats like candy cane milk shakes. I don't make a big deal about eating healthy or eating your vegetables but instead talk about "growing up food".

I like The It's Not About Nutrition blog when I need help.

EmR22 · December 2013

BelhurstBride said:

From the moment DD1 started solids she's been eating what we eat and I've always refused to make a separate meal for her. If she want as to be picky she knows what her back up choices are; red peppers and hummus, carrots and broccoli with yogurt drip, berries with Greek yogurt, apple with peanut butter.

Lunch time is leftovers from dinner or one of her back up choices.

We have lots of conversations about why we eat what we eat. I admit to her that I'd love to live on chicken nuggets, French fries and pizza too, but then we couldn't have special treats like candy cane milk shakes. I don't make a big deal about eating healthy or eating your vegetables but instead talk about "growing up food".

I like The It's Not About Nutrition blog when I need help.

Great advice thanks. We refuse to make her a separate dinner but she will just not eat. I like that you have specific alternatives. I will check out the blog. Thanks!

BelhurstBride · December 2013

Some days I'm not in the mood to eat what I planned, so I realize she has those days, too. (Hence the alternatives.) I also have a rotation rule; so what she ate yesterday she can't eat today. And the back up choices aren't always the same, I change them up depending on what's in season. Like, as soon as red peppers start coming from Mexico they'll no longer be a choice. (I won't buy imported produce.)

She's only allowed to have fruits or vegetables as a snack, that way I'm not as worried about how much of them she eats at meal time. But now we're running into a snacking problem; in that she snacks all day but doesn't really eat at meal time.

DD1 is tiny as well and I used to really stress about how much she ate until I looked into serving sizes for little ones; that calmed me down a lot.

BelhurstBride · December 2013

Ooo, and some days we do smoothies- whole Greek yogurt is great for our underweight LOs. She helps me make them and knows I add spinach or baby kale, not as a way to sneak it by her but as an extra serving of growing up food. I also add in frozen berries and or frozen bananas.

I think not making healthy food the bad guy and being honest that yea, brussel sprouts aren't as yummy as ice cream helps to change the way they react to green on their plate.

Want a personalized experience?

Meal Ideas for Picky 4 Year Old

Re: Meal Ideas for Picky 4 Year Old

Choose Another Board

Search Boards