Any supper ideas I didn't think of??

amother

Offwhite

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 5:07 pm

Chili (parve or with ground meat) I let my kids eat it with tortilla chips so it's fun
Tuna/avocado/egg salad wraps

Knishes or blintzes

When I really am uninspired for supper I'll do rice, tuna, and diced cucumbers mixed with some salt

amother

Diamond

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 5:38 pm

Take the food that they like and dip it in the food that they don't like. Show then. Then they eat it even though it only has a minuscule amount. Over time you increase how much "bad" goes on "good"
(Example pasta and dip it in meat sauce for a few bites. Then put a small chunk of the meat on the pasta. Eventually they will eat pasta mixes with meat)

amother

Saddlebrown

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 6:03 pm

OP, some people responding here sound clueless about extremely picky eater kids (arfid maybe?). I totally relate as I have one kid who sounds like yours and others a bit less extreme.
I am laughing at some responses. "Just put it out and theyll eat it eventually" No.not how it works with these kids.
Dip the pasta into a drop of meat sauce, then add small chunks etc.. And soon he'll be eating meatballs... Also no. My son wont eat meatball just because its in small chunks. He hates tons of food.
And No its not a control/anxiety/ocd thing at least not with my son. He rely truly hates most food. He has agreed to try food (with bribes) and he would want to like it but he spits it out and says its really disgusting. He just realky dislkes the taste of it.
Its very very difficult. And even more annoying when people who dont get it give silly advice that works for other kids.
Hatzlacha!

amother

↑ Melon ↓

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 7:09 pm

amother Saddlebrown wrote:

I never ate food. And my parents were nice and understanding and just gave me the few foods I liked.

And now I'm grown up and still don't eat most foods. And yes, I resent the fact that they didn't push me.

I don't force my kids to eat anything. But I strongly encourage. And even if they won't eat it, it goes on their plate.

Also. I can believe there's one picky eater. If everyone hates the same things, it's just because that's what everyone else is doing.

amother

Freesia

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 7:26 pm

There are a million different versions of chicken out there. They have to try it to say for sure they don’t like it. Crunchy breaded, sweet, hot poppers, Chinese, bbq, grilled, herb flavored etc…
Try to work with their flavor palette, if they like fried food try a few different fried crunchy versions till they hopefully like one at least.
Do they like franks? You can do goulash- franks and potatoes.
What about meat? Like skirt steak, pepper steak, beef stew.

amother

Cognac

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 7:29 pm

Sometimes I offer dessert for those who eat the protein.

So if I make noodles and salmon, anyone who eats salmon will get ice cream. Amount of ice cream is based on how much salmon they ate...

I don't do this every time, just once in a while...

amother

Mint

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 7:37 pm

I don't know you and I don't know your kids, I'm just going based on what you shared so far so please forgive me if this is off base.

I think it might be time to deep dive into exploring food and working on picky eating. There are so many resources out there nowadays that can help with this, a personal favorite is the Kids Eat in Color blog. There are doable, small shifts you can make to encourage your children to broaden their horizons without fighting with them. Some things I have implemented that really changed my life are I make one safe food at every meal so even if a child doesn't like the protein, at least they're eating something, I also put the main dish on everyone's plate regardless of whether they will eat it or not, putting the same food on the plate of the kids who won't eat it every time I make it and I offer my pickiest child opportunities to cook with me. Has it solved the picky eating? No. But it has given me the ability to make a variety of foods that I and my not picky kids will enjoy without the stress of worrying what the picky ones will eat.

I say this as a kid whose mother made the same 5 suppers every night for my whole childhood and forced me to eat food I didn't like, learn about this stuff, it's worth it.

amother

Mauve

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 7:47 pm

Do your kids like any variations of soups? Bh most of my kids really like soup and they got a lot of their vegetables through that. My kids are picky but not as picky as what you're talking about so I do have supper options. What about like breakfast for supper - waffles, pancakes, hash browns, eggs.
Or I do bean chili and tacos
Granola and smoothie? I know it's not really a supper but it is healthy. My kids recently got into this and keep asking me to make. I do it for breakfast/dessert usually.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 8:31 pm

Ty all
After reading these posts I admit that I kind of got lazy recently when it comes to cooking supper since I know it's usually rejected either ways and therefore I just make on repeat what will actually get eaten.
I will try to incorporate some of these ideas and hoping to broaden their taste buds...

↑ tichellady

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 8:52 pm

Some things my kids sometimes eat:
Cottage cheese pancakes ( with or without smoothies)
Raw tofu with soy sauce and cucumbers- they can dip themselves
Edamame
Dutch baby pancake
Chickpeas
Red lentil soup
Sometimes I make a plate with cut apples, nuts, cheese, crackers, etc and that’s dinner for the kids

I think it’s fine for the kids to have eggs for dinner frequently, they are healthy. Just add another new thing at dinner to expose them

amother

↑ Melon

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 9:14 pm

amother OP wrote:

Good luck.

It's important to remember the long term goal, which is healthy children with a healthy relationship with food.

Exposure to food, whether they eat it or not, is helpful. Remember that when your kids don't want the supper you made.

Yesterday I made chicken. I got 3 UGHS when the kids came home from school and found out. But I gave them all chicken, they all tasted it, and then they all said it was yummy. (No one asked for doubles, but they finished the 1/8th of a chicken I gave them)

I can post the recipe tomorrow if you want. It was pretty easy. Sweet chili sauce, maple syrup, soy sauce, ketchup. And I baked it for 3 hours so it was super soft. Flipped halfway through so the flavor was really absorbed on all sides.

amother

Eggshell

Tue, Oct 29 2024, 9:39 pm

Focus on protein not variety.

Being that they anyways are picky (and only like relatively easy to prepare food) make a weekly menu for your kids and different menu for you and your husband.

Greek yogurt has a lot of protein, eggs and beans are good as well. Let them eat bread for lunch and dinner if they want as long as they got protein (which can be peanut butter).

Eventually you can try saying they’re not allowed to have from mommy and Tottys food even if they want - make your food look yummy, present it nicely, and say it’s a treat for mature ppl. They’ll come around.

And treat yourself! Don’t get burnt out! Make nice dinners for you and husband and enjoy not having your work thrown back at you…

amother

Pear

Wed, Oct 30 2024, 6:45 am

I found that when I put the chicken on skewers my little kids eat it really nicely. It becomes a fun thing verses a fight...
Dip the chicken pieces in any kind of sauce, and/or bread them in whichever way, lay the skewers on top of a 9-13, and bake for 25-30 minute.

You can do the same with veggies

amother

Iris

Wed, Oct 30 2024, 8:12 am

amother Pear wrote:

Good point. Someone mentioned Kids Eat in Color upthread. I think that is a great source for getting familiar with healthy eating habits. She also encourages using fun forks and toothpicks.
She talks about portion sizes and forcing. Really a great resource even if your kids are not picky.

You can follow her on instagram here. https://www.instagram.com/kids.eat.in.color/

renslet

Wed, Oct 30 2024, 8:46 am

amother Pear wrote:

I think that making food fun is a great way to get them to interact with it.
Solid starts (website and Instagram) has excellent ideas.
Don't pressure to eat, make games, which vegetable makes a bigger noise when I bite it, how many corn kernels can I fit on my fork.
Get them in involved in making stuff, choosing what you put in a salad. ( My three year old put cucumber, banana and apple once in a bowl, called it a salad and ate the whole thing.
Make food and serve it, unless your child is really really picky ( and then probably you should find a professional to help) after a few times they will eat something, no one enjoys being hungry. Make at least one food that they like or semi like and then serve options to open their horizons.
Give dips, toppings, funny shapes or sizes, weird bowls or plates, it all helps
Also as much as possible don't look at what they are eating or not, they will feed off your anxiety

amother

Papaya

Wed, Oct 30 2024, 9:04 am

I have this. My kids are super picky. One of my sons went to feeding therapy for a little while with little improvement.

What I do is offer a huge bribe for a small new food for the first time. My very picky son (who was in feeding therapy) ate a small piece of potato for an ice cream in a cone. Another kid ate and spit it out. But at least he tried.

3 other kids needed a lot of coaxing to try meatballs and the huge bribe, but now they eat it no problem (or for a small dessert) and it’s in our weekly rotation. Same happened with shnitzel with these kids.

I have to keep trying new foods with these bribes since it’s the only thing that’s worked so far.

jd1212

Wed, Oct 30 2024, 9:18 am

Mine are same. For some reason “yellow” has done the trick for a couple dinners. Break tofu into crumbles in a teflon pan with a spoon of olive oil, add cumin, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and tumeric. Same thing with pargiot in the oven. give a small portion of a desirable food like pasta or rice and only give more after they eat x bites of the other food