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Old 07-30-2012, 11:58 PM
 
Location: Outer Space
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When my daughter was 2, we told her broccoli where little trees and that clicked with her. She still eats broccoli and cauliflower like it is going out of style. She loves most lettuce, spinach, carrots, corn. However, buck stops dead with mushrooms, peas, onions, and peppers. She just has learned to deal with picking them out of her food. I just take what I can get and don't make a big deal out of it. I have never bothered to hide veggies, rather have usually taken an 'eat or starve' approach, making sure there is always at least one item on the menu she will eat (but not made special for her only).
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Old 07-31-2012, 12:15 AM
 
Location: The end of the road Alaska
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Try fresh, crisp tidbits with ranch dressing. kids love to dip and I haven't met one yet that didn't like ranch. He might just accidentally take a bite.
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Old 07-31-2012, 02:05 AM
 
Location: Temporarily, in Limerick
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Lots of great ideas here, so hopefully some will work. I raised younger siblings, all picky eaters. The tricks I used were:

* Having them help prepare dinner in small ways was fun... like putting plastic gloves & an apron on them so they could mix meatloaf into which I hid peas & ever-so-finely diced carrots... or having them roll out a bit of dough when making a pot pie... they could fill their own tiny pie plates... I'd emphasize mixing in colors of varying ingredients, never naming veggies but just inviting them to add some orange or red or green.

* Making faces on a paper plate with food... or, identifying food in fun ways... banana moons, blueberry stars, carrot canoes, tomato smiles.

* Pureeing, then adding to something else, then saying nothing about it... like pureeing cooked cauliflower & adding to mashed potatoes, or adding carrots to mashed sweet potatoes.

* Not for veggies, but for fruits... I used to make 'ice cream' by pureeing a banana or peach or mango with ice & a bit of water in a blender. Told them it was ice cream & they loved it. Years later, one sister was mad at me when she discovered my trick... she still mentions my deceit every once in awhile.

* I used to put a small plate in front of their favorite doll/stuffed animal with the same food & pretend to feed it, then leave the room & ask if they could feed their toy. They always tested it themselves & I found if I didn't make a big deal out of it, they continued.

* A trick I use with my nephew (as picky an eater as my siblings) is to just put something in front of him whilst he's playing or coloring & say nothing. I don't ask if he's hungry... the answer's always 'no' because he's busy playing. I might say 'here ya go' in a cheery voice when he looks up & he always finishes his plate. My sister can't understand why & I keep trying to explain that because I'm not pressuring him or expecting him to eat, he does. She makes a big to-do out of it (I totally understand, because she's a concerned mum) & well, he's a busy lad playing & is shunning interruptions.

Also, I have metal lunch boxes which I fill with fruits or veggies in a cute colorful bowl, his own plastic flatware, a straw, a tiny Tupperware drink box with my own juice or water. He loves not knowing what it is & opening up his lunchbox.

* If he eats any kind of meat, can you put it into a food processor, puree with 1 veggie so it's not detectible & maybe bake in a cupcake tin for his own individual meatloaf or chicken bake or pork pie or whatever you'd like to call it/bake? I do that for Yorkshire pudding-ish entrees... I don't usually puree, but I do add veggies for added nutrition so it's not quite traditional.

Everyone's kids differ, so I do wish you the best of luck. Very inventive ideas others listed. Please keep us updated.
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Old 07-31-2012, 02:10 AM
 
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Just out of curiosity, OP, how do you handle yourself during meal-time? Are you begging him, yelling or what?

With my daughter, I've had to really restrained myself from getting really annoyed when she doesn't eat... and she has this thing about "fear", "being afraid" of the food-- even when it's something she's had before and liked! You're right, forcing food doesn't help; if anything it seems to make things worse because then it becomes a control issue for the kid.
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Old 07-31-2012, 04:33 AM
 
941 posts, read 1,797,316 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00 View Post
Kale chips are another good one. Toss with olive oil and sea salt, or roasted garlic, or parmesan cheese, or anything else you like. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 325 (some people flip them, but I don't). You can say they are green potato chips.
Yes, that is a splendiferous idea! (I'm looking for these ideas/recipes) I'll be honest.. I've NEVER heard of
doing this with kale, and I'm up reeeeal early ready to go to the grocery store --->> ALONE<<<--- so I have no interference. I'll be tucking those veggies into the cart.

Kale chips what a cool invention!

thanks charolastra!
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Old 07-31-2012, 04:38 AM
 
1,463 posts, read 3,256,254 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CourageMom View Post
I've gone blank in my head.. this child, age 4, won't eat ANY veggies...except for
french-fries & mashed potatoes. He won't eat corn.
If it looks like a veggie.. for get it!
On occasion I can pass off cooked puree'd cauliflower prepared as cheesy mashed potatoes.
That's it for his vegetable repertoire ..
He hardly eats the tomato sauce on spaghetti preferring butter.
Disguises, magic tricks, and artistic license welcome..(please!)
I could use some input on recipe ideas... (no lectures on forcing food ~ I don't intend to.
[Yes] I know kids can go for a year or more on just pb&j's.. that's not the direction please).
thanks!
Puree veggies and mix into your meatloaf if he will eat that. You can also puree them and mix them into a burger. Most kids love burgers.
My son wouldn't eat his veggies either so I used the puree method a lot! For the most part, I think they do outgrow their dislike for veggies. My son is grown, married and eats everything except peas! It is amazing what his wife has accomplished over the last 20 years getting him to eat healthy!
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Old 07-31-2012, 04:47 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LisaMc46 View Post
[/b]

This works well for my veggie adverse two year old. I add shredded veggies to everything from pasta to chili and I sneak them into sandwiches by mixes them with cream cheese. Plus, you can also use them to make zucchini or carrot bread, which is a fairly healthy treat.
That sounds like a treat we'd all love around here Lisa, thanks for the reminder...and there's no shortage of zucchini
Carrot breads are always sweet and have that luxury taste too.

Soon as the heat lifts I'll be firing up the ovens for these breads.. (since being in a food selective limbo)
his appetite for different things may have a resurgence as the weather tips its hat to lowered temps ahead.
I can make little muffins with the same "healthy / veggie bread" recipes. Small kid size items are a magnet.
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Old 07-31-2012, 04:56 AM
 
941 posts, read 1,797,316 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by therewego View Post
This is the route I had to take when my child was 4 and I was getting tired of cooking two meals: chicken and fries for her and another meal for us. All it took was two skipped dinners and just as our Pedi said, she came around. Now she enjoys all kinds of veggies but we make them in different ways like the ideas you have gotten: soups, grilled, sauteed, etc. Today she ate spinach for the first time with chicken florentine; she had 2 servings. She is 7 years old. You have to stand your ground. Good luck!
I will give this route a try if the creative ideas offered here just don't work.
Hmmm, I'm just wondering if I'm just a lousy cook

There seemed to be extra whining yesterday [in general], and when dinner was rejected after a few bites.
It was off for a shower and bed with no turning back.. no alternative choices.

He's still sleeping peacefully.
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Old 07-31-2012, 05:06 AM
 
941 posts, read 1,797,316 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute View Post
One of mine preferred vegetables and fresh fruit to doughnuts and sweets, he'd take peas over candy when he was little.

I remember battles over food as a child, my sister choking down peas she didn't want to eat, even gagging on them because she couldn't leave the table until we ate what we didn't want to eat, and we would cover the lima beans in mashed potatoes and swallow them whole, so I decided with my kids, I would not make food an issue, no forcing, no games. If they don't want to eat the peas then they can't put them on their plate and waste them and if they want to pretend they don't like something, fine with me -- and no special meals served if someone wants to be fussy, they have the option of getting up and making themselves a peanut butter sandwich. That almost never happens, I don't force foods and they don't have a game to play pretending they don't like something.
No, me neither..I'm not from the school of forcing food..
Introductions are fine.. I would like him to get to the "getting to know you" stage,
even if he doesn't know he's eating it... as in tucked in, blended, hidden.

Oh yes, he will pull the gag trigger if I press the "try it" button, so we take it easy.
He's just a little fella and patience has its rewards.
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Old 07-31-2012, 05:08 AM
 
941 posts, read 1,797,316 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GrammasCabin View Post
Try fresh, crisp tidbits with ranch dressing. kids love to dip and I haven't met one yet that didn't like ranch. He might just accidentally take a bite.
LOL, yes, he might!
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