Recipe ideas for a very fussy 21 month old!

[MNORBURY]

I've posted in weaning & nutrition but got no replies so posting here

I constantly worry and struggle what to give Evie at mealtimes. She won't eat potatoes (only chipped!), cous cous, rice, any vegetables, most meats, beans and is funny with sauces.

She still has the steam tray meals (10 month plus) as I know she will eat them and it's getting veg into her but I feel bad for feeding her them.

The foods we seem to have success with are sausage, toast, scrambled egg, chicken mince bolognaise, chips, garlic bread and tuna pasta mayo so not great!

I have the annabel karmel toddler and baby book and have tried a few recipes from ther but she just refuses nearly all of them.

Any ideas

 

[BethK]

Sorry no advice, my LO is exactly the same!

She will eat anything at Nursery! But as she only goes there 3 mornings a week i need to find stuff for the other 4 days that i know she'll eat.

At the moment all she will eat is -

Pasta
Cheese
Ham
Bread
Crackers
Yoghurt
Broccoli
Chips
Spaghetti hoops
Bolognaise
Lamb
Satsumas

Most days i just end up giving her a Cow & Gate 10 month + jar as i know she'll eat those.

 

[sun]

My LO is 22 months and went from eating everything at a year old to eating hardly anything now! He will eat fruit and bread/carbs and that's about it. At daycare though, he is the best eater there I just keep offering him what we're eating - sometimes it works and sometimes not so much. I do lots of baking (super healthy muffins are his fave) and make smoothies with fruit/veg and tons of other good stuff. So I know he's getting vitamins. Getting him to eat plain veg or meat though - no way! x

 

[MNORBURY]

BethK - I'm so glad I'm not the only one stll giving 10 month+ food but sorry your having the same dilemma

Sun - Do you have the recipe for the muffins please and silly question but what do you put in the smoothies? Do you add juice or water or anything?

 

[keepontrying]

For the mummies whose LO are eating at day care but refusing the same thing at home - your children are developing a behavior pattern not a dislike. They know that at nursery the meal is the meal and there are no options. I recommend offering their meal and when they refuse, take it away - if they get hungry offer it again and NEVER give a jar or alternative because it reaffirms the behavior. No child will starve themselves , they will eat when they realise that Mummy and Daddy stand firm and do not give in to a power struggle. it is the same principles for tantrums.
Keep strong, offer small portions, on bright coloured small plates, sat in highchair or up table, do not feed between meals if they are not eating dinners.

Stay firm and it will work x

 

[sun]

BethK - I'm so glad I'm not the only one stll giving 10 month+ food but sorry your having the same dilemma

Sun - Do you have the recipe for the muffins please and silly question but what do you put in the smoothies? Do you add juice or water or anything?

My smoothies are usually a banana, frozen mango and blueberries (or fresh when I can get them!), 1 spoon of peanut or almond butter, and a handful of spinach! You can't taste the spinach at all - it just tastes like fruit and then my son gets some leafy greens which he would otherwise not eat. I usually thin it out with almond milk or you could use regular milk, juice, or yoghurt + a little water. My LO likes the blueberry, mango, banana combo but you can use any fruit. Sometimes I'll add other stuff too like flax, psyllium, or vitamin powder but usually it's just that.

I'll try and remember the muffin recipe lol - I usually just wing it! x

 

[hattiehippo]

Can I join in too...Tom has never been a great eater and he's getting worse at the mo. His preference for a meal is dry cream crackers, breadsticks, any form of cake, yoghurt or cheerios. Getting any form of veg other than peas into him is impossible and the only form of meat/fish is fish fingers. I can't even say he eats everything at nursery - even they have commented that he doesn't eat much or like puddings. He won't touch ready meals or most of my cooking.

And Keepontrying, I'm sure you're trying to helpful but it very hard to follow your advice without every meal turning into a battle ground or force feeding him. I was basically force feed as a child and I have massive issues with food now. I really don't want this for my son so do not want to turn meals into a battle of wills.

I think generally they eat better at nursery because there are lots of eating together and there's lots of distractions rather than its eat it or be hungry. Certainly Tom's nursery have offered him alteratives when he's refused the food on offer.

 

[BethK]

My LO gets offered alternatives at nursery if she refuses it but she eats as shecopies the other kids.

 

[Bexivillian]

Have you tried making fish cakes? My daughter loves them and it concels the potato. A few other popular dishes are pesto pasta, homemade chicken/fish fingers, sweetcorn fritters, goan curry (mild) and stuffed zuchinis. These are all relatively easy to make. Indies not very good with meat and two veg and prefers little things like this. Let me know if you'd like any recipes x

 

[DaisyBee]

Megan has gotten pickier lately but not quite to the extent of what others are probably dealing with. Yesterday I bought a muffin mix that you just add milk. Had Megan stand on a chair and she dumped it in the bowl, helped dump in the milk, and stirred away. Then put the liners in and dumped batter in them. Way less steps than homemade muffins as she doesn't have the patience to help with those as I've tried. She loved helping but it was basic enough. And then.... She gobbled up the muffin. So did the same with a English muffin, tomato sauce, hamburger (already cooked by me), and cheese. She devoured it. So today let her help more with getting food out of the fridge that she thought looked good for lunch and we went with it. She ate better than usual.

Megan likes waffles, pancakes, and muffins. But not plain breads so no sandwiches. She is getting picky with veggies. She used to love broccoli and now just picks at it. She loves certain fruits (pears, peaches,watermelon, citrus, berries, plums) but she can't just eat fruit all day! That and her diapers are horrible when she eats more than a small portion of them. She is good with meat as long as it's prepared in a way she likes.


Oh and with daycare some kids I had were really picky and were at home as well. Then as preschoolers they would start eating more as wanted to do like x does. Other kids ate better for me from the start. Being on both sides of it I see how it happens. Same as when Megan is with grandparents all day. No tears, no whining, perfect girl all day. I walk in the door and she turns into a bubbling mess as shes kept her feelings inside but in front of mom it's ok to let it out.
Megan has days of horrible eating.... ESP when teething. Whatever the cause I think like all things toddler... It's a phase!

 

[MNORBURY]

Have you tried making fish cakes? My daughter loves them and it concels the potato. A few other popular dishes are pesto pasta, homemade chicken/fish fingers, sweetcorn fritters, goan curry (mild) and stuffed zuchinis. These are all relatively easy to make. Indies not very good with meat and two veg and prefers little things like this. Let me know if you'd like any recipes x

They all sound yum! Do you have the recipe for fish cakes, pesto pasta & curry please hun? Maybe she'll dip bread in too x

 

[eddjanuary10]

I freeze my own hm sauces like tomato,carrot & onion/courgette/whatever... and put them through all sorts of things. Chicken or chiken mince mixed mith some of the sauce and mashed potato in little pastries is one of Ihsan's faves and you don't notice the potato so much. Sometimes I just make them without the sauce as he will eat more veggies now. The sauce is good on hm pizza too!

I know it sounds a bit weird too, but if she likes the toddler dinner have you tried adding some of your own extra veggies or small bits of chicken into it or even potatoes she might like it mixed in with the flavour she is used to? Then you could try using your own simple sauces if she eats it like that?

 

[T-Bex]

Bethan really likes veggie shepherds pie, and veggie spaghetti bolognaise. And she's been a pain in the bum for eating!

 

[sept2010]

@hattiehippo

I dont think keepontrying is suggesting force feeding. More lettin the child kno whose in charge. You make a meal, offer options within the meal, like makin a few different veg etc.. And then let them choose what they want to eat. If they dont eat, you only offer what you made earlier when they are hungry...

 

[Bexivillian]

Have you tried making fish cakes? My daughter loves them and it concels the potato. A few other popular dishes are pesto pasta, homemade chicken/fish fingers, sweetcorn fritters, goan curry (mild) and stuffed zuchinis. These are all relatively easy to make. Indies not very good with meat and two veg and prefers little things like this. Let me know if you'd like any recipes x

They all sound yum! Do you have the recipe for fish cakes, pesto pasta & curry please hun? Maybe she'll dip bread in too x

Sure fish cakes can either be done with salmon or tuna, usually it'll be tuna from a tin. Boil and mash some potatos, mix with tuna, then use your hand to make them into fish cakes shapes, cover in flour, then dip in egg, then in breadcrumbs and fry for a couple of minutes.

Pesto pasta, i put pasta onto boil, cook chicken (i usually fry) then add onion, garlic, pepper, mushroom until these are cooked. Mix in about 4 spoonfuls of pesto. Drain pasta and mix all together, i put grated cheese on mine

Ill copy and paste you the goan chicken recipe in a min, easier than to write out. hope these work. Xx

 

[Bexivillian]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/simplegoanchickencur_67869

I do it without the mustard seeds. Its yummy indie loves this x

 

[llsarahll]

I'm having the same problem with Ryan he's just turned 1 and is turning down everything
And throwing it over board but will eat the 10 months stream trays it's so stressful I really dunno what to do to get him eating proper meals xx