I have SUCH a hard time getting P to eat anything healthy.
He has a diet of three foods.
1. Chicken Nuggets
2. Fettucini
3. French Fries
I think I only have myself to blame for this. I wish I would have never introduced him to McDonald’s or Fazzoli’s.
Does McDonald’s put crack in their kids meals? I am fully convinced they do.
I just want him to eat some broccoli. Or green beans. Or peas.
SOMETHING WITH SOME NUTRITIONAL VALUE!
But no such luck on that. Every time I offer him foods that are healthy he throws a fit and a hour later I end up giving in (to avoid the disturbance).
I have heard mothers say…”Just give him healthy food and if he doesn’t eat it, don’t give him anything else. Eventually he will eat it because you know he won’t go hungry.”
Not P. I’m pretty sure he’d go hungry before he put his mouth on any vegetable.
Literally.
I’d probably have a better chance of getting him to eat dog food.
So someone help me! 
How do you get your kids to eat healthy AND keep a smile on their face?
Because if you haven’t noticed…he kinda likes his fettucini.
And I kinda like it when he’s a happy boy.
I need an intervention! STAT!
Actually, I read somewhere that McDonald’s adds extra sugar to their happy meals because it’s more addictive to children…seriously!
Maybe you could give Jessica Seinfeld’s book a try? It would at least sneak some veggies in there somewhere!
http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/
My son is the SAME way… he will eat grilled chicken but NO veggies and hardly any fruit. We have the Jessica Seinfeld book and it has some good recipes in it. Or you could chop and puree any veggie and add to any meal P would eat. And just keep offering him veggies/fruit but don’t force it, eventually he will try it. Oh and let him see you eating it, I found that helps! Good luck!
I’m going to have to agree. If you only give him a specific food to eat eventually he will eat it. It’s hard but it work. Ellie (who is almost 10) had to sit at the table yesterday until she finished her food because she said it was gross before she even tried it. We have a rule at our house. You try everything once. So when she does that then she has to eat it until it’s gone.
Chicken nuggets, fries & fettucine aren’t horrible. Maybe if you make the chicken nuggets & fries at home by baking them instead of buying McDonalds. And fettucine at home would be great if you could throw some broccoli and chicken in.
Good luck.
.-= Gwen´s last blog ..Regularly Scheduled Programming =-.
I just happened to stumble across your blog and can totally relate to having picky eaters! I have 3 kiddos under 5 and it can be tricky to get them to eat healthy. I SWEAR by Jessica Seinfeld’s book. Its so easy to sneak stuff into their food and they never ever know the difference…either does my husband! I puree cauliflower the most because its the easiest to hide (even in Alfredo!) and it doesnt change the color of the foods much. Last night I added pureed Red Peppers to Sloppy Joes and no one even knew. It is a little bit extra work to puree the vegis but so worth it. I will just do a big batch of them and throw them in baggies in the freezer for meals at a later date. Experimenting can be fun…cauliflower in bannana bread, spinich under the sauce on Pizza, Chickpeas in chocolate chip cookies, squash in Mac and Cheese…I could go on and on and on! Good luck and I really recommend getting her book or checking out some of the recipes!!
My oldest son is almost 6. He used to love veggies. Now I am lucky if he will eat anything that isn’t raw baby carrots. I have bought the Jessica Seinfield book and tried a few things. They didn’t turn out well. What her book suggests is puree veggies of the same color of the food so that the kids don’t notice. You can make your own chicken nuggets and add a vegetable puree to the batter. We have pureed broccoli and added it in our pasta sauce. Have you tried sweet potato fries? My son loves them and doesn’t realize they are a veggie. They also say you can add veggie puree to pancake batter and stuff. We buy the V8 fusion strawberry banana juice and my son will have 1 glass a day in the hopes of offsetting the lack of veggies. I am hoping that one day he will grow out of his disdain for veggies. The only veggies he will currently eat are: salad with only carrots and dressing on the lettuce, raw baby carrots, sometimes I can get 4 peas into him. He will literally gag himself over green beans so we quit trying. I literally had to make him a new plate after he got sick all over it once.
Good luck.
Brandi
.-= Brandi Bankhead´s last blog ..All is better =-.
Well, I’m not a mom, so I’m not going to be of any real help here but… I was a super picky eater as a kid too. I only ate goldfish, chicken nuggets, and mac and cheese and my mom had to pack my lunch through middle school bc I refused to eat school lunch. Needless to say, I turned out just fine, and Parker will too. My mom tried to stick it out and make me eat other things, but I NEVER caved… EVER! I went to camp for an entire week as a kid and didn’t eat anything except the bag of Jolly Ranchers I had in my bag… seriously.
.-= CAwife´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Mom! =-.
I would say, stop making him (or buying him) something diff. than what you all eat for dinner. I am telling you……when he gets into grade school, he will NOT try anything if you don’t get him to do it now. Don’t make a huge deal about it, but don’t “give-in” to him either…….if he starts to throw a fit, quietly take him to his room and shut the door. He can either try the food or be hungry. I do have our three at least try something that I’ve cooked, but I also try to make at least one kid friendly thing at the dinner meal.
*tonight we’re having homeade pizza—-i let the kids help me prepare this
I know children’s taste buds aren’t as “accepting” as ours, so like i said…don’t make a huge deal about eating………I know it bothers you to let him go to bed hungry……but maybe you could give him crackers and cheese, or a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Have your husband try to make him try things.
I know kids go through phases too, where they will only eat certain things…….but tell him that “tonight is pizza night and you can have fettucini…tomorrow night”………give him lots of praise if he does try something.
this is all a huge rambling of talk, but just diff. ideas that came to mind.
good luck!……….most of all, YOU are the parent……what he eats is up to you and don’t allow him to be the boss.
.-= Katy´s last blog ..Baby Bedding for our Baby Girl =-.
Maybe look up some diff. information about children’s eating habits……do what works best for you and him. 🙂
.-= Katy´s last blog ..Baby Bedding for our Baby Girl =-.
I have had this problem as well with my 2 1/2 year old and recently stumbled upon a whole blog world out there dedicated to children’s bento boxes. It takes a bit more time to prepare, but so far, my daughter loves it. It also fills my desire to be creative. Google “bento” “lunch” and “kids” and discover the whole world out there!