Lunches are a bit hit and miss, here. Sadly. snacks even more so. I’m so distracted at the moment that I haven’t planned very much and I’m usually standing in front of the pantry scanning for something while Abby asks for something to eat. She doesn’t like vegetables or salad or really anything except fruit and sandwiches or cereal.
But I try! Oh how I try. I figure she’ll eat it eventually.
Won’t eat cheese, but will totally eat a grilled cheese sandwich.
Roast veggie quinoa salad – fuhgettabout it. She didn’t even look at it. A good idea, though!
corn and black bean salsa salad. No chance.
Everything but the cheese, man. She just pulled it into bits and dropped it everywhere.
Peanut butter on homemade bread with fruit. Always with the fruit!
banana sandwich on rye with mandarin.
Tell me it gets better! Please!
flyingdrunkenmonkey says
December 5, 2012 at 8:17 amI feel your pain. We went from having a baby that would eat *anything* to a toddler that will turn her nose up at anything! Wish I could give you some suggestions but I really have no idea.
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 9:57 amSurely she won’t be that kid who only eats fruit and sandwiches FOREVER. Surely.
flyingdrunkenmonkey says
December 5, 2012 at 10:06 amWe can only hope!!
Jos Parkinson says
December 5, 2012 at 8:36 amYou may have already tried this but what about getting her to help in some capacity. I know that my girls when they were little would not eat something during the day if I just handed it to them but if I got them to help with getting things out of the fridge, giving them a plastic knife to attempt to chop things up or anything that involved them with the process, they ate! I warn you, it will be messy but when they are finished eating it will be so worth it!
Jos from Sew. Cook. Laugh. Live xx
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 9:58 amHa Abby has been feeding herself from day one, I totally understand messy! It’s nice to eat outside in this weather too. I think I might try the chopping up thing… I give her veggies but she doesn’t even look at the plate. Maybe if she was doing something with it, it might work! <3
Chloe says
December 5, 2012 at 8:38 amDoes your little one still make a huge mess? My 14.5 month old is sooo messy and throws food! Argh!!!!! It’s driving the clean freak in me crazy! My girl doesn’t like cheese too but I may try grilled sandwiches and fruit is a hit but my gosh once she start squeezing it and it goes everywhere! It ain’t fun!
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 9:59 amSO MESSY. Right now I am avoiding cleaning up the remnants of the cereal she dropped this morning. She gets it all over herself, the chair and the floor. No matter what it is, there’s mess!
Reannon Hope says
December 5, 2012 at 9:29 amEach kid is different. My eldest ate everything up until 2 & then ate NOTHING but sandwiches & toast ( it hasn’t gotten better & he’s nearly 13!) . My second ate pretty well & still does but only eats a small variety of fruit & will only eat veggies raw.
I’d say keep it simple . Stick with the stuff she does like & then make small variations. Add something new to a plate of things she does like. In all honesty it’s just trial & error. Don’t worry too much, your doing great xx
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 10:01 amThank you gorgeous. I put some diced carrot in between her beloved peas but the clever cookie just ate around them. I remember hating a bunch of stuff as a kid too, that I really like now. And she seems healthy so I figure she’s doing ok. I hope!
Reannon Hope says
December 5, 2012 at 12:04 pmEvery professional I have ever seen about my fussy boy has always said ” if he is growing & hitting all his development milestones don’t worry.” So I’d say she is just fine too xx
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 12:32 pmAh you’re a gem! I just figured it was normal, but its always good to know that someone else has had confirmation of that! Thank you a bunch x
Lisa Mckenzie says
December 5, 2012 at 12:04 pmI am a bit fo a lazy lunch person too,I just find I get busy and then it seems to be lunch time,your suggestions sound good fo Abby but me too,love the fruit ,that is one thing I will grab and eat,but you make lovely luches,I am going to make some of your rice and pumkin salad you put on your blog the other day for lazy lunches,just get out of the fridge and eat:)
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 12:31 pmI never used to be a lazy lunch person! But newborns are so damn needy, dammit! Haha I have been making that rice salad for grab-and-go lunches, I so wish Abby would eat it. And I don’t really like fruit, it is the one thing I need to eat more of. Let me know how you go with the salad 🙂
Michelle Lisle says
December 5, 2012 at 12:22 pmHi Stacey…..I can totally relate to Abby with the cheese…as a kid I just could not eat cheese unless it was melted, it was a texture thing. You might be finding with Abby that some textures don’t feel right now while she’s little but as she gets older she will probably change and eat those foods she doesn’t like now. I can now eat cheese on crackers but only in the last few years, as a kid the texture made me feel likeI was going to be sick. I wouldn’t worry too much she looks like a healthy little girl adn the things she is eating are healthy for her. My 19yr old has Autism and they have big food texture issues so it was very hard getting him to eat different foods, to this day he won’t eat potato no matter how it’s cooked and most fruit is off the menu too….it’s been hard but he’s healthy.
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 12:34 pmThat must have been a long road of trial and error to figure out what he’d eat and what he wouldn’t! I’ve definitely seen her spit out things that I thought would be a texture issue, but most of the time I try new things, she doesn’t even put it in her mouth – she just looks at it and screams “no!” I keep giving it to her anyway, maybe one day she’ll get bored and just eat it and find that she likes it! I’ve also seen her say no to things I know she’d love if she ate it. Silly girl 🙂
Michelle Lisle says
December 5, 2012 at 5:04 pmhehehe we definitey have kids to try our patience don’t we?? She’s probably too young to understand at the moment but our six year old always screws her nose up at new food before even trying it so we now have a rule that she has to at least try it before refusing to eat it and usually she likes it….sometimes I think it’s just the look of certain foods that puts them off and they don’t get that we eat with our mouths not our eyes…lol 🙂
Veggie Mama says
December 6, 2012 at 8:39 amYes I can’t wait to bring in that rule! She can’t understand it now, but she will soon enough 🙂
Angela says
December 5, 2012 at 12:31 pmI feel your pain too!! I am a vegetarian too and my 17 month old daughter doesn’t eat any veggies and is hit and miss with most other foods except meat – give her a hunk of steak and she’s in heaven!! The other day she actually licked the meat juices (read: blood) off her plate when she was done, but give her any type of veggie and she won’t even try it or can suss out that you have snuck it into her mouth with some meat and she spits it straight out argh! I have no idea where I went wrong but it’s always comforting to know others are going through the same thing and surely it won’t last forever 🙂
Veggie Mama says
December 5, 2012 at 12:37 pmhaha she knows when you’re being sneaky! and gross, blood! At least she’s getting some iron and protein. I try to ensure Abby gets those, and plenty of fibre, but I guess I just wanted her to love food in all forms. I’ve accepted she doesn’t, but I keep trying anyway. I bet it won’t last forever, and yeah how good is it to know they’re normal!
Clare Gal says
December 5, 2012 at 5:49 pmI use to have very fussy toddlers (now 4 and 2 and eat EVERYTHING and every veg). I found if I stuffed anything in some filo it was a hit…. shove those veges in the filo pastry and its eaten!
Veggie Mama says
December 6, 2012 at 8:39 amNot a bad idea! I’ll see what I can do, thanks 🙂
Mother Down Under says
December 5, 2012 at 5:51 pmWe struck out with quinoa fried rice.
He won’t eat cheese unless it is grated…can’t he grate it in his mouth?
Veggies are ONLY consumed in the form of smoothies…thank goodness you can’t taste spinach and avocado when combined with bananas and peaches and raspberries.
Sigh.
I will keep trying too!
Veggie Mama says
December 6, 2012 at 8:40 amWe struck out with everything last night. Mashed potato, quinoa cakes, broccoli, asparagus… she just wanted to smoosh it all around her dad’s plate with a knife!
Beth Wieland says
December 5, 2012 at 6:19 pmyou could have written this about my daughter…. except cheese – she loves it esp haloumi! i wish my daughter would eat more variety too… i just follow my mums’s advice – offered a healthy variety and don’t make meal times a battle ground. i find it reduces my stress if i do this! when my little one is a bit older i’m going to start a new rule of having to taste to mouthfuls before saying no.
Veggie Mama says
December 6, 2012 at 8:41 amyeah I’m going to try that rule too! I just give it to her and if she says no, I take it away. There’s no forcing a kid this age to do anything, really! Then I try again next time. I bet she’d like haloumi if she ever tried it, haha
elly71 says
December 5, 2012 at 10:39 pmI had a fussy toddler. Flat bread was a life saver.
He used to make salad “faces” on his bread. The rules were a different “type” of vegetable for each body part. Used peanut butter to “stick” the face to the bread. Peanut butter and salad actually tastes quite good.
We also renamed things- he wouldn’t eat bean sprouts but he would eat fishing rods, wouldn’t eat quiche but would eat egg cake. The biggest winner of all was dog food (shepherds pie). Go figure.
Veggie Mama says
December 6, 2012 at 8:43 amDog food! That’s amazing! Abby is too young to know either a fishing rod or a sprout, but I have heard this tactic works. I got her to make faces with peas the other day, but she’s still too young to understand representations of faces. I’m sure she’ll eat it eventually, and I totally agree about peanut butter and salad!
Serene says
December 6, 2012 at 9:27 pmHi, I just found your blog and Abby sounds like my daughter! Mine loves fruit and carbs, and turns her nose up at most veggies except corn, peas, baked beans, roast potatoes, and pesto. With the corn, my daughter finally liked them after I offered it to her a kazillion times, so I suppose persistence pays off! I’ve also tried serving food in ice cube trays, which helps with portioning too, because I tend to overestimate the size of my kid’s stomach. And it seems to be working, though anything remotely looking like a vegetable still gets the evil eye first.
I think you are doing a great job, offering lots of variety. Abby looks bright and healthy and I’m sure one day she’ll eat. Apparently I was a fussy kid too who lived only on tomato sauce, and yup, still alive and kicking!
Veggie Mama says
December 7, 2012 at 1:22 pmha isn’t it crazy what kids will and won’t eat?! I think most toddlers are “fussy” to a degree, I really do. Abby will turn her nose up at everything, veggie or no, and she’s too little to tell me why. I’m positive she’d like half the stuff I give her, but just doesn’t look at the plate let alone try it! But I think as she gets older I can reason with her or she’ll just plain start eating stuff! I love the ice cube tray idea, I got some cute ones a while ago from Ikea… she loves eating her raisins out of them 🙂
Melissa says
December 10, 2012 at 11:42 amI needed this today! My little one will eat anything and everything one day and the next won’t touch anything except for sandwiches and fruit. It drives me insane especially on a day that we are going to my mum’s and he’ll eat everything she cooks, clears the plate and then goes looking for seconds!!
Veggie Mama says
December 10, 2012 at 11:54 amAnd people wonder what you’re making such a fuss about! Frustrating! Abby hasn’t eaten any of the veggies I’ve made for her this last week, but just ate three dry weetbix. Go figure.
Andrea Hamann says
November 30, 2014 at 2:35 pmOur boy randomly likes raw beans…sometimes, roast potato sometimes, tomato never, pumpkin only in soup….arggh. and snacks…don’t get me started.
Veggie Mama says
December 3, 2014 at 7:31 pmHaha it’s the worst!
Andrea Hamann says
November 30, 2014 at 2:37 pmif this makes you feel better: hot cheese bic’s. (cheese melted on jatz). I kid you not. He will eat that. arggghhhhhhhhh
Veggie Mama says
December 3, 2014 at 7:32 pmI would eat that!