First, lets start with breakfast. Amazingly, my son loves yogurt and oatmeal. So, I mix in small pieces of fresh fruit like blueberries, strawberries or peaches and he eats it up. Not rocket science but it works. I also add tons of fruit to home made pancakes and waffles. It's the same with Cheerios or shredded wheat. Luckily, he's a pretty good breakfast eater. It all goes down hill after that.
For lunch, Mac and cheese or grilled cheese are always a hit (but for whatever reason he won't touch a cheese quesadilla). Using either Annies mac and cheese or home made with whole wheat pasta, I add some spinach or peas. Most of the time it works but occasionally I find peas on the floor once lunch is done. Adding slices of tomato or avocado to whole wheat grilled cheese works too. I've also been able to sneak in slices of turkey breast on occasion. Sometimes peanut butter and jelly work sometimes it doesn't. Usually I find the sandwich taken apart with the peanut butter and jelly scooped out I always use all natural peanut butter and organic jams. It's not a vegetable but it's better than a burger and fries.
Dinner is always an experiment, and adventure. What worked a few nights ago may not work again. He's pretty much turned his nose at any meat or fish except chicken nuggets. I would much rather him eat fresh chicken or fish instead of processed meats. I've made home made fish and chips but cut up the cod or haddock into smaller 1 or 2 inch pieces before cooking, basically making them look like a nugget. He ate it up! Now I know how to get him to eat fish! I do something similar with chicken, baking it and looking like a chicken nugget. Alfredo noodles are very popular in our house. I've found mixing spinach in with the noodles works too. It sticks to the noodles and becomes very difficult to pick off and it gets eaten.
As for snacks or beverages, we've had to get creative. We add just a splash of chocolate almond milk to his milk for a treat of "chocolate milk". We never have to worry about him finishing his milk. We also found a neat squeeze bottle that he thinks is just the coolest thing and can't wait to drink water from it. My son loves chips. What kid doesn't? I thought making kale chips would be such an easy way to get him to eat some veggies. Boy was I wrong. I tried giving them to him fresh from the oven. Nope, he saw the green and turned away. I tried putting them on his plate, in a bowl, nothing worked. What ended up working? Putting the kale chips in a tostitos bag. He thought they were real chips and almost ate the whole bag! Such trickery...
My son loves baked goods. Breads, sweets, you name it. I feel bad with my line of work. All he wants to do is sample everything I make! I've used this to my advantage. I don't feel quite so bad giving him our home made zucchini or squash bread, chocolate zucchini cake or pumpkin bread. Each batch has atleast 2 cups of veggies and I know there are no preservatives or high fructose corn syrup.
I know there are tons of other ideas out there on how to get kids to eat. What have you found works for you?
