S/O - weekly menus - do your kids eat all this?

[Twoboos]

I think I am living in the world of Very Picky Children. There is no way they would touch some of the fantastic sounding dishes you all have posted in the Weekly Menu thread! I would love to make some recipes, but the idea of two dinners is un-fun.

So I always wonder - do your children eat these things? Balsamic Chicken, Brown Sugar Chicken, Salsa Chicken, Lasagna, chili, the list goes on... I mean never ev-er!! (I made the Brown Sugar Chicken the other night and they looked at me like I was eating raw sewage. I kept a chix breast out and cooked it separately but still served it w/the veg and rice we were having.)

Ugh. Plus DD1 is boycotting much of the typical go-to kids meals (Mac & Cheese, nuggets, pizza, only drinks the broth from soup). But should could eat pb&j 24/7.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I didn't read the other thread yet, but we're enjoying round 2 of Once A Month Cooking Family Favorites. The first batch, no kid ate a bite of anything, but I kept on serving it. I made sure (per Ellyn Satter) that something they like was on the table. Sometimes I would get frustrated and pull out some kind of protein from the fridge to serve them.

Now, I serve them a small portion of what we're having and stress less about it. We're putting the food on the table and letting them pick out what they want. Not sure if it is their choosing or my sitting down and not getting up that makes them keep chewing, but they are for the most part chewing something the whole time DH and I are eating. Well, except for the Mediterranean Fish Stew. They didn't eat that one at all.

[alien_host]

I was thinking the same thing. My DD really won't eat any of those things. She doesn't like sauce on things (likes to dip). It's very frustrating.

She did have some of the salsa chicken (crock pot) because I spooned it in some Tostitos Scoops chips and covered them with shredded cheese. I called them mini-tacos...she only ate two. :(

I try to talk things up and make them fun but she'd rather have mac and cheese or chicken nuggets. I don't want eating to be a battle so I don't push it and end up making two meals...when does it end?

[Clarity]

My kids eat a wide variety of food, including Salsa chix, chix adobo, curried chix salad, vegetable korma, Chinese food, etc. My kids have a varied palate and I'd like to think it's because they have eaten the same dinners that my dh and I eat since they were old enough to eat finger foods. We've emphasized fruits and vegetables and explored ethnic food whenever possible. There's nothing I haven't let them try but I'm lucky that dd1 is an eater and is willing to at least try every thing that I put on her plate. I don't force her to eat anything she doesn't like, but I do ask that she try it.

I'll add that my dd1 doesn't like everyday things like carrots and cottage cheese and that dd2 prefers crackers to nearly any other food (my fault - crackers are her default snack food due to a multi-food allergy.)

[alirebco]

I didn't see the other thread either but DS always eats the same dinner we eat - Morroccan chicken last night, Salmon with Garlic and Lemon tonight, Beef Stew, Black Bean Burrittos, Roasted Tofu, etc. The kid will eat most everything...last night he kept asking for more kale.

We're the same as Clarity, he has always had the same meals as us - spices, indian, japanese etc and it has never been an issue. He always tries stuff and if he doesn't like, I don't force it. He'll keep trying it though and normally he ends up liking it - this was the case with broccoli - tried it 20 times and now loves it.

[caleymama]

DD1 has always been very particular about flavors and textures. She eats a good variety of healthy foods but not a lot of dinner-type food. Sauces, meat, things all mixed together, etc. are usually a no-go. This is not for lack of trying or exposure on our part. We always serve it and occasionally modify it for her - ie we had pasta w/ meat sauce last night and she (age 7) just cannot do the meat sauce. We gave her pasta w/ plain sauce.

DD2 (5) will eat anything that's not nailed down! She's my flavor + texture loving kid and usually will eat whatever is served.

We do what we've always done... serve dinner in a way I hope is palatable even if it's not something they think they like, encourage them to try it, try to have something on the table they *do* like, and have a "snack" available later on for DD1 because there's a good chance she will still be hungry.

[infomama]

Our dds eat everything except the mexican chicken. I may make a small crock pot of lemon chicken when I make the brown sugar garlic chicken since dd2 isn't super hip on that one. They love the lasagna, roast, chicken spaghetti and pizza though.

[saleenl]

Ah, the PB&J. That is every lunch at our house. It bugs me but then I realized that my husband makes the same sandwich every day for lunch, too. Maybe it's genetic.

My son ate just about anything we ate up until sometime after his third birthday. At that point, his list of acceptable foods dropped off but, most frustratingly, they began to vary day to day. For example, he'll eat split pea soup with gusto one night and two nights later say it looks "nasty" and won't touch it. He turned 4 in October, so this has been going on for more than a year.

Mostly, I just try to avoid single dish meals or be sure to offer the parts that made the dish separately. On enchilada night, he gets the shredded chicken and cheese on a tortilla with the sauce on the side. We always put a small, token serving of what we're having on his plate. He has been known to refuse to keep it on his plate, which we allow, but mostly it just sits there. We use a sectioned plate to make sure nothing accidentally touches, what with the risk of food cooties and whatnot :). There are the exciting, totally random nights that he tries new foods after we've offered them dozens of times. So, it does happen but he seems to only choose foods that he doesn't like (asparagus, lettuce). And I know you're not supposed to but occasionally we pressure him to try a new food (usually a familiar food with a sauce) and he often likes it. Not that he'd eat it the next time it's served...

Sometimes, we will allow him to eat leftovers from a different night if he can't stand what we're having at all, but there have been more than a few nights that he will claim he's not hungry and leave the table quickly. Yes, at bed time he will ask for food and we offer to reheat his dinner or leftovers from a different night. Most of the time he still won't eat but sometimes he does. I figure those are the nights he's really hungry.

[elephantmeg]

it's DH that won't eat it! lol. The kids eat anything DH will and then some, unless DS is in a 4 y o mood and won't eat anything... in that case he (or they since DD follows suit if he starts-ugh even if she's been eating with gusto) can have bread and butter at bedtime.

[vludmilla]

Pretty much. I love Elllyn Satter as after I finished reading that book DD suddenly ate a spinach and artichoke quiche (when I used the Satter method of dinnertime). I recommend her books highly.

[pastrygirl]

My 3.5-year-old is starting to get pickier, but until recently, he ate everything we ate. Now he's willing to try a bite of something he claims not to like, and usually likes it. I've always given him "our" food for dinner. I don't really do convenience foods, never have, even for myself. My babysitter was the first one to give him a hot dog; it never even occurred to me to ever make him one! (Or even buy them...)

He has sunbutter and jam sandwiches almost every day for lunch, though!

[fivi2]

No way... my kids used to eat a good variety, but they have entered a hugely picky phase. Also dh gets home too late for them to eat, so they eat their own meal around 5:30 and dh and I eat around 8:00. I cook them things they will eat. On the weekends, we do eat together, and they do get served what we eat, but I make sure there is something they will eat. So last Sat was rotisserie chicke, mac and cheese, green beans, and salad. They had to try everything, but mostly they filled up on mac and cheese. :bag

Onr of my dds is more adventurous and will try things like soup or quiches. The other will not. I offer them healthy (usually - I guess mac and cheese isn't too healthy!) choices, but not always what we are eating. They are in a no meat stage also.

I guess I need to read this Ellen Sattyr book!

[fivi2]

Ah, the PB&J. That is every lunch at our house. It bugs me but then I realized that my husband makes the same sandwich every day for lunch, too. Maybe it's genetic.

My son ate just about anything we ate up until sometime after his third birthday. At that point, his list of acceptable foods dropped off but, most frustratingly, they began to vary day to day. For example, he'll eat split pea soup with gusto one night and two nights later say it looks "nasty" and won't touch it. He turned 4 in October, so this has been going on for more than a year.

Mostly, I just try to avoid single dish meals or be sure to offer the parts that made the dish separately. On enchilada night, he gets the shredded chicken and cheese on a tortilla with the sauce on the side. We always put a small, token serving of what we're having on his plate. He has been known to refuse to keep it on his plate, which we allow, but mostly it just sits there. We use a sectioned plate to make sure nothing accidentally touches, what with the risk of food cooties and whatnot :). There are the exciting, totally random nights that he tries new foods after we've offered them dozens of times. So, it does happen but he seems to only choose foods that he doesn't like (asparagus, lettuce). And I know you're not supposed to but occasionally we pressure him to try a new food (usually a familiar food with a sauce) and he often likes it. Not that he'd eat it the next time it's served...

Sometimes, we will allow him to eat leftovers from a different night if he can't stand what we're having at all, but there have been more than a few nights that he will claim he's not hungry and leave the table quickly. Yes, at bed time he will ask for food and we offer to reheat his dinner or leftovers from a different night. Most of the time he still won't eat but sometimes he does. I figure those are the nights he's really hungry.

Okay, I should have just read this and said :yeahthat: to this entire post. Mine get the components of what we are eating, need sectioned plates so things don't touch, and will up and decide that they hate their former favorites. All of this, same age too!