Author Topic: What do your mini mustaches eat?  (Read 8802 times)

hermoninny

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What do your mini mustaches eat?
« on: June 16, 2014, 12:31:33 PM »
Long time reader, first post, yay!

I'm having serious trouble budgeting for food.  I feel like our kids' food takes up an insanely high portion of our monthly grocery bills, and they're only 3-years and 18-months.  I've just started itemizing and calculating to be sure, but it's just this gut feeling I have.

We're currently spending $600-$800 per month on food.  Yesterday's quick shopping ended with about 40% strictly kids' foods.  This doesn't include any of the pricier items like applesauce pouches or bacon and bologna, which come from different stores.  If I add that in, the total is more like 50-60%.

The 3-yr-old is super picky - he would live 100% on cereal bars if we let him.  He pretty much shuns any type of main course, and only wants snack foods.  His list is basically:

- cereal bars (he currently goes through 4-5 boxes a week, but he used to eat 6-8 until I realized it and we cut way back),
- pretzels,
- applesauce pouches (only GoGo Squeez - I've tried to sneak cheaper/on sale brands or ones with veggies and he won't touch them if they're not "the green ones"),
- fruity cheerios (only the orange ones),
- bananas,
- fruit snacks,
- strips of bacon and occasionally balogna,
- pancakes,
- PB&J,
- yogurt,
- milk

Occasionally, we can get him to eat some macaroni and cheese, but only the farm ones from Annie's.

Our 18-month-old, on the other hand, will eat almost anything.

So my question is - what do your kids eat that helps you stay on a reasonable budget and also feel like they're eating healthily?

« Last Edit: June 16, 2014, 04:58:31 PM by hermoninny »

lackofstache

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2014, 02:09:52 PM »
Our kids eat what we eat. They don't get special pre-packaged or non-nutritional foods. We give our kids eggs, fruit, vegetables, nuts & maybe some yogurt or cheese & meat each day. Surprisingly, they love this shit. Buy the best quality you can within your budget & lay off the cereal bars. My guess is that he may not eat for a coupla hours if you change his options, but he won't starve.

Prairie Stash

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2014, 04:00:38 PM »
Mine eats the same food I do.  It's how my parents raised me, I'm sure its how my grandparents did it too. As long as you're eating healthy then no problem.  I hope you had good examples growing up, what did you eat as a child?

Just watch the snacks, you can't expect them to eat at meal times if they just finished 2 snacks. Maybe your cereal bars are different, I think most of them are basically junk food.

Northerly

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2014, 04:41:39 PM »
Sounds like he lives on snacks. The only really suitable things I see on that list are bananas, peanut butter, and milk. Provide only healthy options. He'll eat when he gets hungry enough. If he'll only eat bananas, peanut butter, and milk for a while, well, that's not too bad actually.

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2014, 04:53:22 PM »
Mine eats the same food I do.  It's how my parents raised me, I'm sure its how my grandparents did it too. As long as you're eating healthy then no problem.  I hope you had good examples growing up, what did you eat as a child?

Just watch the snacks, you can't expect them to eat at meal times if they just finished 2 snacks. Maybe your cereal bars are different, I think most of them are basically junk food.

I don't remember what I ate when I was three.  ;-) Actually, I don't remember what I ate at any time as a child.  I've kind of blocked most of my childhood out.  I remember lots of casseroles.  And how my brother always refused to eat it if there was corn in it.  So my mom stopped putting corn in them.  Which was my favorite part, so I was bummed.  Seriously though, I had a revolving door of tuna, PB&J, and mayo & sprout sandwiches, combined with fruit cups or carrot sticks when I brown-bagged it to elementary school.  I've tried all of that and have only succeeded with the PB&J, and that's only occasionally.  And he can't bring that to daycare because someone in his class has a severe peanut allergy.  At lunch at daycare, he usually eats an applesauce pouch and some fruit snacks.  We've tried putting a variety of hot foods in a thermos, but he never eats it.  Even if we send bologna or bacon, he only eats it about 10% of the time.

He eats the snacks AT mealtime, because he won't eat anything else.  He gets two snack times during the day at daycare, and we try to do that at home on the weekends as well.  When I ask him what he wants for dinner, he always says, "Milk and a bar".  He's allowed to have a bar after his bath when he sits down with his dad while I put the baby to bed.  So I remind him that he only gets bars after bathtime and only if he eats his dinner.  And then I give him a list of things he can have for dinner, based on what I have in the fridge.  About once or twice a week, we make him eat some pasta or something else outside his comfort zone, but it's with lots of screaming and gnashing of teeth.  Mostly, he eats bacon and yogurt for dinner.  I'm just trying to find new ideas of what to give him that he'll hopefully latch onto and replace the other, unhealthier stuff. 

ETA: We buy a store-brand cereal bar that's the best I can find.  No HCFS, at least.  I just experimented this weekend with homemade bars, and it went really well.  Hoping that I can play with it and maybe even get some veggies in there if he's bound and determined to only eat "bars".
« Last Edit: June 16, 2014, 04:58:06 PM by hermoninny »

Northerly

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2014, 05:03:46 PM »
-Three year olds thrive in structure and do not make wise decisions, so should be told what they will be given to eat, not asked what they want.

-No bars. Ever.

-You must prevail in the gnashing and screaming fits. Your strong leadership is critical.

I can't think of anything that a three-year-old can be relied upon to choose wisely. Daycare provider? Bedtime? Play in the street? Use sharp knives? No. Their judgment is terrible. He is relying on you for this one; he just doesn't know it yet.

MorningCoffee

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2014, 06:23:38 PM »
Lots of good ideas above already. Meal time here is stress-free as we decided long ago to never make food an issue. No special kids' meals, apart from the rare occasion (for example, when we want something nice and spicy). No snack food for supper as they don't get to decide their meals. We have a one-bite type of rule, but their meal is all they get and they eat what we do. We are respectful of their dislikes, but they are few since they know there's no alternative. If they choose not to eat, we'll often save their plate for later, or they wait until the next meal. They won't let themselves starve.

One parenting expert that has a nice approach to kids is Alyson Schafer.  http://alysonschafer.com/alysons-books/.


HSLmom

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2014, 06:31:26 PM »
Another vote for 'they eat what I eat'.  I read French Kids Eat Everything and cut out snacking too, for all of us unless we're doing a lot of activity such as swimming or hiking.  We do use larabars when we go on hikes or outings just for the convenience.

bogart

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2014, 08:34:17 PM »
My kid eats pretty much what we eat, also.  He also eats pretty much anything.  At the moment (as far as I know, haven't tried these again too recently) he's uninterested in ravioli and apricots (dried), and he also, for reasons that elude me entirely, will not eat hamburgers, hotdogs, or french fries.  Really.  And we are not the sort of family above either a fast-food joint or a cookout.  But otherwise ...

Some children (and adults) are super tasters -- you can google this -- and have way more sensitive tastebuds than average, and sensory disorders can affect what people (particularly kids) are willing to eat.  So you can explore those possibilities if you are interested or concerned.

Personally my approach with my own son has been to serve him basically what we eat certainly by the time he was 3, though with only 3 people in our household we commonly sub 1 item in or out for each person, him included, particularly when we are juggling leftovers or some combo of fresh items + some leftovers.  But of course he doesn't have to eat it, and if he chooses not to eat it because he doesn't want to (not because he isn't hungry), I offer him some other bland and easy option (usually for us it's either a PB&J, a cheese quesadilla, or a banana.  And I don't offer all 3 though I might offer a choice between two on any given occasion.  And doing this in an entirely routine and disinterested way and calmly refusing (not unkindly) other requests ("If you're not hungry enough to eat a banana you can't be that hungry.") has worked for us to (mostly) minimize behavior and requests that fall outside our "normal."

My DS, who is now 7, snacks CONSTANTLY and is incredibly active and incredibly thin (so I don't worry about the snacking).  As an example, tonight I picked him up from my mom's where he had eaten what she described as a good portion of roast chicken, broccoli, and assorted fruit (berries/strawberries).  Maybe also some rice or bread -- I'm not sure (she would usually include a starch).  We went to the park and played for an hour.  En route home I gave him an extra fruit muffin I had snagged from a work event (to eat in the car); he ate about half.  Once home, he ate about half a serving (think -- full-sized microwave bag, though this was stove-popped) of popcorn, about a half-cup's sized popsicle (orange juice and a bit of jello I was trying to use up and poured into paper cups and froze), and a bowl of cheerios with a chopped-up banana in it (no milk).  Then he went to bed.  This is entirely typical and I have zero problem with it, my point being, snacks are fine but they, too, can be reasonably healthy/unprocessed/affordable food. 

Here's what I'd do in your shoes:  Call a family meeting, or otherwise declare a new and important policy involving changing what you buy at the grocery store.  New rule is, no one gets more than 1 cereal bar per day; no fruity Cheerios, ever; no applesauce pouches eaten at home (I wouldn't want those -- looks like they use juice concentrate to up the sugar content, and I'm not a fan of small packaged foods.  But obviously you may make a different choice, your call).  You could also ix-nay the cereal bars altogether, but my sense is you'd find that really hard to do.  I'm not sure what fruit snacks are, but if they are anything other than "small portions of fruit and nothing else" I'd ix-nay them too.  Obviously, make sure your partner/spouse is on board (or adjust until you can get on the page). 

Next, just start serving meals involving the other foods you know your 3-year old will eat.  You can include other stuff too (for the rest of you if nothing else), but I'd make a point of eating at least a bit of what he's eating as well as whatever you're having.  And just don't give him anything else, period.  If he doesn't want what's served at any given meal, offer him the choice of ___________ instead.  But ________ comes off that same list and isn't anything on the "not something we eat anymore" list. 

I think I'd leave the preschool snacks/lunches completely alone (unchanged) for now.  Work on what you can control at home and don't worry about changing those at the same time.  If you get questioned about this, the answer is, "We've decided to change the types of food we eat in our house, but not the food for preschool."  End of discussion.  Repeat as necessary.

If woe ensues (and I assume it will), that's OK.  It's part of being 3.  It's also OK to acknowledge and allow it ("I can see you are feeling really frustrated that you can't have a bar because you ate yours earlier.  I know!  It's really aggravating, isn't it?  But this is our new system."  End of discussion (except repeat as needed, and include hugs if possible). 

... and personally I think I'd just lather-rinse-repeat for as long as maybe 6 months, keeping other foods around (additional healthy choices) and presenting them as available but not making an issue about whether your 3-year old eats them, or not.

I also take simple healthy snacks in the car when I am sufficiently organized, for example, a cup with carrot sticks and snap peas, and will hand it to DS and say, "Here's a snack, do you want it?"  Often he does -- it might not have been his first choice if we'd been home and he were choosing from an array of options, but given the choice of eating it or not, he'll eat it.  Sometimes he says, "No," and sometimes when he does that I say, "Oh -- OK.  Well, please hold the cup for me, because I need to drive."  And then when he's sitting there with the cup in his hand, if he has the slightest inclination to eat something, he'll start snacking.  I do sometimes have to vacuum up old carrots/snap peas from my car ...

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2014, 08:41:32 PM »
Sometimes they eat what we eat... and sometimes I eat what they eat. Which means last night, we got takeout for a picnic and they ate chicken quesadillas with guac, and tonight we all had scrambled eggs with sausage and toast... but tomorrow for lunch, we will probably all have frozen chicken nuggets from Costco :-).

I think people have the right idea that you have been giving in way too much. Serve healthy food that everyone is eating and don't get emotionally involved with what he's eating. You could start with one change at a time, like first phasing out the pouches and then phasing out the bars. ("I'm sorry, honey, we're all out of ___. You could have a ____ or a ____ if you're hungry.")

It won't be easy. I'm sorry!

bonjourliz

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2014, 10:07:04 PM »
You could try subtle methods of his menu... Like homemade pancakes, with whole grain and veggies or fruit mixed in (pumpkin, banana, blueberry, etc).  I make triple batches; they freeze great.  Or Greek yogurt, plain with add-ins like honey, fruit, granola.

A friend had success by talking to her 3yo about how she was worried that she was missing out on healthy foods.  The girl took it to heart and started trying new foods on her own.  One kidney bean at a time.  Another good suggestion was to study different foods.  Learn how it grows, smells, feels... and tastes.

My 4yo is picky, but so was I.  And I remember how awful the dinnertime fighting was -- so, personal baggage, I steer far clear of that.  Probably to an extreme.  We have a rule that we don't get any more food until we try everything on our plates.  (And our plates always include foods the kids like -- if they don't care for the curry, they can fill up on the naan and rice, and fruit.). Loosely based on Ellen Satter's books.  The result is that he tries virtually everything; finishes those things he cares for; and is polite about food.  ("I don't care for that."). Good enough for me.

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brand new stash

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2014, 08:46:24 AM »
My kids mainly eat what we eat, but with some caveats.

We do buy pretzels that they are the only ones that eat.

My kids love meals that are wrapped in tortillas....they often eat whatever we are eating for dinner, but wrapped in a tortilla.

Black beans and rice, soup and grilled cheese, tacos, eggs, apples dipped in peanut butter, all sorts of veggies dipped in ranch, pasta and sauce, etc.

My advice is to just stop buying the bars and pouches, those two changes alone will save you noticeable money, but also stop him from filling up on those junk foods which will leave him open to other foods.

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #12 on: June 17, 2014, 01:11:44 PM »
Thanks for all the great ideas!  I talked to my husband about this again yesterday, because it's something we've never been on quite the same page about.  I'm all for cutting out the snacks altogether and offering him what we eat and nothing more.  I have been ready to do this for about a year.  But my husband is the softie who always gives in.  The way we've been doing it lately (making him eat something else before he can have a bar, and only letting him have bars at certain times of day) has been our compromise thus far. 

He's still not going to cave and cut out all bars, but he's willing to start reducing the number he eats per day again, with the ultimate result being that we stop buying them altogether and he can only have homemade cereal bars for breakfast (I tried a recipe out over the weekend and it's pretty good...I'm already dreaming of the ways I will incorporate veggies into the filling.)

I told him that the one thing I don't want to happen above anything else is for him to switch out the bars to have something equally as bad - e.g., currently when he can't have a bar, he wants an applesauce pouch.  There's still no real nutritional value in that (no protein, lots of sugar), so it's not really an acceptable replacement for me. 

We ran out of fruit snacks last week and I recommended that we not buy them again.  He agreed.

I love the idea of adding one of the things he would normally eat into a regular meal as we sit down to eat.

We have a garden and he loves to watch things grow.  But he still won't eat them.  We planted green bean seeds and watched them grow every day.  He's so excited all the way up until it gets on his plate, and then he refuses to eat it.  Like temper-tantrum-until-he's-crying-so-hard-he-throws-up refusal.  It's so frustrating!

Thanks again!  Here's to hoping he'll start eating more normally. 




Northerly

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #13 on: June 17, 2014, 01:23:22 PM »
Nice job! Way to press forward. The way you accept constructive criticism and work through the process is inspiring for my own Mustachian journey. Thanks!

historienne

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #14 on: June 17, 2014, 02:01:53 PM »
Two book ideas for dealing with picky eaters: Child of Mine (this is Ellyn Satter, someone mentioned her above) and It's Not About the Broccoli.  The first is more of a big-picture look at how to develop healthy eating habits in your child, the second has more nuts and bolts advice for how to get from the situation you are in now to a more reasonable eating plan.  You can probably get the gist from online reviews if your library doesn't have them. 

Kmp2

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #15 on: June 17, 2014, 02:54:17 PM »
I give our toddler what we eat - but sometimes I deconstruct it for her. So if we are having a fancy salad, or casserole, I'll keep out the individual pieces and give them to her separately. Then she can pick and choose the pieces she eats. And it's one thing to know that your child won't starve because your not giving them what they want to eat, and waiting for them to eat what you put in front of them. It's another thing to deal with the I'm hungry tantrum every afternoon until they get it...

As she gets pickier, my husband just keeps feeding her until he finds something she likes (usually toast and peanut butter), I cut it off after 3 tries and try again at the next meal (sometimes I'll feed her the same thing - cause I can be cruel that way)

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #16 on: June 17, 2014, 04:19:07 PM »
Two book ideas for dealing with picky eaters: Child of Mine (this is Ellyn Satter, someone mentioned her above) and It's Not About the Broccoli.  The first is more of a big-picture look at how to develop healthy eating habits in your child, the second has more nuts and bolts advice for how to get from the situation you are in now to a more reasonable eating plan.  You can probably get the gist from online reviews if your library doesn't have them.

Thanks!  I'll check them out!

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #17 on: June 17, 2014, 04:20:26 PM »
I give our toddler what we eat - but sometimes I deconstruct it for her. So if we are having a fancy salad, or casserole, I'll keep out the individual pieces and give them to her separately. Then she can pick and choose the pieces she eats.

I do that with our 18-month old.  Yesterday, I gave her a bowl of soup (minus all the liquid) and she picked at what she wanted and ate it all up.  She's so much easier, lol!

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #18 on: June 17, 2014, 04:22:41 PM »
Nice job! Way to press forward. The way you accept constructive criticism and work through the process is inspiring for my own Mustachian journey. Thanks!

Aww, thanks!  I try to take all advice as coming from a place of wanting to help.  *Especially* parenting advice.  It's easy to get all offended and curl up into a ball in the corner, but then I'm still stuck where I was instead of trying to take the good advice and apply it to my situation to come out ahead.  Not everything will work because every kid (and every parent) is different, but there are always nuggets of useful information in anyone's response. 

Emilyngh

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #19 on: June 17, 2014, 08:08:36 PM »
We have a daughter who just turned 3 last week.

She eats what we eat for meals, which are very close to vegan.   She especially likes legumes of all kinds, broccoli , all fake meat products, homemade bread, tofu, soups and kale chips.   When she really doesn't like a food item (eg, she doesn't like raw salad beyond carrots), we only require her to take a bite and eat the other items offered at dinner.   We will also sometimes make small modifications, eg if we are having baked potatoes with veggie chill and broccoli for dinner, since she really does not like baked potatoes, we'll slice a potato into fingers for her and bake it as fingers instead.   On the rare occasions she just does not want to eat a meal, we don't force her to, but she gets no snacks or dessert until she eats healthy items that we determine.

 She does snack often, but she often has fruit (she's on a fresh blueberry kick right now) as a snack, so we make sure to have grapes/blueberries/strawberries as well as apples, bananas, and apple sauce (unsweetened in a large jar, no pouches) on hand.    DH and I both eat a lot of fruit, so we'd have much of this anyway, but in addition to the fruit we also get her a few special snacks.   We keep on hand graham crackers and get pretzels or goldfish on occasion as a special treat.   She also gets a few cups of juice a day, and she gets a small dessert after dinner every day (a couple of pieces of candy if we don't have baked goods).   DH and I try to avoid these types of things, so they are purchased for her, but she goes through maybe a box of graham crackers, a bag of pretzels, and bag of candy every two weeks or so.   So, even with the juice and fruit, we're not even spending $10 a week on her snacks.

I'd recommend requiring him eating what you eat at lunch and dinner, but if he eats a decent serving perhaps he could then get one of his special snacks as a dessert after eating.   Perhaps it will motivate him to try things, but remain comforting that his old snacks aren't completely pulled out from under him all at once.   Over time, once comfortable, you could then move away from this slowly.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2014, 08:12:43 PM by Emilyngh »

totesmahgoats

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #20 on: June 17, 2014, 10:11:15 PM »
Our girls (6,5,3) eat what we eat, which is a predominantly grain free, veggie heavy, limited meat diet. I buy cheese,  plain yogurt, and oats for them (I don't eat these things so this could be considered "kid" food). They snack on: hardboiled eggs, cheese, apples+nut butter, carrots+hummus, homemade veggie muffins, nuts, occasional stovetop popped corn,  pickled/fermented goods (cucumbers and beets mostly), any other fruit that goes on sale, and veggies. They drink water.

Very rarely (as in nearly never) do we buy crackers/bars/anything from the snack aisle.

mrsggrowsveg

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #21 on: June 18, 2014, 07:02:54 AM »
My toddler eats mostly everything we eat, but his diet is fairly heavy on fruit.  He loves berries, melon and bananas.  We get them from the farmer's market and Aldi.  We don't really buy any specific snack food and his snack is often cheese (bought at Sams club) and fruit.  Lunches are leftovers and dinners are often vegetarian or meat from our farm.  He loves beans so we eat them often and I make a batch in the crockpot almost weekly.  Our family eats a lot of Mexican food because of my husband's upbringing so tacos are a weekly staple.  Breakfast are usually something make with eggs from our chickens or oatmeal.  His favorites are banana  or sweet potato pancakes or cheesy zucchini frittatas.

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #22 on: June 18, 2014, 09:26:20 AM »
My toddler eats mostly everything we eat, but his diet is fairly heavy on fruit.  He loves berries, melon and bananas.  We get them from the farmer's market and Aldi.  We don't really buy any specific snack food and his snack is often cheese (bought at Sams club) and fruit.  Lunches are leftovers and dinners are often vegetarian or meat from our farm.  He loves beans so we eat them often and I make a batch in the crockpot almost weekly.  Our family eats a lot of Mexican food because of my husband's upbringing so tacos are a weekly staple.  Breakfast are usually something make with eggs from our chickens or oatmeal.  His favorites are banana  or sweet potato pancakes or cheesy zucchini frittatas.

I would love it if he would eat any of that!  He will not touch cheese - I offer it to him ALL the time!  When he was about 15 months, he would eat it in a quesadilla or grilled cheese, but only if there wasn't too much tortilla/bread attached.  Now he won't touch it AT ALL.  My dad hated cheese and everything to do with it, so sometimes I wonder if he is just channeling his grampa (he was a picky eater until the day he died...my mom used to cook a separate dinner for him and for the rest of us.)  He also won't eat any kind of fresh fruit - he ate berries until about 18 months and now he won't touch them.  I've also tried melon.  Also a no-go on the beans.  I've tried every kind, from black, to red, to pinto, to green. 

That said...this week has actually been somewhat better!  We've gotten him to eat mac-n-cheese every night this week so far, and without complaint!  He'll only eat the kind shaped like a tractor (because Papaw has a tractor), so I replace the powdered cheese with a homemade cheese sauce that uses pureed butternut squash as the base.  Last night he asked, "What's the orange stuff on the tractor?"  I said, "That's the tractor sauce."  He said, "I don't like the tractor sauce."  I said, "Yes you do.  Eat it."  After chewing for a while, he said, "I like the tractor sauce!"  He's so contrary!  I've literally had this discussion with him:  "Mommy, what color is the sky?"  "The sky is blue."  "Not it's not."  "Yes it is."  "No it's not.  The sky is green."  "Oh, okay.  The sky is green."  "No it's not.  The sky is blue." 

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #23 on: June 19, 2014, 03:36:12 PM »
For dinner, our 4-year-old eats what we eat (or doesn't eat -- his choice)

For breakfast: Cereal or instant oatmeal with frozen blueberries

For lunch, I make him something I know he'll eat. Right now, it's a whole-wheat mini bagel with cream cheese, 4 slices of cheddar cheese, yogurt, and a Go-Go Squeeze ;)  (although, sometimes it's cut-up veggies like carrots, celery, or red peppers).

Honestly, the Go-Go-Squeeze is a good product, IMO. I've looked at all the other pouches on the shelf near it and they all have added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Stick with the Go-Go Squeeze, but know how cheap you can get it and when it's being sold for that price, buy up a big supply. Today I got a 4-pouch pack for $2 on sale. I don't keep track of its price, but now I know going forward to not buy it for more than $0.50 each pouch.

We do have cereal bars for snacks when we're out and about, so I don't think that's a total no-no (I'm not a big believer in anything that's FDA approved being a total no-no!). But we do limit it to when we're out and about.

When we're home, snacks are yogurt or cottage cheese, apples with peanut butter, sliced cheese and crackers, etc.

netskyblue

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #24 on: June 19, 2014, 04:37:51 PM »
Once we were past jarred baby food, we all ate the meals our parents ate.  Early on there was a rule that you had to eat 2 bites of every food served, whether you liked it or not, but later (not sure what age, upper elementary maybe), if we didn't like it, we could choose not to eat it, but we didn't get anything else. 

Oh, I remember trying to reason my parents into letting me eat the leftovers of a previous night's meal when I didn't like that night's food, but they would never, ever let me.  It was eat what was served, or don't eat.

We were ALWAYS served every food group at every meal (usually canned vegetables & fruits during the winter, often home-canned).

melime

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #25 on: June 24, 2014, 02:59:31 AM »
I have a 10 month old, so I have no clue what I'm talking about, however I was horrendously picky as a child (and still recovering at age 29), so I've been reading all the books I can find on this topic.

I wanted to 100% second the recommendation for "It's not about the broccoli".  I read that book just last week, and I found it the most helpful so far for how to help kids eat a good, wide range of food.  The techniques recommended to get from your current eating pattern to your ideal eating pattern seemed really straightforward and simple too, which made it seem easy to implement.

I also really enjoyed "French Kids Eat Everything", though I'd say this is interesting, but not as step by step helpful as the other book.  It's a great story about how her family learned to eat better once they moved to France though, and definitely a lot of interesting ideas.  She does have a new book out about helping reform picky eaters, but I haven't read it yet.

Good luck!

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #26 on: June 24, 2014, 09:10:43 AM »
I have a 10 month old, so I have no clue what I'm talking about, however I was horrendously picky as a child (and still recovering at age 29), so I've been reading all the books I can find on this topic.

I wanted to 100% second the recommendation for "It's not about the broccoli".  I read that book just last week, and I found it the most helpful so far for how to help kids eat a good, wide range of food.  The techniques recommended to get from your current eating pattern to your ideal eating pattern seemed really straightforward and simple too, which made it seem easy to implement.

I also really enjoyed "French Kids Eat Everything", though I'd say this is interesting, but not as step by step helpful as the other book.  It's a great story about how her family learned to eat better once they moved to France though, and definitely a lot of interesting ideas.  She does have a new book out about helping reform picky eaters, but I haven't read it yet.

Good luck!

Thanks!  I will definitely check out "It's not about the broccoli".  We've made some really good strides this week.  We've been making him sit down for dinner every night, and make him eat something (even if it's just rice or mac-n-cheese) before he can have his bacon, yogurt, or whatever else he wants.  We also have cut his cereal bars down to two-per-day.  He gets one for breakfast and one after bath-time when he's winding down for bed, but only if he eats his dinner before bath.  He's already used to the new routine and even though he complains about eating dinner (every night) he still does it without too much of a fight.  I've made soup the past two weeks, and our 18-month-old has been gobbling it up - vegetables and all!  It's heartening developments, that's for sure!

Neustache

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #27 on: June 24, 2014, 12:18:05 PM »
I haven't read the INATB book, but I do have loads of knowledge on food chaining, if you are interested.  It's an easy, low key way to get kids who are cautious eaters to try new foods. 

I had a daughter who had/has texture issues, and she's gag and then vomit if a texture didn't sit well with her.  So I had to really, really change the way I thought about kids and food.  She now eats, well, almost everything.  And she'll try anything, even if it's just touching it with her tongue at first, and then she usually gobbles it up after that. 

PDXgrl

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #28 on: June 28, 2014, 10:14:10 PM »
When my daughter started showing signs of "the pickies," I decided to grow some kid friendly produce in our yard, and have her help me tend the garden. I think having her involvement in the garden made her more willing to try different veggies. Her favorites are snap peas, cherry tomatoes, berries, beets, carrots. We also have a pear and apple tree, so we've been lucky to make some sauces she likes too.

I have a heck of a time getting protein in her, but I discovered she LOVES chickpeas sauteed for a minute in olive oil. i think it's the texture she likes.

When we're feeling peckish we like to make our own granola bars. There are TONS of easy recipes online and one batch seems to last us all week. Cheap too!
Anywho, good luck to you! Before we know it our complaint will be that their growing appetites are doubling our food budgets! :)

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #29 on: June 30, 2014, 09:57:02 AM »
When my daughter started showing signs of "the pickies," I decided to grow some kid friendly produce in our yard, and have her help me tend the garden. I think having her involvement in the garden made her more willing to try different veggies. Her favorites are snap peas, cherry tomatoes, berries, beets, carrots. We also have a pear and apple tree, so we've been lucky to make some sauces she likes too.

I've tried this, though on a limited scope due to time constraints.  We grew green beans from seed.  He planted them and we watched them grow.  He wanted to go see the green beans every day, morning and night.  He LOVED picking them.  Still wouldn't eat them, lol.  I tried raw, steamed, and in soup.  Won't touch 'em.  At least the baby gobbled them up!  We also have a tomato plant.  Same thing - he loves to go see the tomatoes and to pick them.  Won't eat 'em in any form.

We're having some luck with him learning that he has to eat his dinner and it has to be from a list of things I give him.  We're trying to transition textures.  I sneaked a piece of carrot and a piece of potato into his rice last week.  He knew it was there when he felt the texture in his mouth, but ate it begrudgingly.  He's trying to rely more heavily on the applesauce pouches, and we're not letting him.  So then he moves onto yogurt, and I'm trying to divert him onto other things.  It's been interesting!  At least the kid loves breakfast (of the pancakes and bacon variety.)

RokMomster

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #30 on: June 30, 2014, 06:48:45 PM »
    Your post has moved me enough, that after a year of lurking I am finally replying to a post. I am impressed with the effort and strides that you have made so far. Good for you! 
As someone who both works with young children for a living and has raised to the teenage years a child who is rather picky with most things that surround him, I truly appreciate the struggle that it is to try to balance feeding your child what they want with what they need. If it brings you any comfort, even as a seasoned professional, I would often "give in" to my childs requests simply to maintain peace for all of us. It is just in the past few years that I have SLOWLY been weaning him off of some of his awful eating choices ( sweet cereal 3 times a day??) and toward healthier ones that will serve him a bit better in the future. Along with a bit better balanced child, our grocery bill has certainly benefitted as well.
Since you have been so brave to share in hopes of getting some advice, here goes mine- for all that its worth.
Looking at the list of items that your son does enjoy, there are some pretty good ones on there. Bananas and peanut butter to name a few. If you take a fresh look at the list you shared, I bet you could quite a few novel ways to combine the foods that he already gives the green light to. The secret key: let him help you cook these new combinations. Pull up a chair to the counter and let him add some banana, peanut butter, yogurt and milk to a blender- let him press the button- and then let him not only taste it, but share it with all of you. Cooking is a powerful tool in helping children discover new foods.
Another approach you can try is to use his favorite foods as a bridge to new ones. Squeeze that applesauce out onto some flattened whole wheat bread (or toast) or let him use it as a dip for other fruits or foods. Same with the Cheerios and cereal bars- use them as "sprinkles" on other foods.
Lastly, don't be shy to reach out for some professional help- This parenting thing is not always the easiest of gigs and neither is being 3.  He might have some real sensitivities that are unique to who he is and how he experiences food and eating. There are great people out there who can help all of you navigate this issue. You do not need to do it on your own.
Good luck.

merci001

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #31 on: July 14, 2014, 10:18:33 AM »
My kids (ages 10 and soon to be 14) eat what I eat. That said, my youngest has always been picky eater. Slowly but surely, however, she has developed a palate for more things.  One of the things I have noticed is my kids like to snack alot. I can purchase a box of cheezits (Aldi's brand) and they will eat it up in a day or two!  So I'm working on getting them to tone it down to one serving size once per day to make it last.  We don't have a lot of "junk" around the house, but we often have a half gallon of ice cream in the freezer or some cookies in the cookie jar (homemade by my oldest!). I'm trying to get us to cut down some of these things so have stopped buying ice cream and have told my oldest to stop making cookies for awhile.  This is really for the purpose of trying to get my youngest to eat more fruit and veggies for snack-my oldest has always been able to turn down a cookie in favor of a piece of fruit. That said, even though my oldest has a pretty healthy diet, she is getting to that stage of eating much more than ever before-can go through a bag of oranges all on her own in about 2-3 days, or will make herself a salad or two during the day, So I find I'm spending much more on fruits and veggies lately!

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #32 on: July 14, 2014, 12:46:21 PM »
We've made some great progress in the past week or so!  We started out trying to get him to eat some of the same things our 18-month-old eats so I'm not making two sets of meals.  So, we started with mac-n-cheese.  We found he likes the ones shaped like a tractor, but they're expensive!  So once he started eating those better, I switched out the sauce made from the powder to a homemade sauce with butternut squash puree.  Then, I switched him from the expensive tractors to regular macaroni.  Somehow, calling them "elbows" made him all excited to eat them.  We went from making him eat 5 elbows before he was allowed to have yogurt, or an applesauce pouch, or whatever else he really wanted, to 10 elbows, to him eating a whole bowl of elbows all on his own.  It's fabulous!  He's also taken to cherries, and I made some lemon zucchini mini-muffins on Saturday (he asked for "Ninja Turtle Cupcakes") and he ate a ton of them!  This week I was out of elbows so I made the pasta with shells, and added in some bits of ham.  We'll see how it goes....

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #33 on: July 14, 2014, 12:47:58 PM »
    Your post has moved me enough, that after a year of lurking I am finally replying to a post. I am impressed with the effort and strides that you have made so far. Good for you! 
As someone who both works with young children for a living and has raised to the teenage years a child who is rather picky with most things that surround him, I truly appreciate the struggle that it is to try to balance feeding your child what they want with what they need. If it brings you any comfort, even as a seasoned professional, I would often "give in" to my childs requests simply to maintain peace for all of us. It is just in the past few years that I have SLOWLY been weaning him off of some of his awful eating choices ( sweet cereal 3 times a day??) and toward healthier ones that will serve him a bit better in the future. Along with a bit better balanced child, our grocery bill has certainly benefitted as well.
Since you have been so brave to share in hopes of getting some advice, here goes mine- for all that its worth.
Looking at the list of items that your son does enjoy, there are some pretty good ones on there. Bananas and peanut butter to name a few. If you take a fresh look at the list you shared, I bet you could quite a few novel ways to combine the foods that he already gives the green light to. The secret key: let him help you cook these new combinations. Pull up a chair to the counter and let him add some banana, peanut butter, yogurt and milk to a blender- let him press the button- and then let him not only taste it, but share it with all of you. Cooking is a powerful tool in helping children discover new foods.
Another approach you can try is to use his favorite foods as a bridge to new ones. Squeeze that applesauce out onto some flattened whole wheat bread (or toast) or let him use it as a dip for other fruits or foods. Same with the Cheerios and cereal bars- use them as "sprinkles" on other foods.
Lastly, don't be shy to reach out for some professional help- This parenting thing is not always the easiest of gigs and neither is being 3.  He might have some real sensitivities that are unique to who he is and how he experiences food and eating. There are great people out there who can help all of you navigate this issue. You do not need to do it on your own.
Good luck.

Thank you so much for all these ideas!  I like the "sprinkles" idea, and the smoothie idea.  I make smoothies every morning for my husband and I, and he's not a fan of the blender (a magic bullet blender).  He doesn't like loud noises.  So, I'm not sure it'll work, but maybe if it's for him, he'll get more into it!

Goldielocks

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #34 on: July 14, 2014, 08:08:08 PM »
I am lucky, my kids always eat what we eat. Maybe not everything but the choose from what is on the table.

I understand the softie comment, though, and a bite of something the family is sharing,  before his snack meal is a great idea.

I am amazed at how many kids will eat something they help make, when mom's version is too horrible to be endured.  It may work for you with the homemade cereal bars.  He can make his with sprinkles.. Funny shapes.  Swishy hand mess...

Should be a short journey if that works to making pizza pockets or???

Good luck

Anatidae V

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #35 on: July 16, 2014, 06:41:49 AM »
Two book ideas for dealing with picky eaters: Child of Mine (this is Ellyn Satter, someone mentioned her above) and It's Not About the Broccoli.  The first is more of a big-picture look at how to develop healthy eating habits in your child, the second has more nuts and bolts advice for how to get from the situation you are in now to a more reasonable eating plan.  You can probably get the gist from online reviews if your library doesn't have them.
+1 for "it's not about the broccoli".

I am an anxious adult eater, saw this thread today and found the book at my library. It's really good and I'm going to be using the techniques to retrain myself.

Pinkie Mustache

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #36 on: July 17, 2014, 12:48:52 PM »
We're a family of 5 and spend less than $600/month on groceries.  We live overseas and food is actually more expensive here, but I digress...

Breakfast:
cheerios/cornflakes
homemade quick cooking oatmeal
toast
eggs
tea

Snacks:
Apples - sometimes with peanut butter or honey
cereal
hard boiled eggs
cucumbers/carrot sticks
cherry tomatoes
bananas
nectarines are a big hit too
yogurt

Serious meals:
chicken legs
tuna
rice
peas
green beans
broccoli
potatoes or french fries
hot dogs
rotisserie chicken
pasta or homemade wacky mac
homemade pizza - they pick the toppings they want
meatballs
salmon - a filet or smoked

I'm sure there are other things they enjoy, but that's off the top of my head.  Having fruit and veggies cut up is a great go to snack grab.  Also, preparing a big pot of rice at the beginning of the week is an easy way to have something on hand, and you can always add it to other dishes or make fried rice.

I find that if they can be involved in making something different or new, they're more apt to eat it.

somecobwebs

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #37 on: July 22, 2014, 02:08:55 AM »
Lots of great info in this thread!! Just peeking in very quickly to mention something for context.... I am a super taster (my mother is as well; father and sister are not), and so as a kid I was nearly impossible. Even now, there are many foods that trigger my gag reflex - normal foods like fish and eggs are like eating something spoiled! One of the things that I try to explain to confused people is that there TWO kinds of picky eaters:

1. Those who won't try certain foods and decide not to eat certain foods
2. Those who really don't like certain foods

Most picky kids are #1, which is when "just eat everything" becomes totally valid. This is one of the reasons that most picky eaters eventually grow out of it. And obviously, the two are NOT mutually exclusive. However, sometimes it really is a case of the second! After all, even most adults have a food or two that they strongly dislike. Now take that meat-gone-bad or that really-horrible-casserole flavor and multiply it to many things ;) A conflation of the two types can lead to intense pickiness, which is why I was cheering when I read the advice to "try each thing on the plate and then ask for more of the food you like" - what a perfect idea for distinguishing the two! A++.

hermoninny

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #38 on: July 22, 2014, 09:42:28 AM »
Disclaimer: I'm not a parent, but I can give you the outsider's point of view...  Whenever I heard parents complain something like "my child only eats french fries", I hear it as "I only feed my child french fries" because regardless of how it ends up happening, that is what's happening. Growing up, we all just ate the same meals together.

That's definitely not what's happening here!  I give my best effort to feed him everything.   I offer up all kinds of foods, and am constantly trying new recipes for him.  He flat out refuses to eat anything he doesn't want to.  To the point where he's screaming and yelling and then throwing up.  So that may be the case in some instances, but it's really not here.   Although, I do have to say, the number of people who have told me, "Just feed him cereal bars and he'll grow out of it.  He won't starve." is astounding and that attitude baffles me.  My son is *extremely* strong-willed and stubborn.  My mom calls him "little CEO" and I call him "little dictator" (jokingly and lovingly, of course).  We've tried *everything* to get him to eat.  Even with a lunchbox full of his favorites, he will come home from daycare having eaten nothing, or sometimes just a couple oz of yogurt and a cup of milk.  I'm completely perplexed.

Pinkie Mustache

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #39 on: July 24, 2014, 06:53:29 AM »
Hi,

I have found, and so have various friends, that our kids - even the finicky eaters - eat much better when they sit down to a "social" meal - either the family around the table, sans any distractions, or a small group of friends.  I know, for instance, that my pickiest eater eats very well at daycare where they bring their own sandwich in the morning and are served a hot meal midday. 

Also, you mention the 3yr-old refuses to eat anything he doesn't want, but will also return with a lunchbox full of favorite foods.  If you've spoken with his/her pediatrician and everything is in order, it could just be that your child also has a more sporadic appetite.  This can drive you crazy as a parent, but it can be that a child will eat a large meal one day and then not be so interested for the next day or so.  Maddening, but not unheard of.

FIRE Realtor

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #40 on: July 25, 2014, 03:05:52 PM »
I have a 3 year old and she eats what we eat - mostly vegan, unprocessed foods.  I can see how it'd be a challenge if he's already used to snack foods all the time, but we've been eating this way since before she was born.  We consider a granola bar out of a package or container of yogurt (the flavored kind) as a special treat.  Just don't buy that crap and it's not an option - if he's truly hungry, he will eat real food. 

A few weeks ago I did a detailed post on my blog about our grocery list & the meals we get from it on $100/wk., without deprivation: 

http://frugalveganmom.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/100-weekly-meal-plan-round-2/

historienne

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Re: What do your mini mustaches eat?
« Reply #41 on: July 28, 2014, 03:27:12 PM »
That's definitely not what's happening here!  I give my best effort to feed him everything.   I offer up all kinds of foods, and am constantly trying new recipes for him.  He flat out refuses to eat anything he doesn't want to.  To the point where he's screaming and yelling and then throwing up.  So that may be the case in some instances, but it's really not here.   Although, I do have to say, the number of people who have told me, "Just feed him cereal bars and he'll grow out of it.  He won't starve." is astounding and that attitude baffles me.  My son is *extremely* strong-willed and stubborn.  My mom calls him "little CEO" and I call him "little dictator" (jokingly and lovingly, of course).  We've tried *everything* to get him to eat.  Even with a lunchbox full of his favorites, he will come home from daycare having eaten nothing, or sometimes just a couple oz of yogurt and a cup of milk.  I'm completely perplexed.

Count me among those who are impressed with the strides you've already made!  I just wanted to add that one thing I took away from reading Child of Mine is that kids' hunger can vary a surprising amount from day to day.  So it may be ok if somedays he eats nothing or very little at daycare.  I know (believe me, I know) how anxiety-making it can be to watch your child refuse food.  They are so tiny, and growing so fast!  They need to eat!  But to the extent that you can avoid pressuring him to eat when he doesn't want to, it will almost certainly help things in the long run.  What you really want to minimize is having food become a power struggle between the two of you, because it's one he will win.