Making Food Changes

When it comes to getting the boy to eat “different” foods, it can take quite a while for it to happen.  It can be the little changes in the beginning that lead to the bigger changes down the road.  My friend, Barb, makes her son’s grilled cheese with wheat bread.  He doesn’t complain because he doesn’t recognize the change.  Grilled white bread and grilled wheat bread are both brown.  We got the boy to eat wheat bread several years ago because we told him that wheat bread had a sweeter taste to it (and it does) and we started him on it by making his peanut butter toast  in the morning with it.  Once he realizes that he has been eating something for a while, he is ok with the change becoming permanent.   

Another item that we have been able to switch out is our pasta.  We are a pasta loving family.  So, in order for all of us to eat a healthier version, we started using whole wheat pasta.  We started by adding quite a bit more sauce to his pasta.  As we have dialed back on the sauce, and he realized we had been eating wheat pasta all along, he is fine with the change.  We are now in the process of trying to switch from white rice to introducing brown rice. It is a slow process!

Now, this isn’t saying that all of the changes are going to be easy.  The foods that we have switched out have had the same texture.  There is no way I have been able to get the boy to eat multigrain bread over his wheat bread.   Those bits and pieces of grains just turn him off. 

For picky eaters, taking the time to slowly introduce things is the best route that we have found.  Especially the stubborn picky eater!  I guess my advice is to keep trying.  There was a time when the boy would only eat a small number of things.  Now, he is (most of the time) up for trying new things …as long as there aren’t any chunky vegetables in it!  J

Cauliflower!

When I first started talking to other moms on how they got their kids to eat vegetables, one of the mothers told me to puree the vegetable and put it in regular food.  I thought that there was NO WAY this would ever work.  I had tried hiding veggies in the boy’s food before, and he has always found it.  I had never considered pureeing it and adding it.  So, tonight was the big test night.  Could I get him to eat cauliflower? 

I took some store made (we have an organic food store here that also makes food) macaroni and cheese.  I took some frozen cauliflower and cooked it.  I pureed the cauliflower until almost smooth.  I would have done it more, but the boy was just in the next room and I didn’t want him to come in and find out what I was doing.  It could have been a disaster because there were tiny (kosher salt sized) bits of cauliflower in the mac and cheese that I could see and the boy has the amazing ability to find even the tiniest bits in anything.  I mixed a little more than a ½ cup of cauliflower into the 2 cups of mac and cheese.  We sat down to dinner.  The boy scooped up a bite and “mmmmm” were his words.  I held my breath.  The boy scooped up another bite.  He then proceeded to eat the whole serving.  There was some mac and cheese left over and I asked him if he would like me to pack it in his thermos tomorrow so that he can take it to school in his lunch.  He said…..”SURE!” 

HE ATE IT!  He ate the cauliflower and never suspected a thing.  I am so very excited as to what other veggies I can do this with and serve incognito.  This is definitely a way to get him to eat this.  I will try with other veggies.  AND so that he doesn’t suspect anything, I will also keep serving an additional veggie with dinner.  At least I will know that he will be getting one serving.  YAY for little victories!

Peer Pressure and Smoothies

I made the smoothies again.  This time I used only frozen mango and the tropical drink that I know the boy loves.  I made it because he had two of his friends over after school yesterday and I was hoping that maybe because his friends were here, he would drink it and love it.  And in return tell me that I was best and most beautiful mom in the whole world.  Hey!  A girl can dream! 

So this is the reality of how really happened.  The boy’s friends LOVED it.  They gobbled up their smoothies like there was no tomorrow.  The boy?  He sniffed it.  He reluctantly made a face while he sipped what could only be considered a microscopic sip and then declared that he didn’t want it.  His friends were flabbergasted!  They wanted to know how he couldn’t like it.  Then – they went on to make bids for the remainder of his smoothie.  The boy was not swayed.  He had decided that he didn’t like it and no amount of peer pressure was going to make him change his mind. 

That is the way it is with a lot of picky eaters.  They make up their mind and that is final.  My advice is to keep trying.  Try different ways, try the same ways, and make up new ways.  Just keep trying.  The boy used to refuse to eat any form of an apple.  He hated (and still does) applesauce.  He really hated the fruit itself.  But, little by little, and by constant trying, he started eating apples if they were cut and peeled.  Now, he eats them without the peel being removed.  He will eat it by biting into it – if that is his only choice, but still prefers that they are cut.  The fact is, he changed and now will eat apples.  (Applesauce is still on his no go list) 

And as for not succumbing to peer-pressure in regards to drinking his smoothie, maybe this will carry over to when his friends pressure him later in life.  One can only hope!

Veggie Burgers

I remember my first veggie burger.  I was at a local chain restaurant in Columbus, Ohio and it was delicious!  I have been hooked on them ever since.  Oh, don’t get me wrong…I still love a good beef or turkey burger, but these are pretty yummy and much easier. 

Last night – we decided to introduce the boy to the wonder of the veggie burger.  We already know that he goes bonkers (in delight) over the veggie sausage patties, so I didn’t think that this would be a very big leap.  My husband sautéed some onions and green peppers in a skillet and then added the burgers on top of them when they were about halfway done.  He covered the skillet and let them all steam and cook together.  He flipped the burgers and then cooked the other side in the same way.  This really keeps them from getting too dry.  When they are just about done, he puts all the onions and peppers to the side and puts the buns (we use whole wheat ones) on top to warm them up.  Normally, if he were just cooking for the two of us, we would keep the peppers and onions underneath the burgers, but if the boy sees them all touching….it could be a disaster! 

The boy was excited because we were having burgers for dinner.  He used his favorite condiment (BBQ sauce) on top and took a big bite.  He ate it up!  He took a second bite and while eating it, he happened to glance at the burger.  He was fine until he saw it.  A carrot.  A carrot sliver was sticking out.  Calmly he put the burger down.  Next thing I knew there were strings of carrot slivers on his plate.  We told him to stop picking out the carrots and to just eat it.  He did.  I believe that if he had been blindfolded for the whole meal, he would have eaten it just fine without any issues.  Hmmm….blindfolding during dinner….might have to put that on the “try” list.  In the boy’s mind, it doesn’t get a thumbs up because it had carrot slices.  However, it didn’t get a thumbs down because he ate it.  In my mind, it gets a TOTAL thumbs up because I know that it was LOADED with other veggies that the boy ate and didn’t even notice (thanks to the carrots!).  This will be a repeat at our dinner table and maybe the boy will find other ways to trick himself into eating it without the carrot dissection.  Or, I may have to implement the blindfold idea.  Either way, it will be on our table again!

Smoothies!

There is so much to love about smoothies.  You can hide wonderful things in them and make them so good for you.  But, the boy is skeptical.  I have been making spinach smoothies for my breakfast.  They have a little peanut butter in them and that is what they taste like.  But, they are green.  And just like the man in Dr. Suess’ story, the boy isn’t going to try it.  “It’s green.”

I started thinking about baby steps and how I could get the boy to try it.  AHA!  I will combine frozen fruit with fruit juice.  It will make it more like a slushy instead of something that might be good for you.  So, here is what I did.  I took a ½ cup of fruit juice.  His favorite is a tropical fruit mixture.  I am sure that the more fruit in the fruit juice, the better this will be for you, but I am just trying to get the boy to taste it.  I added a ½ cup of frozen mango and a cup of frozen pineapple.  I blended it all together and poured it into dark glasses with lids and straws.  It worked.  He seemed interested.  He took that first drink and I thought that I had a winner.  Then it happened.  He walked over to me (knowing that I was trying hard to find him something that he might like) and said that it “wasn’t his favorite.”   How does that translate from the boy’s language into the real world?  It means that he didn’t like it….at all.  I asked him what he didn’t like and he couldn’t tell me, but I think it had something to do with the pineapple.  It didn’t blend perfectly smooth and therefore there were bits that went across his tongue.  The boy doesn’t like “bits” in anything.  Even though this didn’t work out quite the way I wanted it to, I am going to try again.  Instead of mixing in the pineapple, I am going to just use the mango.  Several smoothie recipes call for adding sugar or honey.  This is pretty sweet as it is and there are a LOT of natural sugars in fruit.  No need to add any more sugar.  I will not give up on the smoothie.  Cause, when I get him to like it, I can start sneaking in other things that will give it much more of a powerful nutrient punch! 

And who knows, maybe I can get him to try my spinach smoothie on St. Patrick’s Day.  It IS green!  

Pumpkin Pancakes!

One of things that the boy and I like to do when my husband is away is have breakfast for dinner.  So, since my husband is off playing golf this week with the oldest son, the boy and I decided that last night was breakfast night!  While reading a new cookbook (I think it has been on the shelves since 2011) called “No Whine with Dinner” written by Liz Weiss (MS, RD) and Janice Newell Bissex (MS, RD), I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes.  Actually, the real name of the recipe is called Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes, but the boy doesn’t like chocolate chips…so we skipped them. 

These pancakes were very good.  These women have a website called Meal Makeover Moms.  Here is the recipe for the pancakes.  (If you click on the word “recipe” it will take you right to their website.) I did make a few changes.  We only have skim milk in our house, so I substituted that.  And of course, the boy doesn’t like chocolate chips (believe me, he WANTS to like them but he just doesn’t) so we left them out.  The boy also doesn’t like butter on his pancakes, only peanut butter.  I was worried about combining the two tastes.  However, the pancakes don’t have a strong pumpkin taste, so it worked out great.  The batter was also a little thicker than we like our pancake batter to be so a little splash of milk took care of that.  These really taste good.  They also don’t leave you with that “I just ate a heavy meal and now I need to go lie down and take a nap” feeling that pancakes can sometimes do to you.  I eat my pancakes with a little of fruit preserves while the boy likes his with … peanut butter and syrup.  I added a piece of turkey bacon, some orange juice and voila!  We had our breakfast for dinner.  Delicious!

And the boy’s rating for these pancakes?  He gave it two thumbs up!  He probably would have said more, but he was too busy eating.

Sloppy Joes!

Ever experienced day after day of beautiful sunshine to the point that you are lulled into thinking that every day will be sunny and beautiful … and then it happens.  WHAM!  A storm comes up and your day is filled with rain and dark clouds.  That is how I was feeling about the boy trying new foods.  Lately, he has been so agreeable and loving the things that I was putting in front of him.  Then, I tried a new recipe.  I had such high hopes for this recipe.  He even helped pick it out.  But when we sat down to dinner, I could tell that this was going to be a “rainy day.”  The air was filled with the impending doom of dislike. 

The thing I really liked about this recipe was the fact that you loaded it with vegetables.  It has carrots and zucchini all chopped up inside with onion and garlic and of course….tomatoes!  I did change the recipe some in that I used ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I chopped up the veggies as thoroughly as I could (when he can’t see them – it means that they aren’t there….right?)  The can of tomatoes and tomato sauce comes after the turkey and veggies have cooked.  Then, you let the whole thing simmer until cooked thoroughly. 

At the table – my very picky eater asked me why I didn’t pick out all the tomatoes for him.  It was downhill from there.  I asked him if I tried making it again and didn’t put in the tomatoes would he like it.  His answer?  He might like it if I left out the tomatoes, onions and carrots.  I served it in a whole wheat pita pocket. 

It looked yummy – but it got a full blown two thumbs down from my toughest critic.  He did eat his obligatory bites, but only after full inspection of removing all the offending bits of carrots and onions and tomato (I must have successfully chopped the zucchini to microscopic size).  

*sigh* 

 I guess it is back to the drawing board.  Note - visible tomatoes, onions and carrots (cooked) are a definite no-go.