[NovelMama]

I'm starting to get concerned about AJ's health because of how little she eats. She used to have a really diverse palate but the older she's gotten the more foods she's dropped from that. When she was 2-3yrs she used to eat as much as I would at meals; now she hardly eats anything.

Lately she's been having a lot of stomach issues and complaining frequently of being nauseated. She's been eating more gluten, and I know that is part of the issue - it constipates us both. But I really think she's just not eating enough, either. And I don't make meals that are well-rounded enough - they're lacking fats and fiber and enough produce - so I'm hungry more often than I'm not, and even large meals (since they're not well-rounded) don't fill me up.

The problem is that everyone here is SO STINKING PICKY. A lot of it is sensory issues; DH and the girls all deal with them, mostly texture related. DH won't touch produce or anything that has produce on it or near it. The girls each like about three fruits/veggies - apples, carrots, cucumber for PJ and peas for AJ. (Actually, PJ also likes berries, and she, unlike everyone else, is at least willing to try new foods. Ironic since she's the one who had feeding issues and had to go through "food school" when she was little!) None of them will do soups, smoothies, broths, purees - anything soft and mushy (other than ice cream, LOL, and mashed potatoes, which DH and PJ like, but not AJ - the girls don't even like the softer apple varieties; I have to get kiku, pink lady, honey crisp, or fuji apples because they're good and crisp). The girls also don't like any of their veggies cooked (except the peas) - have to be cold and raw. No one likes spicy stuff.

The other problem is that I do not enjoy cooking in the least. Partly because I never know what to make, partly because it's so much effort for so little payoff (because someone always complains, or it doesn't turn out right, or it takes ages to make and 30 seconds to eat and 30 minutes to clean up), and partly because everyone is so picky and it's so hard to find something that everyone likes. There are literally TWO meal I make that everyone actually enjoys, but we can't live on chicken fettucini alfredo and chicken and rice casserole forever!

I make sure every meal has protein. The girls eat 2-3 servings of fresh fruit/veggies a day, usually with a meal but sometimes just as a snack. They usually have some kind of pretzel/chip as a side with meals. (Texture thing again - they crave crunch.) They have finally started to eat sandwiches (that's new in literally the last year, and they're 9 and 11!) but because we're gluten free we try not to do a lot of breads/grains because gf they are so bad for you, plus the girls don't like most gf breads anyway. (And who can blame them?)

I have a slow cooker and an IP.

I need examples of well-rounded meals, because I honestly don't know what a well-rounded meal looks like. I can use those examples as a base and then sub in the ingredients my family will actually eat. But I also HAVE to introduce new foods in somehow - it's getting ridiculus how limited everyone's palate is.