I really need help with meals.

[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.

[bananacake]

Have you tried to make your own GF bread? I know this is only a small part of what's going on. :make more later hopefully.


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[RiverRock]

That sounds really hard. I might start by making variations of your pasta and rice meals.

Here is an alfredo alternative. You can switch up the seasonings or omit them. The recipe is delicious as it is, but could also be good with curry (and omit the Italian seasonings). http://meatified.com/italian-chicken...le-hold-grain/

Here is a chicken rice casserole alternative. I usually double the sauce. This freezes well, with or without the rice. http://www.food.com/recipe/bourbon-chicken-45809

[Mother of Sons]

Do they eat rice or potatoes (roasted, hashbrowns, boiled, baked etc? Do they like pasta?
Do they eat raw veggies with dip? You might consider having an appetizer tray to munch on. Do they like things with sauce? Do they eat salad?

We have some Sensory issues here too but I don't allow complaining about a meal. After a chorus of yucks once when they were younger I took the food off the table and they didn't eat and I had a long talk about what was acceptable ("no thank you", "I don't prefer onions" etc) I didn't ask them to like or eat everything, only that they had to be polite because they might not like or want the food but I still don't deserve that treatment. In any case now they eat most things, even the one who struggles the most. Except onions, he will pick every last one out) I give him a smaller portion of veggies out of respect and he eats them out of respect.

Growing up we always had a salad first and that had add ins like cucumbers, sunflower seeds and raw carrots. Then a few vegetables and a starch and then the protein. Sometimes jello. We usually had dessert but it was often fruit.

Since they like crunchy, here are a few things that might satisfy that craving.

Salads (with add ins)
Latke or hashbrowns
Pan fried chicken
Raw zucchini
Raw (thin) asparagus wrapped in lunch meat
Freeze Dried fruit/vegetables
Lettuce wraps
Nachos
Roasted chickpeas
Nuts
Nut crusted fish/chicken


Grate, drain water and add into hamburgers or spaghetti or sloppy joes or anything with a sauce. Same with spinach or protein powder



I'd also consider quitting and letting them all figure it out

[CelticJourney]

I'm following along to get suggestions, too. Trying to move to more produce and less carbs is harder than it should be.

Have you talked to your husband about how this is a problem and maybe he could try to help by eating something green?

[NovelMama]

Originally Posted by Mother of Sons

Do they eat rice or potatoes (roasted, hashbrowns, boiled, baked etc? Do they like pasta?
Do they eat raw veggies with dip? You might consider having an appetizer tray to munch on. Do they like things with sauce? Do they eat salad?

PJ will eat salad, sort of. Abby loves ranch but not with veggies, LOL, just with chicken nuggets and occasionally fries. They kind of like rice. Honestly, I don't think I've ever given them potatoes in any form but mashed or fries. I used to cube sweet potato and saute that in butter and Italian seasoning and they loved it - totally forgot about that!! I'll have to try that again, and regular potatoes, too. Other than ketchup and ranch, they're not big on sauces. Same for DH.

Growing up we always had a salad first and that had add ins like cucumbers, sunflower seeds and raw carrots. Then a few vegetables and a starch and then the protein. Sometimes jello. We usually had dessert but it was often fruit.

So you did multiple courses instead of everything out at once? Do you feel like that was helpful somehow?

Since they like crunchy, here are a few things that might satisfy that craving.

Salads (with add ins)
Latke or hashbrowns
Pan fried chicken
Raw zucchini
Raw (thin) asparagus wrapped in lunch meat
Freeze Dried fruit/vegetables
Lettuce wraps
Nachos
Roasted chickpeas
Nuts
Nut crusted fish/chicken


Grate, drain water and add into hamburgers or spaghetti or sloppy joes or anything with a sauce. Same with spinach or protein powder

Anything green is considered highly suspicious. Why peas and cucumber have made it through their filters I don't know. If I can't make it miniscule they will pick stuff out. And if they see me prepping it and they know it's in there, they just won't eat it.

They don't like nuts. (They don't even like peanut butter! I eat the stuff by the spoonful nearly evey day.) But a nut-crusted something-or-other might go over well if I can get the nuts fine enough. PJ will eat fish but not anyone else. Nachos...never thoughts of that, but that might work. All of us but PJ like chicken quesadillas and I make those for lunch usually a couple times a week.

Thank you so much for the list and ideas. I'm going to try some of these.

I'd also consider quitting and letting them all figure it out

This is totally what I'm dying to do but I can't bear the thought of what they'd try to subsist on!

Originally Posted by CelticJourney

I'm following along to get suggestions, too. Trying to move to more produce and less carbs is harder than it should be.

Have you talked to your husband about how this is a problem and maybe he could try to help by eating something green?

He has no control over. If he so much as smells that a vegetable has been on his food (like if he orders a burger and they put lettuce on it in the kitchen but then take it off before bringing it to the table) he can't eat it. He will eat honeycrisp apples every once in a while - maybe 3-4 times a year. (Not joking.)

Originally Posted by bananacake

Have you tried to make your own GF bread? I know this is only a small part of what's going on. :make more later hopefully.

I used to, with the Pamela's bread flour, but it was too dense and just not good. Now that they have their artisan flour I should try again; that makes really good cookies, so maybe it would make decent bread? It's been probably 5 years since I made bread; maybe now there are better gf recipes out there than there were back then.

Originally Posted by RiverRock

That sounds really hard. I might start by making variations of your pasta and rice meals.

Here is an alfredo alternative. You can switch up the seasonings or omit them. The recipe is delicious as it is, but could also be good with curry (and omit the Italian seasonings). http://meatified.com/italian-chicken...le-hold-grain/

Here is a chicken rice casserole alternative. I usually double the sauce. This freezes well, with or without the rice. http://www.food.com/recipe/bourbon-chicken-45809

Thank you, I'll check those out!

[bananacake]

I have a pretty good bread recipe. It's not as light as storebought, but it's so much better.

http://barefeetinthekitchen.com/hone...en-free-bread/

It's a variation of that.

[Llee]

With AJ's symptoms, I'd suspect constipation.

[Aerynne]

so they like creamy carb things?

How about shepherd's pie
enchilada casserole (you don't have to make it spicy- it can just be creamy)
baked fries

Cheesy sauces are great for blending carrots or other orange veggies into

Herbs are really good for you, too. Oregano has lots of antioxidants in it (and they don't need much to get a benefit) as well as other herbs and spices. So if they won't do veggies, do all the herbs they will eat!

[2sunshines]

What about trying to assign the kids to some of the meal planning? If you laid out guidelines (ie. must include one veggie, etc) would they be able to come up with a meal plan they'd like?

[NovelMama]

Originally Posted by Llee

With AJ's symptoms, I'd suspect constipation.

Oh, she absolutely has constipation, no doubt about it. She also barely drinks anything. It drives me .

Originally Posted by mamacat

Will either dh or kids eat pasta with sauce? That is one thing you can easily hide other veggies in if you blend with a blender

PJ and DH will. AJ is finnicky with pasta sauce - sometimes she will, sometimes she won't. But with the GF flour issue, I try not to do pasta more than once a week, so that wouldn't give me many opportunities.

Originally Posted by Aerynne

so they like creamy carb things?

How about shepherd's pie
enchilada casserole (you don't have to make it spicy- it can just be creamy)
baked fries

Cheesy sauces are great for blending carrots or other orange veggies into

Herbs are really good for you, too. Oregano has lots of antioxidants in it (and they don't need much to get a benefit) as well as other herbs and spices. So if they won't do veggies, do all the herbs they will eat!

Totally never thought of herbs. Now I have to start a garden, LOL!

I *should* try enchiladas. I bet they would all like them if I could just get them to try them. I've never made those from scratch before. I'll have to look for a recipe.

[Llee]

For one of mine, we had to do Miramax daily (nothing natural worked) until her body relearned how to listen to itself. For my other, she needs it for a couple of days every few months. A good friend had to have her son hospitalized and cleansed out because nothing else worked. So I'm Very anti-constipation.

For food, I make tortillas on Sundays. Friday nights we usually have haystack (DIY Frito salad). Those two meals are guaranteed eaten.

[Quiteria]

Have you ever read Ellen Satter's Child of Mine book about picky eating?

Satter recommends serving one meal with something everyone can eat...maybe two of your four people like the protein, three like the carb, one likes the veggie, two like the fruit...everyone fills up on what they like while seeing others eat the rest, and that exposure helps over time. Emphasis is on dinner together socially and drawn away from the food itself. Less anxiety...less revulsion.

One thing that helps me make food knowing it won't please everyone is that I make large batches and rotate who gets a favorite main entree. If you hate it, you can reheat yourself some leftovers from a better night. It's tricky making sure they don't get sick of eating the same leftovers too many days in a row if they really hate all the new options, but it keeps me cooking more variety than limiting myself to crowd-pleasers only. It's more doable than being a short-order cook, and yet keeps them from not eating because they all do have options if they refuse to try tonight's meal.

[bananacake]

Would she drink lemon Natural Calm?


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[ECingMama]

http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2015/09...ith-red-sauce/