Oh yeah...and I'm not up for making a separate meal for a toddler who has opinions!
With that said, I decided to shake dinnertime up a little a tad the other night. Squish still ate what we were eating (it was an all-vegetable night + eggs for us), but I served it to him in a muffin tin. Just for fun! Here's how it went:
Reaction: Can I please have that fun container?
Inside the muffin pan: 1 slice whole wheat bread with butter (fit into two compartments), cooked carrots, steamed zucchini, mozzarella cheese, and raisins.
Cheese!!!
At the end of the meal: Everything eaten except half of the piece of bread and three pieces of zucchini. Oh yeah, and Squishy wanted a piece of daddy's hard boiled egg to top everything off.
I'd say it went pretty well! I might break out the muffin pan periodically to change things up at dinner. Squishy just saw one of these pictures and started talking excitedly about muffins (his name for the pan)...
How do you address pickyness at your house?
By the way, there is a lady with a whole blog all about muffin tin meals! That might be a bit overboard, but it's kind of fun, too...
What a creative idea! Did you think of that yourself? I'd definitely count it as a win when it was the bread that was left behind (a usual go-to for us all!)
ReplyDeleteExcellent! My mom used to give us what we called "snacky lunches" that used the same concept, and I've adapted it for my toddler. It was all the foods she wanted us to eat, but if it was on a tray and arranged in a fun way, we would eat it. Moms are so smart. :)
ReplyDeleteVery smart idea! You are always full of great ideas :)
ReplyDeleteI often make faces, flowers or animals of their food, sometimes they can have an "indoor" picknick. I love your idea too! Love Amelie
ReplyDeleteShh. Susannah doesn't know that pickyness exists. At least, not to the point that it's an issue. This past week she learned that if mama or daddy says she must eat one more bite, she has to eat one more bite no matter how much she protests. I think muffin tins will be great fun for mixing it up once in a while here soon :) Right now we have 2 fun plates with safari animals on them, and they make mealtime fun.
ReplyDeleteLove Muffin Tin Monday! Sometimes it's all in the presentation. =p
ReplyDeleteour dealing with toddler pickiness wasn't so creative :) the tin is a fun idea.
ReplyDeleteif they didn't want to eat, ok, you can save it for later but nothing else until you eat your dinner/etc.
Our oldest was about 18 months old and did not want to eat anything that grew. We started the answer I just put above...she didn't eat it at dinner, didn't eat it for breakfast, went to Walmart and came home, and she started asking if she could please have the peas....gone faster than I could count and it didn't take as long the next time around...eventually she learned to try what we required.
Now that they are older the girls just don't like spice so when we can we avoid it on their food but when it's all cooked together they just drink a big glass of milk while they eat :) The boy on the other hand is more picky...I still don't make something different for him but I do figure he's old enough to know that potatoes really do make him gag...that's what peas do to me ironically. He just skips that item on the dinner menu but since it's only 1 thing I do let him have a piece of bread or something.
They've learned to try things graciously with training but the attitude about it definitely took training. And is an attitude that if left unchecked just gets worse with age...visit an elementary school or a retirement home cafeteria if in doubt :)
Heather W
What a great way to deal with picky eaters! My girls love their Muffin Tin Monday and even help make the meal. We still have a few picky days but they definitely try more.
ReplyDelete