We have several posts where picky eaters are mentioned. Do you have one in your family? What challenges does this present and how do you work around that for balanced meals for everyone?

 

I've learned to become picky out of necessity since I'm diabetic. DH craves carbs, and I have to avoid most of them or eat fewer carbs. However to his credit, he's adjusted to my way of eating and lost about 20 pounds. The big challenge is when we eat away from home, things tend to disagree with us by the time we get home. Usually its something prepared with a lot of oil or grease. This past weekend we attended a catered event. I avoided the heavy pasta and stayed with proteins. The people who ate the pasta ended up sick. All I know is that its getting tougher to enjoy a meal out. My oldest son used to be picky but we have since figured out it was his passive/aggressive way to get back at us. He even admitted it.

I could say my boys are picky but I think it is just an age thing. If I can provide catsup and they can dunk it into it, they will pretty much eat it. Except we have trouble with casseroles. I just don't think they like everything "all mixed up." Looks different. Sometimes if I make a casserole, I will set aside some of the meat and veggies prior to putting my casserole together to serve to them.

My oldest cannot eat peas and I quit trying after he would gag and did throw up. Just not going to force him on that veggie.

My 2 year old still has trouble with hard, chewy or crunchy foods. His 2 year molars have not come in so he doesn't eat raw carrots, big pieces of apple with peel on it or steak or other "chewy" meat. Same with almonds and pumpkin seeds. Too much gagging/choking.

Otherwise, we ask that they try one bite of everything. And I can guess which foods will not be popular so I only put a small bite on each plate.

My DH is not picky unless it invloves pickles or anything with vinegar.

Besides eating for better health, I do have a picky eater to deal with.

My husband is very particular about what vegetables he will eat and will only eat them cooked when added to certain dishes. He prefers dishes with few ingredients; this does not include spices. He also does not like his food touching each other in his plate, each has to have a distinct flavor.

My oldest is very picky but is no longer living at home so I don't have to deal with her preferences or needs any longer. The younger two like a wide range of food and only want some diversity with a main course and sides at a meal.

I serve a multiple course meal so that there is something for everyone.

My oldest son was the picky eater in our house. He would never eat veggies. He loved pasta with tomato sauce so we used to grind up all the veggies or run them through the juicer and sneak them into the sauce when he wasn't looking. It fooled him every time!! He eventually grew out of it and today will eat most anything.  Hubby can not have ANY processed sugar at all of any kind so that is currently my biggest challenge. Since I make most things from scratch these days I can regulate the amount of sugar that goes into what ever I cook. Sometimes I will just set aside hubbys portion and keep it sugar free. I made BBQ pulled pork the other night so the kids had it with BBQ sauce and hubby had his plain. It is amazing how much sugar is in the foods we eat.

MountainMom:

It is amazing how much sugar is in the foods we eat.

That is my biggest battle for health reasons. Having a  picky eater makes it even harder.

 

I'm doing my darndest to raise a child who is not picky.  DH is not picky at all.  In over 2 years I've only made maybe 2 dishes that no one liked.  I call those lessons learned.  With DD (she's 4) we keep it simple.  She gets an age appropriate portion.  I do keep track of her likes and dislikes so that she gets slightly larger portions of things she likes and slightly smaller portions of things she dislikes.

If she complains about the food or gets overly pokey about her eating, we give her more.  For example, I made beef fajitas earlier this week.  DD doesn't understand how to eat a fajita yet (plus, her mouth is still little), so I gave her some of the meat filling (did not give her the bell peppers b/c I know she doesn't like them) and gave her extra salad and cucumber slices.  She ate all her salad and cukes, but was bemoaning the beef.  I finally gave her 3 more pieces of beef (about the size of a dime) and said, "If I hear one more complaint or if you continue to play games when you are supposed to be eating, I will give you 3 more pieces to eat."  She finished her dinner without another complaint or problem.

I'm very fortunate that this is a rare occurrence in my home.  DD loves vegetables for the most part (just the bell peppers that she struggles with now).  She likes beans -- especially things like bean soups when you can sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese or parm cheese on the top.  Like any kid, she loves pasta!

I think the biggest problem we struggle with is that I make very limited side dishes.  I stick to potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad and cucumbers, carrots (in various forms), brown rice, pasta, zuchini and yellow squash (spring/summer only), bell peppers, green beans, tomatoes, broccoli.  I realize this is better than a lot of families, so I'm grateful for that.  Sometimes it just seems redundant is all. 

I'm the picky eater in my family when I was a kid if I didn't eat what my df considered the approiate amount of stewed tomatoes, onions or peppers he would put me in a headlock and cram them down my throat till I threw up. I have a very major adverson to chunks of tomatoes (thinned down tomatoes in things like ragu sauce, ketchp or soup no problem) onions that aren't powdered and peppers other than the spice. I try not to influence the dks with my pick food habits but allow them to refuse foods they don't like. Unfortuantely not all my intentions have worked out for the best dd#1 spent 9 yrs living off cherios, peanut butter sandwiches, french fries,chicken nuggets and pizza cause that was all she liked. She began to eat more foods but is still hesitant to try new things. Ds#1 will eat most anything but spaghetti sauce and chicken. Ds#2 will eat anything that won't eat him first like dh. Ds#3 doesn't like chicken, turkey and sea food but will try most anything else. Dd#2 is like ds#2 a daddys child who will consider trying most anything if she doesn't want to try it now we don't force the issue but let her pick something else. By forcing someone to eat something they don't like you can do more harm than good and it can last a life time.

Nan, that's horrible!  I'm so sorry food was forced down your throat like that.  I can see why you're still picky.

One of my godsons has a terrible aversion to chunky foods b/c of a sensory problem.  His mom has had a rough 5 years getting him to eat.  He didn't come completely off formula and bottles until 3 1/2 years old b/c of this sensory issue.  Still, he won't have any memories of headlocks and force-feeding!

I'm the picky eater in my family. Since I live by myself I don't fix things I don't like and I don't buy things I don't like. When Mom was here I would buy her things like fish, artichokes, etc., that she liked and I didn't.

I have found that I can't handle the amount of sodium/salt in food at a lot of restaurants. I also don't do too well eating fried or oily foods.

I do much better eating meals at home plus it's easier on my budget. The added advantage is that the kitchen gets warmer and that makes Aurora a happier kitty cat.

I have found that I can afford a frozen Ore-Ida potato product on sale that bakes in the oven so I don't miss fried potatoes with burgers. By careful planning and shopping, I can be a picky eater who can keep a food budget under a little better control.