Food Forward Friday

Michael loves food! It’s like a hobby for him.  He thinks up request after request for what he’d like to eat on any given day. He requests food faster than I can make it or than he can eat it.

I can’t give him EVERYTHING he requests because it would make him sick, but I am trying to honor his requests when I can. Here are two easy strategies I use around food.

1. I cut portion sizes down on everything except veggies.
2. I serve requested items with veggies and fruit.

Mikey’s pizza is an individual frozen pizza that I cut in half and bake one half at a time.  Then I added a cut red pepper and an apple with some peanut butter (although the peanut butter is high calorie, the fiber in the apple and the protein in the peanut butter will keep him fuller longer).

Mikey’s pigs in a blanket are homemade, but I make 8 at a time.  The mini hot dogs and the crescent rolls can be saved in zip locks and then assembled and baked as needed. For this meal, I added carrots and endive with two peeled clementines. Mikey can peel his own clementines, but they have been hit-or-miss (in terms of their deliciousness/ripeness) this year so I peel them to make sure I am not giving him a dud.

Endive

I know it seems crazy that Mikey will eat raw endive.  Most adults don’t even know what it is.  It has a mild bitter flavor to it.  We keep it in our house because I like it in salads.  I know no one wants to buy vegetables just to end up throwing them away, so…buy veggies that you eat and see if you can get your child to eat them too. That way, you can use them up if your child won’t eat them.

Added Bonuses

1. You can offer your child a very small portion to try which feels less overwhelming to them.  You know the rest won’t go bad because you can eat it. No wasted money or food makes the experience pressure-free.
2. You can set a good example by eating it in front of them. This may not make them eat it, but it can’t hurt.