Picky eating

As I mentioned in my previous post, our daughter is an extremely picky eater. Before having a child myself I always rolled my eyes at the idea of a picky eater, after all, when I grew up you just had to eat what was served. Period. (I grew up with my grandparents, so tough luck if you didn't like it!)

It all started out great with Sarah. She was able to nurse for 11.5 months, which I believe personally is the best start one can have in life, even if I completely understand the women who chose not to nurse. With my self having so many health problems, I just wanted her to have the best start in life as I could give her. It did end up putting me in the hospital, but it was still worth it for me.

When I ended up in the hospital I had to go cold turkey on the nursing. Noooot fun! But Sarah took it like a champ! She started on regular milk with no problem, though she had some lactose intolerance at first.

When she had started solids around 6 months or so there were no problems. She loved all the different flavors I had her try, with the exception of the "mashed potato" baby food (it did taste like dirt, so I don't blame her a bit!)

She graduated to regular table food, no problem. I provided her with a variety of veggies and fruits, along with just regular food. Great! I love veggies myself, and I consider that to be a very important part of once diet.

Gradually she started to get finicky. Now we are at a point that I can make a very short list of what she WILL eat:

Whole grain bread with all natural peanut butter with added flax seed and 100 % fruit spread.
Wholegrain pancakes with light breakfast sausage or bacon with all natural maple syrup
Hot dogs with hot dog bread
Pizza with plain cheese
Baked all white meat chicken nuggets with ketchup
French fries
Apples (if peeled and cut up)
Pears (if peeled and cut up)
Grapes
Watermelon
Strawberries
Blueberries
Banana
Orange juice
Apple juice
Water
Milk
Yogurt
Chocolate milk
Commercial cereal with milk
Granola bars and other kinds of similar bars
Healthy whole grain and fruit snacks
Whole grain bread with strawberry cream cheese
Rice pudding
Chocolate pudding
Peanuts and cashews
Pretzels
Snack crackers
Smoothies (we'll come to this later...)

And except for sweets, that is it! And sometimes she will even refuse some of these things...

So not much to work with here... I try to make the few things she does like the healthier varieties, but if I make it too healthy I also risk putting her off to that particular food. She almost stopped eating hot dogs because I insisted to serve only turkey dogs...

I used to have a secret weapon. She used to love the smoothies I made. I could cram all kinds of good for her stuff in there. Usually silken tofu, yogurt or Kefir, mixed with a frozen banana, frozen fruit (even the kinds she normally wouldn't touch), a dash of orange juice, whirl it all up and a super healthy smoothie! In the beginning I was also able to add veggie powder, but she soon developed a distaste for that. Now she all of a sudden can't stand the texture of a home made smoothie. The tiny little flecks of fruit in there almost makes her gag. So no more home made smoothies...

Then I had the idea to check out the ready made smoothie selection at the store. I know I myself have tried a few that were all natural without any added crap like sugar and what not. I bought a few different kinds, all chock full of good for her fruit. Yep! The consistency was more like thick juice, so I finally had a way to add to her intake of fruit!

But what I really desperately want her to eat is more (or should I be correct: any) veggies. There was one smoothie that I myself had tried and liked. It was green like spinach, so she might not even want to try it... I bought a small bottle. Put the smoothie in a dark blue glass (so the yucky green color wouldn't show so much). She loved it! Oh my God she loved it! She now drinks two glasses of this a day, which gives her so many nutrients she otherwise would miss . Sure it might be expensive, a small bottle being about $2.50, but it is so worth it!

If you want to try this yummy fruit AND veggie drink, the name is Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness.

The ingredients are: Apple, Pineapple, Mango, Banana, Kiwi, Spirulina, Open Cell Chlorella, Lime, Broccoli, Brewed Green Tea, Spinach, Barley Grass, Wheat Grass, Blue-Green Algae, Echinacea, Odorless Garlic, Tamarind Puree, Dragon Fruit, Lemon, Jerusalem Artichoke and Nova Scotia Dulce. Plus a few added vitamins and minerals.

They also carry all kinds of other smoothie drinks as well as other products. I am just so happy to have found something that has veggies in it that she likes! A small miracle for sure :-)! Now I will continue hoping that her pediatrician is right, that she will grow out of this phase of her life and actually start eating more normally. Eventually...