Random Observation/Comment #726: Being a good eater is important in Chinese culture. Best Chinese kids finish everything on their plate/bowl and ask for seconds.
Why this List?
Evie is at the age where she’s super picky about what she eats. We do the “3 bite rule”, but I think she’ll just love on carbs and chicken nuggets for the next few years. We’ve tried a few techniques to infuse other foods via sauces and food processors, but its had spotty success.
I write this list so I can keep track of what she actually eats and what we can vary. One of the hardest lists I’ve ever written, TBH. Hopefully just adding a few more to the list can give us some diversity.
- Chicken nuggets – Preferably ones that look like dinosaurs
- French fries / tater tots – Probably her favorite food that is borderline junk food
- Thinly sliced Salami and cold cut ham/turkey – She’ll just eat it from the packet
- Apples – This is actually the go-to fruit that she’ll eat whole
- Mangos – Must be cut into little cubes
- Cereal – Default to multi-grain cheerios, but sometimes some cinnamon toast crunch squares
- Pasta – Penne, macaroni and spaghetti shapes have passed the test, but usually nothing with too much sauce
- Mac and cheese – Sometimes she’s not in the mood for this, but she’ll eat it when everyone else does. Not good with shells.
- Pearl Cous Cous – I can add some cheese and pesto to this, so it’s a good rotation
- Chopped up saute mushrooms – Not by itself, but a good topping that doesn’t get automatically brushed away
- Chopped up sausage bites – The precooked ones that mix some apple and chicken are great
- Whole hot dogs and buns (deconstructed) – Raw dog eaten separately
- Meatballs – I can sneak some stuff in here like spinach and garlic. As long as I get a good crust, she’ll like it.
- Cheese sticks – Eaten like a psycho without peeling into string bites
- Yogurt – Only the vanilla Activia one, for some reason
- Smoothie – We make it with banana, acai packet, peanut butter, and chia seeds – solid breakfast choice
- Pancakes – Surprisingly without syrup
- Waffles – Yes, but not always if it has blueberries in them
- Avocado toast – I need to make it in a specific way for her to take some nibbles
- Scrambled eggs – I need to make an omelet first and then cut it up to cook the rest of the way. Tried the regular scramble and she didn’t like it
- Noodles – Mostly somen thin noodles or longevity noodles with a little bit of sesame oil or just by itself
- Pan fried tofu – I make these tofu squares that get pretty crispy
- Mapo tofu – This is how we sneak in a little meat into the non spicy sauce on rice
- White rice – just plain white rice – I think she likes Indian basmati rice the most
- Pizza – Should have been higher on this list, but a plain pizza is a solid choice. Tomato sauce count as a vegetable?
- Healthy chips (plantains, cauliflower) – So this is junk food, but it’s a little bit healthier. We’ll call it a win.
- Sunflower seeds – Good one to give her some protein and ask her to count them
- Raisins – Also a good one we use to balance out her fiber
- Northern white beans – this is actually a nice trick in our mixed vege combinations because the beige just blends in with the other beige things she only eats
- Ketchup – Definitely her mother’s daughter
Things she used to eat a lot that we want to rotate back in:
- Bananas
- Pineapples
- Watermelon
- Mashed potatoes
- Dumplings
- Congee
Things she always asks for that we save for special food bribing (eat X food first and then you get something special):
- Tando’s snack room of fruit snacks
- Snack bars
- Pretzel sticks
- Ice cream
- Juices of all kinds
Things we’re hoping she’ll eat:
- Peas and carrots (or anything green) – Seems like a good vege mix to have as a back pocket addition to dishes
- Fish or some other meats besides lunch meat
- Sauces in general – So much good flavor in dipping
- Burgers or sandwiches – why is everything deconstructed?
- Soups – it’s such a good texture that would give me a lot more room for creativity
I’m not mad at her for being picky because all kids this age are limited in their food preferences. We’ll just have to keep pushing her to try new things.
~See Lemons Get Creative
