Greying's Gaining Ground - with Gratitude & Grace

Paspatur

Greying can I just say I am so happy you are back, I missed your diary so much.
As regards vegetables every child (and adult) is different, I have 6 grandchildren - 1 would eat cabbage and carrots before anything else on their plate, 2 thought sneaking a raw mushroom whilst in the fridge for a permitted yoghurt was heaven, very seldom I feed all 6 now as 2 are adults but the 4 younger ones have one common favourite in sweetcorn although only 2 will eat corn on the cob!
I personally hate cooked carrots but love them raw. My sister is a vegetarian but hates mushrooms

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening!

How wonderful folks dropped by 😁  Thanks for the good wishes beanie. Yes, apple, it's been a purty spiffy day to be seized all in all 😁  Viking - I think children that willingly eat veg are wonderful!  Long may it continue!  Paspatur totally agree to differences - even within sibling/family groups.  I don't mind so much if LG will eat a little of most things.  They don't have to love them, just get a bit of variety in/broaden the food groups etc.

So no property of any interest was listed today.  Definite stalling if not an outright downturn.  Never mind, gives me a chance to save another 7p off me grocery budget this month towards our deposit...... 😆

My gabber was flasted today when a load of washing that was put out in a triumph of hope over reality, came back in significantly drier than I had anticipated. OK, so it was possibly only 50% dry, but I'll take that in winter!  Mind, the cold winter that dried out 'smalls', was bitingly cold and not much fun to walk in!  However, we did get out for a walk today, and the sun even put in an appearance half way around our route, so it was a really nice breath of fresh (very fresh) air and change of scene.  

Tea was simple but budget concious.  I baked up 2 potatoes from my MrS stash.  Used veggie sausages - for DH and I there were 'G0$h' sweet potato and smoked paprika (I think) sausages and for LG there were 2 L1nda Muckartknee veggie sausages.  LG had pasta pesto and a small piece of cauliflower too, and DH & I had cauli, broccoli and carrots from MrL frozen vegetable mix.  I'd not had the MrL frozen veggies before.  I think they were about 79p for a kilo (?) bag.  I wasn't over impressed and will stick to fresh vegetables or h3r0n frozen veg.  I don't think I'll bother with the G0$h sausages again - they were OK, but my own homemade are 'as good' and cost less.  As I had the oven on, I made an apple & pear crumble out of some apples and pears that were a little bit wrinkly in the fruit bowl.  LG ate up the cauli without complaint (it was only a small bit, but given last night's performance.......), as they wanted some crumble and a little ice-cream so much.......  They also ate a couple of small egg mayo sandwiches at lunch.  This was with vociferous complaint, as they are apparently 'too old' for baby food..........  (whilst ma munched on........), but to be fair, both small sandwiches were eventually eaten.  

Today was a nsd.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

1)  mother nature 
2) a semi-dried line of washing
3) LG's good nature and willingness to at least try to expand their 'will tolerate' list of foods....... 😉

Ta for popping by.   Appreciated.

Greying X

rtandon27

Greying_Pilgrim said:

...They also ate a couple of small egg mayo sandwiches at lunch.  This was with vociferous complaint, as they are apparently 'too old' for baby food...

Oh GP - this did make both OH & I chuckle! - The everyday adventures of your little one is a source of great amusement for us 'old' & 'boring' folk 🤣

I remarked to myself today that food preferences eventually do come full-circle, as OH mentioned that he would prefer apple sauce (puree) with his yogurt rather than fruit, as chewing pieces of chopped fruit after having to chew his entire dinner was too much effort.

Bluegreen143

I’ve just sat and read through your diary and thoroughly enjoyed it 🙂

Your tales of a picky child do make me smile and nod along in recognition as I have a 5 and 2yo and the 5yo in particular is really quite picky (despite eating everything until age 3). I mean he won’t die of scurvy as he loves fruit and raw vegetables (carrot, pepper etc) but trying to get him to eat a proper cooked dinner that isn’t pizza or pasta is painful! 

I can’t be bothered with cooking separate meals so I’ve always served one meal and they just need to put up with that (but they are free to eat as much or little as they like, none if they want, and they can have a little Greek yoghurt or fruit after). I don’t know if this is the right approach now as it sounds like you’ve been having quite a bit of success getting LG to eat by being firm on trying small bites and then having something else after. Perhaps I need to try different approaches as it’s been a couple of years now of dreading dinner times! Well done on success with broccoli and peas - neither child here will eat cooked veg, not even the 2yo who is better with dinners.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning!

rt - I noticed several years ago, that my mother - who, when we were children - would screech at us to take our elbows off the dining table - has her elbows almost permanently on the table at mealtimes.........  I've never said anything; but full-circle............  At one  point we couldn't get BG to eat apple without it being pureed and co-incidentally, I was looking at a video of them eating a small piece of (whole) apple for the first time, the other day.  They had been watching me eat a whole apple and made it clear they wanted to try.  Seems like 2 minutes ago!

Bluegreen - BG is really quite good natured, if they in anyway start to dig their heels in, I have no idea how I would get them to eat things.  I hope that in trying to be 'fair', we can keep this system going.  If I start to get greedy and expect them to eat masses of the disliked thing, they will simply push back and refuse to eat it, so I'm aware that I've got a tremendous responsibility to be, and to be seen to be, fair in BG's eyes.  I'm also hopeful that in getting them to at least be a bit more experienced in a wider range of foods, there will be less of an issue.  But I have no idea if this is the right approach.  I think we probably have to try a range of strategies and sail with the ones that work, whilst they work......

Tea this evening will be soup.  I think I shall have a go at Creole Black Bean soup.  Haven't had it in a while,  but have most of the ingredients in the cupboard.  Don't have a sweet potato, mind.....

Can be another nsd today.  Nothing needed.   But must get out and about for some exercise.  Have an item to post - but it's freepost, so just need to pop it in an envelope, we can go via the postbox on our wander route.

Right, best shift-a-tail-feather.  Get changed whilst the heating is still on. 

Ta for popping by.  Greying X

greenbee

Kids are funny with food - as they develop they start to have opinions about taste and texture. I know it’s frustrating when they won’t eat stuff they used to love. I din’t comment on my DB & SIL’s parenting, so haven’t explained why they have always eaten stuff here that they ‘don’t like’ at home. But I’m pretty sure it comes down to:

• eating meals with them rather than separately - as per your apple story, they learn by copying adults 
• Offering them everything but not insisting
• Giving them the opportunity to try a bit and tell me what they think about it (my nephew was particularly good at this and there were several things he gradually ate more of as he got used to them)
• Reminding them that they can come back for more, but if they take something they need to finish it (for cold meals I used to put stuff out in bowls to help themselves so they didn’t have a meltdown about some alien foodstuff being out on their plate

But it was easier for me - it was only once a week and one weekend a month (totally exhausting but well worth it!). 

As @Bluegreen143 says, sprinkles work wonders (plain yogurt or porridge with sprinkles were a bigger treat than coco pops at one point!) as are blueberries (purple porridge!) especially frozen and added to yogurt.

Greying_Pilgrim

I whole-heartedly agree with the 'different environment' playing well in getting children to eat things they 'won't touch' in the home.  LG really started to like pears out of the blue - the catalyst?  That they were given some (actually very tasty) pears by Grandma off the tree in her garden.  They ate them (they had until that point resolutely refused to knowingly eat pear), and then declared that they really liked pear.  What we've been lucky with is that this liking has transferred from the delicious ripe comice pears, eaten in season, straight off the tree; to any old supermercado 'conference' offering available.  LG wouldn't eat ice-cream either, until they were handed a choc ice at an 'Aunty's' house with the expectation (unsaid) that LG would eat it, because 'all children like icecream'.  They have eaten ice cream ever since........  Course, at the moment, 'different environments' are not really avenues parents and carers can explore, but I certainly agree with their validity in the arsenal of parental ruses to get kids to eat 'all the things' 😁

Texture and size is important too.  LG will eat more apple if it's de-cored and (eg) quartered than if presented with a whole apple - although they will eat a 'whole' apple, they invariably waste more.  They will eat a slice of cheese, but are not really fussed if precisely the same amount is grated and put on a sandwich....... Why?? (rhetorical question 😁)

Now regretting not putting a wash on, as the sun is shining (weakly).  By the time the wash would be finished now, it could be raining, snowing, hailing..........

Greying X

Viking_mfw

Interestingly, DS1 will eat the entire apple if presented with a whole one, down to a tiny scrap around the core, but if it is chopped up and put in a bowl, he eats the apple off the skins and leaves the skins (although admittedly comes back and eats them if they are left around long enough). 

This lunchtime we had the dilemma of the spaghetti 'hoops' being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shapes (because the price increase filters through different designs at different rates. I even have some Peppa Pig ones because they were five p a tin cheaper than the actual hoops. He was adamant he was not going to eat them until they were reframed as 'superhero hoops' *facepalm*

rtandon27

I didn't think pasta shape made much of a difference to taste, but OH scoffed at the alphabet noodles I put in today's soup & asked if that was because he'd asked for apple sauce yesterday!  They were on clearance sale - I couldn't go past them!

Viking_mfw

@rtandon27