wasting food

[zumbamama]

DD asks me to make her some eggs for breakfast. So I cook eggs and bacon. She eats the bacon, and says I'll save the eggs for later (which means, "I don't want them anymore). Then she asks for a waffle instead. rgghh!!

Both DCs are very picky eaters. Before I cook, I ask them, "If I make this for you are you going to eat it? Are you sure?" DS knows better now, but DD doesn't yet. But I am not making a waffle so she can waste that too! Now she is mad and still won't touch her eggs.

Does this happen to you? How do you handle it?

[Anonymous]

Yes, that happens to me, too. I used to be very indulgent but now i'm on a tight budget, and I have a "you get what you get and you don't get upset" attitude. For dinner, if my DC doesn't eat, no dessert.

[Anonymous]

I often start by handing out the food DS is most likely to toss once he's had something to eat. But then he's only 1 YO. I don't know if that works for older children. So in your case I would start out with the eggs and hand out the bacon later.

[Anonymous]

I'm going through the same exact thing with my 2-year old DD right now, and I've wasted tons of food lately. I haven't figured out the solution (if there is one). I give her a choice of two things to eat for dinner, she picks one and then proceeds to say she doesn't want it. She's also on a YoBaby kick since I started giving it to her again when she was sick last week, so that's pretty much all she wants for lunch and dinner. Last night I tried to explain that if she ate her dinner first, she could have yogurt for dessert. That resulted in a tantrum and me giving her a divided bowl of yogurt and what I was serving her for dinner. She ate some of each, so I guess we had a compromise. However, I know I indulge her too much and should have just stuck to my guns and not offered the yogurt until she ate some dinner, but that would have meant that she wouldn't have eaten anything at all. So frustrating!

[Anonymous]

Yes, my son does this. I provide about 3 or 4 things on the plate each meal (waffle, fruit, yogurt, etc.), and he's free to eat from there. If he doesn't eat it, he doesn't eat it. I don't cook something different. He can have a healthy snack at his regular snack time, but that's it. He ate nothing for lunch today, although he had a big breakfast. His snack this afternoon was apple slices and some yogurt.

It works for him. No fights, and no additional cooking for me. He hasn't begged for food or anything between meals/snacks (yet?).

[Anonymous]

depends on the age of the kid.

For my 7 year old, I actually had a talk with him about how much food costs and how much money we have for food. I didn't stress him out too much, I hope, but I have seen a change in attitude about finishing food before asking for more. Also I try to give small portions.

[Anonymous]

This was me this morning!! My kids asked for french toast and eggs. I served them both and they took 1-2 bites of the french toast and didn't eat the eggs! I'm not a fan of either food so it completely went to waste! So I'm in the same boat... it happens often!

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I think you're giving your kids (whatever age) way too much say-so in the whole matter.

I'm reminded of a magnet I once saw on a friend's refrigerator door.

"You have choices for dinner tonight. You can take it, or you can leave it."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm reminded of a magnet I once saw on a friend's refrigerator door.

"You have choices for dinner tonight. You can take it, or you can leave it."

I love it!

[Anonymous]

I am not a short order cook. Everyone in the family gets the same meal; the portion sizes differ. Those who do not like what is being served go without.

[Anonymous]

I'm also in the "you eat what I eat" camp, but some of that is sheer laziness - cooking one meal is not effort for me. I have learned they will not starve. This is an extreme example, but I smile when I recall a friend's story from growing up with a single mom struggling to make ends meet. One night she and her brother complained about getting hot dogs for dinner. They got hot dogs every night for a week. They never complained about their meals again!

[Anonymous]

to all the old-school hardliners that just posted, i wonder: what would happen if you went to work, and for lunch every single day some other adult chose what YOU would be served (w. no input from you)? would you like that? every day?

and then what if they told you "you get what you get and you don't get upset" or you can "go without" or "take it or leave it"

how respectful! and how great would you feel if they plunked down a food you dislike in front of you and said, you eat this or you eat nothing until you get back to your home at 6 p.m.

you get the idea. i think some of you are really cavalier and disrespectful of your children if those really are your attitudes.

[Anonymous]

"you get the idea. i think some of you are really cavalier and disrespectful of your children if those really are your attitudes. "

The tail doesn't wag the dog in my house.

[Anonymous]

I have a 5 yo and a 2 yo. I go with my ped's advice "your job to feed them healthy food, their job to eat it". I plan meals a week in advance (with input from them on occasion). Sometimes I ask which meal they want to eat that day. I let my 5 yo help cook. He gets to choose his lunch for school, from a list of options.

But other than that, if they don't like the food, too bad. The 2 yo is picky and will eat nothing but meat, so I'll give him as much as he likes of any meat in the meal. And I nag my 5 yo to drink milk. But no special meals. They get small portions of everything so there won't be as much waste, and they can have seconds/thirds etc. after they finish the first portion. My 2 yo tantrums about that sometimes, along the lines of "I want a new banana" while he's holding half of the old one. I don't give in.

I do try to balance their diets with snacks -- offer only fruits and veggies if they've eaten nothing but bread and protein, for example.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the age. My DD is not yet two and so it is more imp for me that she eat. I don't cook sep meals but if she doesn't eat something I made, I'll make some quick substitutes (a sandwich or some fruit/cheese, heat up something quick).
We waste some food, yes.
As she gets older and understands more things, we will have the conversation about eating what is in front of her and not wasting.
I also plan to involve her in ideas for meals. My mom and dad forced way too much food on me that I did not like - same foods over and over despite me saying I don't like these things. I am not sure that they gained much by approaching things in that manner (except chubby pups b/c I slipped them food whenever possible). And, I don't think that they respected my preferences (just one of many bigger issues). You can call me permissive or whatever but that is how it's going to be here.