Reply to so tired of very limited range of foods my kids will eat....

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I so emphathize with you over this that I am going to take my 10 minutes when the newborn is finally asleep to give you some tips that have worked for me and my 2 and 4 year olds! I LOVE to cook and try new recipes, so having picky eaters is not an option for me, even though I have two kids who will complain about almost anything I put in front of them. I SAH and have the time to plan recipes and cook a variety of foods, and yet my kids are still picky. Point it, don't beat yourself up over the past two years--sometimes you can do everything "right" and still get kids who don't want to eat a casserole.

To get them to eat more veggies, I put out dishes of raw veggies while I make dinner. No comment to the kids about them--just put them on the counter. My kids always want to be in the kitchen when I'm in the kitchen, and they generally start begging for food. If I say NOTHING about the veggies, 9/10 times they will just start eating them because they are bored. If I harass them to eat the vegetables, they will eat none of them.

Here are some recipes that I was surprised my kids liked. They are all a riff on the standard kid fare, but they provide more variety and offer you a chance to spice them differently for adults, add more vegetables and proteins over time, etc.

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-crunchy-black-bean-tacos-cookbook-recipe-from-love-your-leftovers-202861 (I don't follow this exactly. I take 2 cans of black beans, dump into a pan with their liquid, add cumin, smoked paprika, and salt, and cook until the liquid reduces a bit. Then I smash them up with a potato masher. You can also add a small can of diced tomatoes to this--they will never know it's in there. You can also add diced chicken or other proteins to this, grate in different vegetables--zucchini, carrots disappear into this--etc. You could also bake these in the oven for less fat, but we eat them fried on the stove--not afraid of fat, especially with kids who are picky eaters.)

http://www.food.com/recipe/ww-turkey-and-cheddar-burgers-7-points-402689 (My kids have no idea there is zucchini in these.)

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/soy-hoisin-chicken-thighs-50400000131792/ (Chicken thighs in any sort of sweet, Asian sauce are a hit with my kids.)

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-grilled-halloumi-and-quinoa-saladrecipes-from-the-kitchn-168027 (If your kids like cheese, this will be a hit. Mine reject quinoa, so I serve this with couscous or rice and chopped raw veggies or steamed broccoli for them while DH and I eat a more interesting salad base.)

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-white-chicken-chili-114789 (My 4 year old loves this and he HATES soup. I serve it with Trader Joe's organic "fritos," which I think is part of the appeal for him. He's allow to dip them into the chili but the chips go away if he's  not using them to eat the chili.)

http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/ultimate-cheater-pulled-pork (If your kids will eat pulled pork, this is a really easy recipe. I serve it with different types of slaw for me and DH and the usual raw veggies for the kids. This freezes beautifully and can be added to tacos, etc for other meals later in the week. My kids usually just want to eat it plain on a bun, but DH and I can then have other more interesting meals later in the week--it's good over sushi rice with cucumber, carrots, etc in a sort of Asian rice bowl.)

GOOD LUCK!! Meal planning and cooking used to be such a pleasure for me. Having kids who hate most of what I want to cook is a bummer, but I keep trying new things and occasionally stumble upon keepers that make us all happy. I also let them see me and DH eating a variety of food, even if what I serve the kids is a striped down version of that variety. Sometimes, they want to eat what we're eating and it gets them to try something new. Note that I never cook a separate kids's meal.... Also, for soup, try doing a chunky soup and then straining out the chunks and only serving the kids the chunks (no broth). That sometimes works for me. 
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^^Also, I rarely use Cream of ___ Soups, but that chili recipe was something a friend made when I was sick last year, and my son loved it so I compromise and keep making it. I use a Cream of Chicken soup from Whole Foods, but you could probably substitute something else for the condensed soup.[/quote]

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