Oh man this reminds me of the special plate I had with dividers that I ate every single meal on so my food wouldn't touch each other.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn't super-picky, but she doesn't like her food all mixed-up, either. I make whatever I'm going to make, but I serve her a "deconstructed" version of it, with the components separate. If we're having fish tacos, for example, she gets the fish, a tortilla, and the veggies separate. She eats the same foods, I don't make a separate meal.

I did exactly this when my kids were younger. I think it is common for young kids to like their food items separated.

I was like that when I was little, so it's no surprise that my kid is the same.

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn't super-picky, but she doesn't like her food all mixed-up, either. I make whatever I'm going to make, but I serve her a "deconstructed" version of it, with the components separate. If we're having fish tacos, for example, she gets the fish, a tortilla, and the veggies separate. She eats the same foods, I don't make a separate meal.

I did exactly this when my kids were younger. I think it is common for young kids to like their food items separated.

I was this child back in the 1970s. My mom probably invented deconstructed food!

She just separated out portions for me and casseroled the rest for the other diners.

I hear you on the pot pie, OP. I make a really good chicken pot pie, with homemade crust, and I end up eating the whole pan because my kids don't like it.

My kid isn't super-picky, but she doesn't like her food all mixed-up, either. I make whatever I'm going to make, but I serve her a "deconstructed" version of it, with the components separate. If we're having fish tacos, for example, she gets the fish, a tortilla, and the veggies separate. She eats the same foods, I don't make a separate meal.

Sounds exactly like my five year old, even down to the cucumbers. No meatloaf, no casserole, no quesadillas or enchiladas. But, he does like chili, spaghetti, fried rice, and dumplings (I guess also called pot stickers).

My kids (who also love salmon) really like fish tacos. We just grill or bake some white fish, slice avocado, dice cabbage, make a quick yogurt chipotle sauce (yogurt + a bit of canned chipotle peppers) and serve on flour tortillas. Kids usually just eat the fish rolled up with some avocado and yogurt, and DH and I get to enjoy all the good stuff on top. On nights I'm feeling inspired I might make a slaw or mango salsa. Sometimes we swap in shrimp for fish.

Stir fries are good too. It's usually easy to pull out components.

You could try lamb. We do pitas with yogurt sauce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and sliced grilled lamb. Kids can eat is pieces if they desire. We do the same with falafel, which they both have enjoyed since toddlerhood.

When you cook, set aside some of the components and the picky child can have them separately.

We had a rotisserie chicken a couple of weeks ago and ate half. Due to various plans, we were not going to get back to the chicken before it went bad, so I took the remainder and shredded it and put it in a bag in the freezer. Saturday, I made a gravy, dumped the chicken and frozen mixed veggies in and put it into a pie shell for homemade chicken pot pie. If I had your child, I would have set aside a portion of the chicken, and steamed some frozen veggies. He can have bread/toast, reheated diced rotisserie chicken and steamed frozen veggies while the rest of us have pot pie.

Or as is the rule in our household, he can have lunchmeat or peanut butter while the rest of us eat the prepared meal. We always have cold cuts and peanut butter in the house and if you don't like the prepared shared meal, you can always opt for that.

Anonymous wrote:Will he eat Quesadillas? DD loves them with black beans and cheese and then guacamole and tomatoes on the side.
You could do his steak if he likes steak.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Man, I miss the days when he would eat anything!

Will he eat Quesadillas? DD loves them with black beans and cheese and then guacamole and tomatoes on the side.
You could do his steak if he likes steak.

One of my kids is the exact same way. He actually ate nearly everything as a toddler, but then around 4 started developing new likes and dislikes, and mixed-up food definitely fell in the "dislike" camp. Frustrating, since I thought we had the picky-eater thing licked by then.

Some of our favorites:

Well, your steak/salmon/broccoli/cucumbers is very common at our house too.

I like making fajitas or tacos, where he can eat each component separately and the rest of us can assemble our own.

Prepare the steak in different ways, just to introduce some variety. Grilled with simple seasonings one night. Sliced and stir-fried with teriyaki marinade another night. Make beef stroganoff, but serve three separate platters: pasta, stir-fried steak, and mushrooms in sauce (my kid would have a scoop of pasta and a scoop of steak, but ignore the mushroom sauce; the rest of us would take a scoop of pasta, top with sauce, and mix in a scoop of steak). Roast beef, sliced thin, serve gravy on the side if others like it.
Meatballs cooked in just a bit of tomato sauce; I serve with brown rice and vegetables on the side. And, surprisingly, he loves meatloaf.

Other kinds of seafood? Mine loves salmon and cod and scallops, but dislikes shrimp and tuna and tilapia. YMMV.

Entree salads. He usually spends a minute scooting everything into individual piles on his plate and then eating them one at a time. Whatever works...

I serve a simple salad with nearly every dinner. If he balks at whatever cooked vegetable is served, he at least eats the salad.

Mini meatloaf? Turkey or ground beef in muffin tins. How about branching the veggies a little. Will he eat roasted cauliflowr? Green beans?
You can do stifry and just separate it on his plate.

Look at sheet pan type meals - salmon, potatoes, beans cooked on one pan for example, or chicken, broccoli, and sweet potato fries. Serve tacos, but keep the fixings for his separate and put yours in a taco shell together likewise with omelettes or pho (or heck, rice) type bowls.

He likes salad, steak, salmon, broccoli, cucumbers. Sometimes chicken, but not as much as steak and salmon. Maybe I should just feed him steak/salmon/broccoli/cucumber four nights per week, then pasta and pizza the other 3 nights. He likes hot dogs and hamburgers too, but our rotation is getting stale and I want some fresh ideas. I don't like to cook separate meals, so try to plan one meal that everyone will like and it's getting harder and harder.

I'm getting frustrated that he won't eat anything that is mixed together. For example, I made homemade chicken pot pie recently, and he wouldn't touch it.