With Matthew, you never know what he’s going to eat. Some days, he loves grilled (never, EVER fried) chicken, some days, he refuses it. Most days though, I think he’d rather have anything OTHER THAN grilled chicken because that’s all he ever gets when we eat out (this, of course, does not include Pane.ra salad chicken, which he NEVER refuses). What’s so aggravating to me is that I always box up the refused ($6) chicken and bring it home, in hopes he’ll eat it later. And sometimes he does, and most times, he does not. When he refuses it, it becomes chicken for my spinach salad which works out great… but even I get tired of grilled chicken ;)Today was one of those days when I wanted to GET.OUT.OF.THE.HOUSE for lunch, but we had so many leftovers in the fridge that it made no sense. I mean, really, what is so good out that is worth letting food go bad? NOTHING. We had leftover pizza from my cousin’s visit Wednesday night (too old – needed to be tossed), leftovers from Matthew’s lunch on Friday (you guessed it – un-touched grilled chicken), AWESOME leftovers from Friday’s dinner out (NY strip of B’s, and veggie pizza of mine – yes – it had gluten), and veggie leftovers from last night’s dinner (mashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli).
I figured that Matthew would want the steak. I figured right! He ate all of the broccoli before I even got to the table and was working on the steak before I gave him the mashed sweet potatoes. We can’t give mashed cauliflower, sweet potatoes, or parsnips to him at the same time as the other food that we desperately want him to eat, or he’ll just focus on the mashed yummies. HA! After he finished his first helping of steak, I gave him more steak and also the mashed sweet potatoes – and he didn’t leave a single bite of the veggies for me to even try. I think he ate probably 4 ounces or so of steak – it was ALL gone.
“Finally something DIFFERENT! Yumm!!”
And then? He ate the rest of the chicken that I was munching on. He asked for it, I let him try it, and then he signed for more. I just don’t get it… but I’ll take it! He can refuse his cod tonight – that’s just fine – because he has had plenty of meat for the day! But I do have high hopes for the cod (B is a master when it comes to cooking fish!).
“We need to go to the store after this, because this does NOT count as fruit. But I’m going to eat it as my dessert anyway!”
This is my contribution to The Monday Snapshot over at PAIL Bloggers. There are lots of cute posts today – check them out!
All the Sun For You 
March 11, 2013 at 3:38 pm
Raegan is going through this up and down thing with food. We have always ordered her the beef medallions from Outback, and she used to love them, but suddenly just throws it all on the floor. So this past weekend we got her grilled chicken and shrimp, and it ended up on the floor. Today I tricked her and made mac n cheese. In each pasta shell, I put a piece of chicken. Child couldn’t get enough of it. Usually she eats 3 or 4 shells tops. But today, she ate enough to eat 1/3 of a chicken breast, which is HUGE for her. I just placed my second order for Wallace Farms and we will definitely be eating well over the next month. Steak is back on the menu! So glad to hear Matthew ate so well. There are a days when I wonder if Raegan is actually eating anything. But then like today’s lunch where she eats beautifully. Raegan has also gone on a veggie strike. Won’t touch them at all. Thank goodness for the pouch. It has saved us many a time!
March 11, 2013 at 5:37 pm
OMG, the pouch is a life saver, especially while teething! We have figured out the veggies that Matthew will eat, and then rotate those pretty regularly. He LOVES broccoli if we do it “Red Lo.bster style” meaning super soft and with seasoning salt. HA! He also loves mashed ANYTHING so we make the rounds with cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. Green beans are truly hit and miss.. more of a miss these days unless they’ve got lots of yummy butter (so bad). He LOVES the pouches with carrots, green beans, and broccoli – and has no idea he’s eating good stuff. HA!
I am a major food sneaker. I’ve been known to mix guac with meat, mashed stuff with meat, etc. Anything to get meat in him. 🙂
March 11, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Wow, I am so impressed and I’ll admit, slightly jealous. Alidia just does not eat. Seriously, there are days where I would say she eats less than a tablespoon of food all day. It sucks and makes me crazy.. and this week has been the worst. Luckily today she stepped it up and gobbled down two mango smoothies and a little mac and cheese, but still, nothing compared to what Matthew is slamming back here!!! I hope she gets there eventually. And unfortunately with her it isn’t even the sneaky part of sneaking things in.. she won’t eat anything and doesn’t seem to like anything. Uggggg. My goal for this month is to try EVERYTHING. I was talking to SRB today and she plans to post some more recipes and talk more food that works for them because we realize many parents struggle with food issues and their toddlers. If you ever have any good ideas, please share!! I’m going slightly crazy over here… although trying not to 🙂
Now enough of my rambling. Adorable photos. Using that fork like a pro!! 🙂
March 16, 2013 at 10:06 pm
You can’t compare what she’s eating to what he eats – he’s a crazy eater and remember – he eats no grains at all so he doesn’t stay full for as long as most babies. What he does eat processes rather quickly and then he wants more food, so he eats a lot at once and also eats frequently. Lids is getting some fillers that hold her over and probably make her not feel as hungry, which is just fine!
Does Alidia like avocados? They are so high in fat and most babies love them! When Matthew won’t eat anything else, that’s what we give him. Also, mash up cauliflower, sweet potatoes, etc. When you do that, add butter to make them fattier. Matthew loves mashed stuff he can use a spoon with!
I loaded up that fork for him – sneaking in food!
March 11, 2013 at 6:05 pm
Wow, Stella has also been all over the board lately with food (well, with wanting it or refusing it), but I realized that it’s my own fault for getting her stuck in some food ruts. UGH. Thanks for this reminder post to shake things up a bit!
March 16, 2013 at 10:08 pm
We get in food ruts all the time and depend way too much on chicken. We need to remind ourselves all the time what he ate the day before so we don’t get redundant.
March 11, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Hey hey! Look at the fork pro! We finally got Juju to start using hers, but man Beef is still shoving it in with her hands. 😉 The food thing is such an adventure with kids. We’ve been on the lucky side of it with the girls, but even they have their moments.
March 16, 2013 at 10:09 pm
I loaded up that fork for him 😉 He can use it for one thing at a time, but I was trying to get steak down with his mashers. HA!
March 11, 2013 at 10:16 pm
It so does count as fruit! Well I hope so!!
March 11, 2013 at 11:14 pm
It totally counts for babies Molly’s age…. but not for a boy pushing 2 years old. Ha!
March 12, 2013 at 9:57 am
It’s so satisfying to see your child eating well, isn’t it? I try to remember on days that Harriet doesn’t eat much that kids her age often seem to “subsist on air.” But I really love those days when she eats well.
March 16, 2013 at 10:10 pm
YES it is very satisfying! We had an off night tonight and I had to remind myself that yesterday was a good eating day, so I need to relax. Gah!
I don’t think I’ve told you this yet, but I just love Harriet’s name! Every time I read it, I smile. It’s just precious!