Feeding A to Z

Baby Adrian enjoying freshly made organic prunes

Picky eating. *sigh* When Adrian and Zahavah were just babies, they ate everything. And I really mean EVERYTHING. I made all of A's baby purees myself and had him try everything I found (yes, I did make some fresh passion fruit juice, deer stew and parsnip compote). Heck, he even "taught" me how to prepare certain foods and how to pick a ripe melon! Now I'm not writing this because I miss making these concoctions but rather because I miss when meal planning was easy. I miss being able to bring a dish to A's nose without the latter turning up on it. I miss when there was no food battle, no bribing, no "threatening" and no fuss. 

German Baker's Little Mouse Bread

I still consider that Adrian eats better than the average kid and may be slightly less picky than most but until he eats most of what I eat, I'll probably still think of him as picky. What got me to write this piece (besides the venting opportunity of course) is the lunchtime interrogation mark. I'm a huge soup fan and occasionally, I'll have a sandwich instead. Of course, toddlers and preschoolers are not huge fans of either. Don't get me wrong...Z will eat nearly everything (except for tomatoes, broccoli and sometimes other random stuff) but A...Oh my! 

Z "Vulturing around" her grandpa for some banana toast

So what do we do for lunch? Well, I'll shamefully admit that I've been relying on Gerber Toddler and Preschooler Meals. Yup. I did look them up and overall, they weren't bad, especially since both the kids ate their veggies (which otherwise, they wouldn't) and the portions are good. Even better? They are ready-meals! I've tried several times to take these away and replace them with more "proper" food but A missed them and pushed away what I prepared. Well, the tables are now turning. A is starting to push away his Gerber meals (he gets "only" 3 a week by the way) saying he doesn't want them! Argh! Help! Help!, I thought. 

Trying my strawberry gelato under the envious eyes of baby sister Z

What do kids eat? I always thought mine would eat what I eat but...hahaha. I must have missed that baby class where they said kids don't like "mommy foods". I've been wanting to switch him entirely to real foods but was totally uninspired and now...well I had just better be! So what do kids eat? What do your kids eat at lunchtime? I figured since I'm home, I can actually make a warm meal but I have no intention of preparing a "dinner" for "lunch" either. Upon checking what kids eat for lunch on other blogs, websites and books, I find myself saying "he wouldn't eat that", or "Really?" So from now on, I'll be brainstorming homeschool classes AND lunch menus for our homeschool. Maybe it's time to franchise... LOL