And then Em's weight gain looked suspicious. The next thing I know, I've got kids who eat two bites of dinner and then consume two bowls of ice cream along with two packages of Dunk-a-roos. Each.
An intervention was needed. Especially after the girls gained enough weight for us to be taken off of probation.
In addition to pushing fruits and veggies, I often won't give them dessert unless they have eaten most of their meal. If they are sick, I am somewhat more lenient with this. We used broccoli when we made those mini pizzas a few weeks ago. Rich had purchased a head of broccoli and most of that was left over. On a whim, I cut some up into bite size pieces and gave them a bowl of ranch dressing.
They devoured it and wanted more.
They wouldn't eat the red pepper.
Last week, I bought two heads of broccoli. Between the three of them, they inhaled one within minutes of the bowls hitting the table.
I have a recipe for very yummy mini meatballs. It seems like it takes forever to make them so we don't have them very often. I made some last Sunday for Monday night's dinner. I brown them in the skillet and then have Grammy throw them in the crockpot with marina sauce. The girls watched me make them and kept asking for a bite. Because they were undercooked, I refused but told them that Grammy would let them try one with their dinner the next night.
Em was so cute. She said, "Will you tell Grammy that?" I think she was afraid Grammy would say no.
I arrived home from work to discover that they had each eaten six meatballs. Later that week, I made an egg casserole which Em loved. I think we are finally turning a corner.
Anna was weighed at her GI appointment this week. 27 pounds. I did say, "That's it?" You should see how much whole milk this child consumes in a week. I just checked the CDC chart for weight and it looks like 29 pounds is the fifth percentile for four year olds so Anna is still following her own curve.
Oh, someone did ask me for the egg casserole recipe and I failed to post it (sorry!) so here it is:
6 eggs beaten
7 slices of bread (white) trimmed and crumbled (I just pull it into very small pieces)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of dry mustard
3 cups of milk
8 oz of shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
Bacon
Combine milk and eggs. Then the rest of the ingredients (except for the bacon). Pour into 9x13 greased pan. Refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with bacon. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.
6 comments:
My daughter is a lot younger than your girls, but she loves dipping her food into any sauce. She will eat almost an entire chicken breast if she has ranch, bbq or some other sauce to dip it into!
It's great that your girls are starting to enjoy veggies, and that you are finding more meals that they will eat. It does seem that dipping sauces work to get kids started loving fruits and veggies.
I would love it if you would share the meatball recipe!
This is our issue too. My 5 year old weighs 31 lbs. The pedi wants to do a weight check in 6 months. Hate it. I worried the first 2 years of her life and then just accepted she was tiny and now this. So not fun!
I would love the mini meatball recipe. My son doesn't like most meats so I'm working on different things.
I've completely been there with my daughter. Between her and my son Nick she runs in the 5th percentile, and he runs in the 90th percentile. Which means that he weighs more than she does, and is 18 months younger!
We are running into the post-fattening food to get weight on and into the trying to get a healthier diet. A picky eater is definately an understatement. Always looking for new and fun ways to get some veggies in!
My cousin is adopted from China and wasn't even on the Chinese growth chart for awhile, the thing though is that she can eat more than a fully grown MAN! She's healthy, happy and eats...despite being small for her age, she has no health issues. My aunt, while making sure she has whole milk yogurt and other fattier foods, refused the dietians suggestion of allowing her to have crap. Guess what--she still gained weight, on her own schedule.
I wouldn't stress too much, if they are eating a lot, and obviously trying new foods. Good luck.
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