Monday, July 12, 2010

Picky Eater Solution #1: Sweet Potato Quesadilla

My youngest son is an extremely picky eater. Thankfully, his older brother recently let him in on the wonders of the quesadilla, and this has opened up a whole new world of veggie-sneaking options for me. I mean, you can only sneak so many things into a bowl of oatmeal, but a quesadilla, now that's a different story. Today it was sweet potatoes. Looks like cheese, isn't crunchy (heaven forbid I should serve him anything crunchy!) and tastes wonderful. Why anybody would need to be sneaked sweet potatoes is beyond me ...

I also had big plans for the bag of prunes I bought today, and spent a while scheming on what I could sneak them into. (A lifetime of not eating vegetables can cause a baby to need some prunes in his life, if you know what I mean.) As I was deciding between prune muffins or prune oatmeal, Titus walked up, popped one in his mouth, loved it, and asked for more. That was easy! If any of you bloggy friends have more suggestions on how to get veggies into this boy, let me know! (I have THE BOOK already ... and it's helpful for kids who eat the regular things like cheese and casserole, noodles, etc. but not for the kid who will only eat berries and crackers and would rather starve than take a bite of something new. Hm.) I am actually contemplating making Kale Chips, ala The Smitten Kitchen. Who knows - maybe it will work!

7 comments:

Kate said...

what about zucchini, carrot or pumpkin breads? or does he like juice? I just saw a commercial for Mott's Medley juice that has 2 servings of fruits and veggies in it...I don't know the sugar content though. and will he eat meatloaf? I know that's a weird one, but I put chopped veggies in our meatloaf only because it's a one-stop solution to Kaylee's dinner. :) I have a friend who made "meat sticks" - basically pureed or chopped meat mixed with pureed or chopped veggies, then rolled in bread crumbs and baked. Good luck!

Tasha - The Clean Eating Mama said...

Kale chips are amazing! They melt in your mouth and are crunchy just like potato chips =)

Pamela said...

Great idea - I'm just going to try it! Adam did walk up & ask me for peas last night. Don't you know I fixed him peas?

Heather said...

Kate - GREAT suggestion about the "meat sticks" ... I'm going to try it for sure. And meatloaf is one of the few things he will eat. I wonder if I could sneak broccoli in there? Thanks for the help!

Heather said...

Ooh - thanks Tasha! I'm going to try the kale chips for sure now!

Heather said...

Pamela, Adam sounds like Moses, who asks for "more broccoli" and love brussels sprouts. Awesome!

Anonymous said...

As an ex-boy myself, my ideas on these things tend in a particular direction, the vegetables in all scenarios being raw. E.g., build a house of vegetables and then be a monster and eat it, terrifying the inhabitants; watch old Popeye cartoons then perform incredible feats of strength powered by spinach; make magic soy beans disappear; be one of Peter Pan's boys and live off the land (a baggie of chopped potato/carrot, raw green beans, jicama), etc. Return to the house with an empty baggie and a "find." AN old trick from the 50's, save the water from cooking vegetables (you can simply boil the crap out of the vegs for this purpose and throw them away) and make juice with it. xo Uncle D.