Living with a Picky Eater

When my oldest child was little, she was quite the picky eater. Certain textures would cause her to literally gag and spit out food. We trudged through those years, creating a mealtime rule that stated she must try one bite of whatever is being served. If she didn't like it, she didn't need to to eat it. If she did, great! Fill 'er plate up and on we go.

In the end, it worked out well. Our daughter is now a great eater who enjoys foods from all areas of the food pyramid (or is it the food dinner plate now?) and is practically a fruit addict. We had conquered the battle of the picky eater! We were seasoned veterans now. We could handle whatever came next.

Enter our son.

He has made our daughter look like an adventurous eater. He decided, right after baby food (which, by the way, he loved tremendously, except baby peas... gag) that all green food was evil. We had many battles at the dinner table as we tried to enforce the "one bite" rule. In the end, he would try it... with the end result usually being a "not liking it" vote. Once in while, however, we'd get a winner!

In general, he likes healthy foods. He loves fresh fruit (except kiwi, it's green!), yogurt, dried fruits, oats, eggs, etc... so we supplement with V-8's V-Fusion juice (it's got fruit AND veggie juice in it... shhhh, don't tell him) and he'll eat broccoli if it's hidden in a quiche. Just recently, he decided he likes cucumber, so things are looking up! Perhaps he is finally emerging from his picky eating phase?

One can only hope. And pray. And plead with the Lord that it is.

I decided to come up with a healthy homemade snack for him using foods I know he loves. I try to give the kids snacks that have a little protein in them, to hold them over until a meal. This time around, I came up with a homemade granola recipe that was PERFECT for him. It consisted of just 5 ingredients, all of which he loves: honey, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla and oats.

I could just picture his chubby little fingers grabbing some crunchy granola as he played with his construction trucks.

I whipped up a batch in no time, allowed it to cool, gave it a try (YUM!) and called him over. I found the perfect little bunch of granola and handed it to my boy, waiting hopefully to see the look of enjoyment on his sweet little face.

I waited.

It never came.

Instead, he screwed up his little features into a grimace and said, through the granola he was chewing, "I don't like it". Then walked away.

Perhaps it's time to spend more time in prayer, pleading with the Lord.

The phase continues.

(By the way, my boy is completely nuts. The granola is amazing. My hubby doesn't even like oats and he was munching away on it last night. My mom was proclaiming its deliciousness all over the house, then ran downstairs to get a yogurt in which to add the granola. Add whatever you like to it once it cools... chocolate chips, craisins, nuts, etc... the sky is the limit!)

Gluten Free Almond Butter Granola

1/4 cup creamy almond butter (or peanut butter)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups oats (not quick cooking)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, combine the honey and almond butter. Microwave on high for about 20 seconds until the almond butter is slightly melted. Stir to combine.

Add the cinnamon and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add the oats and stir until they are completely coated in the honey/almond butter mixture. Spread out in a thin layer on the cookie sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes, stirring once until the granola is slightly browned.

Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet until crunchy.

Crunchy Mama?

A friend of mine once defined herself as a “Crunchy Mama”. Before that moment, I had never heard of that title. Have you heard of it before now? No? I’ll explain.

You know that friend or person in your family who only eats organic, non-processed foods? The one who made her own baby food by pureeing fresh fruits and veggies rather than buying the little jars with that pudgy-faced baby on the package? The one who has banned refined sugar from her home forever?

Crunchy Mama.

Back when I heard that name, I was most definitely NOT a crunchy mama. I’m still not, really. I have white sugar in my home. Once in a while my kids eat Kraft Mac and Cheese. There are still boxed cheese crackers and microwave popcorn in my cupboard. I don’t use buckwheat (not that there’s anything wrong with buckwheat!).

I do, however, have leanings towards being crunchy. I don’t ever buy (outside of the mac and cheese named above) processed boxed meals. I cook from scratch… all the time. I try to avoid additives and preservatives as much as possible.

I don’t buy packaged cookies anymore. I bake my cookies and have a cookie jar on the counter.

I would call that crunchy tendencies, no?

Today, I actually laughed at myself. I came across a recipe for homemade chewy granola that was both peanut and gluten free. As I scanned the ingredients, I thought, “Oh, and look! No refined white sugar. Just honey!”

I think I may be crossing over to the dark side, slowly but surely.

And I’m totally fine with it. Yikes.

Crunchy Mama status, here I come!

Gluten Free (and Peanut Free… and Dairy Free!) Chewy Granola Bars

½ cup almond butter (I used Barney Butter)

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup oil (your choice – coconut, canola, veggie)

1 cup oats

1 cup total of any mixture of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, etc… be creative!)

In a medium saucepan, melt almond butter, honey and oil together over low heat.

Remove from heat and add the oats and the 1 cup total of your extras (I used coconut, dried cranberries and mini chocolate chips). Stir together and pour into an 8x8 pan.

Refrigerate for 2 hours and cut into bars.