I have two beautiful boys aged 20mths and 3.5yrs.  Sometimes I will have cooked a lovely meal, put it on the table and sat down to eat only to have my eldest say "this is discusting".  Now I know that he can't mean it especially when he hasn't

even tasted it but it still hurts.  I am sure there are other mothers and fathers out there that have had or are having similar experiences.

It happened again tonight which is what lead me to write this.  I have meals that are instant hits and meals that I know will be a struggle for the boys to like.  I thought I would share some of the hits I've had recently.

2 weeks ago I discovered that vegetables, pieces of chicken, a cheese sauce and a fondu set (without the burner) is an instant hit with my boys.  Why?  I think it is because they are doing something while they eat and they recognise the food they are eating.  Gone are the days of hiding vegies in the mince.  Although grated carrot and zucchini in bolognaise sauce never seems to be noticed.  Another hit spaghetti.  The tubular kind.

They also like dinner with a salad.  I put everything in these salads.  Lettuce, carrot, cheese, cherry tomatoes, ham or chicken, pinapple, watermelon, cucumber, snow peas and anything else that the boys would like (so long as it is not too obscure).  I find that they pick out their favourites but generally will eat most of what is in there.  Often what one doesn't like the other does so there is little let over.  Sometimes we have fish fingers or chicken nuggets with salad. 

Another thing that works well with my boys is letting them have a hand with the preperation on the food.  Oftenthey want to do this just so they get to eat some before dinner but generally this helps them to be more interested in what they are eating.

Often Friday night ends up being pancake night.  To try and make this a little more healthy I add freash fruit to the pancakes.  While they are cooking on the first side I lay some cut up fruit on top of the pancake and then turn over to cook the other side.  I add things like strawberries, pears, peaches even thinly sliced apple.  And to serve I add a touch of jam (the one made with fruit juice not sugar).  They love it.

Home made pizza.  The other week we even made our own dough.  I am told if you have a bread maker the process is a lot less time consuming but we had fun doing it.  And then we had enough dough to make a dessert pizza with pears and apples and brown sugar and cinnamon.  The boy love deciding what to put on the pizza.  We have even had broccoli.  It was lovely.

I don't suppose they are going to appreciate my efforts with the more detailed meals any time soon but at least we can have more good nights than bad if I stick to the simple stuff.  I am sure that people have stacks of great ideas about food for toddlers.  I would love to hear them.

Eat well.