If there is one thing I’ve learned about toddlers, it’s that you always have to be on your toes. Once you get comfortable and think you have things figured out, everything changes. Meghan goes through stages where she eats a lot and then stages where she hardly eats at all. Despite how much she is eating, I have always been able to count on her eating some sort of vegetable and fruit throughout any given day. It may not always be as much as I would like, but I stay relaxed as long as she gets some of the good stuff in her. She really tested my ability to stay relaxed about her eating, however, during the end of last week. Suddenly, without warning, Meghan started refusing just about anything plant-based. She didn’t want fruit, vegetables, or beans. The second day after this started, this is what she ate:
breakfast: plain yogurt (I tried to sprinkle it with a little granola and blueberries and she was NOT happy)
lunch: cheese
dinner: butter
I’m not kidding. There is no exaggeration here. For dinner, all she wanted was the butter. She had a plate of delicious food in front of her, but she just pointed to the butter that was on the table and would not relent until that’s what she got. I tried to put it on bread for her. Oh, no, Mommy, that is not what I meant. I just want to stick clumps of butter in my mouth plain. GROSS! I will admit, at this point, I was starting to stress out. What if this becomes a constant trend and all she wants is dairy products?
There is one thing that she usually will not refuse: smoothies. The next day after her all-dairy day I turned to the smoothie to help rectify the no fruit or veggie situation. The great thing about smoothies is that you can make it super healthy and it still seems like a treat. They are great for breakfast and Meghan also regularly eats them for snack. They are especially nice if you need breakfast on-the-go. When we need to get somewhere early in the morning, I make a smoothie the night before, put it in her straw sippy cup and refrigerate it, and then in the morning she gets her breakfast in the car.
For Meghan’s smoothies, I start with plain yogurt (the flavored kind has way too much sugar!), milk, and then add whatever fresh ingredients I have on hand. Here are a few recipes if you need help getting started:
Mom’s Emergency Super Smoothie
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 large smoothie or 2 small smoothies 1x
Description
For when your little one isn’t eating her fruits or veggies!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/4 milk
- 1 small handful fresh blueberries
- 3–4 strawberries
- 1/4 cup cubed cantaloupe
- 1 small handful fresh baby spinach
- 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed meal
- 1 Tablespoon honey (preferably raw)
- 3–5 ice cubes
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in blender (I use my Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 large smoothie
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 30g
- Sodium: 44mg
- Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Protein: 5g
I usually fill Meghan’s cup and then drink whatever is leftover.
Tip: When using spinach in a smoothie, it’s best to not put the spinach in first.
Meghan’s Favorite Smoothie
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
Description
Kid approved smoothie!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/4–1/2 cup milk (depending on how thick you like it)
- 1 banana
- 2 heaping Tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed meal
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 407
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 22g
- Carbohydrates: 44g
- Protein: 13g
I am happy to report that Meghan seems to be getting back on track this week with her eating. Today for lunch I pulled out an avocado that I knew was going to go bad if we didn’t eat it up soon. Eating avocados before they go bad is never a problem in this house, but with Meghan’s fruit and veggie strike there are a few they are on the brink. I was nervous as I cut it into chunks and served it to her, but knew my girl was back when she exclaimed, “Mmmmmm, ‘cado!” Here she is gobbling it up:
Thank you so much for this article! When my 4 year old daughter was little I would go to the farmers market & spend the weekend baking, steaming, & making purée for the week. She ate everything and love it. Now she’s extremely picky & wont touch vegetables. The only fruit she’ll eat is the occasional banana. I have 2 year old boy/girl twins & my little girl is the same way. Ugh!!! I’m definitely going to try these smoothies.
I have been STRUGGLING with my daughter when it comes to eating lunch/dinner. Ever since she left from the “puree” stages it has been super difficult to get her to eat veggies/fruits. She LOVES Mac n’ cheese. If she doesn’t eat nothing, that is one food she will dive in no matter what. But she cant eat that forever. I want to do better for my babe. How can I get her to even pick up a chopped piece of fruit/veggie? Even if I let her bite into mine she’s not pleased.
My daughter only drinks smoothies as well so i’ve started adding quinoa and oatmeal to it and serving it warm. She always asks for I. Prefers it over anything else.
What a fun sight! I am a home visitor and visit a lot of moms that have children that don’t want to eat anything healthy. Although I don’t struggle with my own children, I have seen other mom’s in tears about it. I am sharing your recipes with them and I think they will be a success. I also wanted to comment about your daughter only wanting butter for dinner. You should check out this website http://www.westonaprice.org. You will begin to understand why our kids crave these foods. Although veggies and fruits are important, so are fats and sometimes if your child is craving it, it’s because they need it. It is what helps their little brains grow! 🙂 I wish you luck and thanks again for your great ideas!
Thank you for sharing my recipes with other moms, I really appreciate it! I’m familiar with WEP. Not sure I agree with all of the info there, but definitely that fat is so important, especially for little brains!
Thank you, thank you! I thought I was the ONLY parent on the planet with a picky toddler so you can imagine my relief when I found your blog. 🙂 I have a very picky 18 month old who went from eating everything I made her (I made all of her baby food and she loved all of the veggies and fruits) to only eating mostly dairy products (mac and cheese, yogurt, milk, and grilled cheese) at age 15 months. It has been incredibly frustrating to try and get nutrition into her and I only recently discovered smoothies. I’m really hoping that it’s only a phase and she’ll outgrow it as she gets older but until then smoothies have been a real stress-reliever. Thanks again for sharing your struggles. It makes me feel so much better to know that I’m not the only one out there with a picky little eater. 🙂
I’m on #2 right now (Luke is 20 months) and it’s amazing to see the same process happening again! The good news is that Meghan is almost 5 (!!) now and eats very well. It does get better!
Thank you for your post. I have a 5 year old and we have STRUGGLED for every meal to eat something healthy since he was 15 months old. He won’t even eat things like hamburgers or grilled cheese, or mac and cheese like most kids. I wish that I could use these smoothies that you suggested, but alas, everytime we try, it is a fail. We are firm believers that whatever has been prepared for the family is the only option he has at that time. We are not, however, giving up and we are constantly reminding ourselves of the bigger picture! We tend to think of what he has eaten this week instead of just today. We also know that he is growing and learning and that he is healthy (he rarely gets sick). All of the opposite of that would be indicators to us that something is off. We also know that if we fail one week/month with a food, we circle back around again and ask him to try it again. We have seen slight improvement on that this week in that he actually asked to eat some apple slices last night! We are truly hoping that in the long run things pan out. Sigh. For now, we have to brace ourselves for meal time.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙂
Here is an article that I found helpful and you might, too. http://itsnotaboutnutrition.squarespace.com/home/2009/9/23/variety-but-my-kids-wont-eat-it.html
I’m sorry you’re struggling so much with meal time. Last summer I tried a new tactic to get Meghan eating more vegetables and it worked! We used a sticker system. Now she is almost 5 and eats vegetables and other foods much more willingly than she did before we tried the rewards, so it was a short term thing, but had long term results. You can read about it here:
https://happyhealthymama.com/2012/08/operation-eat-more-vegetables-update.html
https://happyhealthymama.com/2012/07/operation-eat-more-vegetables-sunny-orange-broccoli.html
Good luck!
Love your recipes. My son is a huge fan of avacado. If he refuses to eat something I know he will always eat an avacado.
Thanks, Ashley. What a great go-to food! Avocados are one of the most nutrient-rich foods out there, so I’d be super happy if that was the one food I could always count on my little ones eating. 🙂
Aw, thanks! 🙂
I’ve just discovered your blog and I LOVE it! I have a 15-month-old and I love your Toddler Tuesday posts! I can’t wait to try some of your recipes! And by the way, on the contrary, I think the closed-eye picture of Megan is great! It looks like she’s savoring the last bite! Thanks for sharing!