Vegetables

I used to take pride in how well Davis would eat as a baby. I could get him to eat all kinds of veggies...peas, broccoli, edamame, carrots, etc. I remember thinking, wow, I've gotten his taste-buds to like these vegetables early on and he's going to be eating them forever. Wrong! 

He quickly proved me wrong and my healthy-mother-of-the-year award started to drift further away. So we have resorted to veggie packs (aka Ella's Kitchen Organics) and hiding vegetables. Davis assures me he eats vegetables, "Mom, but I DO eat vegetables. I love corn!" Yes, Davis, I know you love corn but it happens to be one of the least nutrient filled vegetables, but I'll take what I can get. So we always have a bag of frozen corn and some fresh ears of corn on hand. 

I've become a pro at hiding some veggies here and there...if I make pizza, I hide butternut squash in the red sauce. Enchiladas have zucchini. Burritos have spinach. And then we always put a vegetable on his plate. And this brings us to last night...

I made this breaded chicken recipe and cut the chicken up in tiny pieces, calling it chicken nuggets! I found something new to try over at Skinny Taste and made some very delicious Broccoli and Cheddar Skinny Potato Skins. With the extra broccoli, I covered it with cheese and melted it for Davis. Yum Yum! We don't usually make Davis eat everything, he just knows that once dinner is over the kitchen is closed, so he better eat. I also don't force him to eat things he doesn't like, but we do encourage him to at least try one tiny bite. And that is what happened last night. We requested one tiny bite of the cheesy broccoli. 

We sat at the table for a good 15 minutes waiting for Davis to take a bite. Tears were streaming down his face. "I don't like broccoli, I like corn! I can't eat it! I just can't!" We were sticking to our guns, afraid to give in. We tried everything...changing the subject, talking about a fun bike ride after dinner, but it didn't work. Whether he ate the bite and actually liked it wasn't even going to happen anymore, I knew the negativity had all gone to his head. I was ready to give up, but Forrest was adament. I told him I needed to google this issue and read some other parent's inputs before deciding what to do next. That is, after all, what all good parents do, we google! 

All of a sudden, Davis took that bite. Ahh! We were so proud! It was like potty training days all over again, we screamed with joy. Davis was laughing and excited with us, at first, then there was some shaking of the head, then some coughing, and then pure disgusting vomit. All over his plate. 

In conclusion, all for the tiniest bite of broccoli, Davis threw up his entire dinner. We went on a bike ride and when Davis came home he ate half a watermelon. The End.

I would love any and all tips and recipes from moms in the same situation!