Picky Eater food-- milcheg/pareve

[bunnyjadwiga]

Ok, I'm baffled.
The synagogue is very into doing the dinner, but wants to put it off until fall and do some other stuff leading up to it, which is fine by me.

But someone pointed out that people don't want to go to something where their children won't eat anything on the menu. I understand that, of course; we struggle with it all the time, especially at the synagogue, which keeps kosher, specifically kosher dairy-- so vegetarian and dairy stuff is ok, fish is ok, but no meat.

Miss B. will eat noodles and cheese, which I put on the menu, and olives.
But I'm baffled as to what else to offer for picky eaters.

I know most will eat cheese pizza (we could have some kosher pizza ordered in?) but if they won't eat cheesze noodles... Chicken nuggets, hamburgers, hot dogs are out, of course.

In the SCA, one provides basic finger foods and we manage-- I suppose we could put out some fruit.

Suggestions, anyone?

Comments

[madrun.livejournal.com]

This was my exact reply, down to the letter. Put out plenty of different things and even the pickiest kids will find something to eat if they are left alone to choose for themselves.

I saw this great study on PBS when my oldest was just a baby about toddlers' eating habits. The toddlers were mostly described by their parents as "picky eaters". The researchers gave the toddlers basically a "salad bar" of different foods and they could choose for themselves what to eat. It was a huge range of things, balanced between protein/carbs/fruit/vegetables, mostly single ingredients and raw produce. What they found is that if they were left alone with free choice, the toddlers chose for themselves a very balanced diet, even if they would only eat a few things. It really opened my eyes.

[thatpotteryguy.livejournal.com]

This has been my observation with my (now) 5-year-old...when he was a toddler, he wouldn't eat certain things, but left to his own devices, he generally chose foods that were both healthy and well-balanced. They just may not have been what I felt like making for all of us. Of course, things like potato chips and sugary cereals were not on the offer. To this day, his default choice for dinner is a bowl of green peas and slices of red bell pepper, with some kind of bread and a cheese stick.