My son has an extremely limited diet for multiple reasons. He currently only has about 15 foods on his "yes list". I've been working hard to try to get a few new choices on there, but he looses foods more easily than he gains them, so it's a delicate balance. We don't push him to try new foods, but do expose him to foods daily by putting them on his plate or in his lunches. He will sometimes surprise us by tasting it, and occasionally will like something enough to add it to his list.
Tomorrow's lunch is a big experiment, and I'm not entirely sure that it won't totally backfire. I thought I'd give it a try though, and even if it goes badly, the boy won't starve or hold a grudge for too long (hopefully). I won't be eating with them tomorrow, so I'm especially interested to see how much of this comes back home in the afternoon.
Hard boiled egg, molded into a fish/heart shape. The kids tasted hard boiled eggs a few weeks ago and didn't love them, but didn't gag or spit them out either. I'm hoping the cute shapes will entice a bite or two.
Wellshire turkey maple sausage link, cut into bites. This is one of the boy's favorites. Yes, they are touching the egg and that is risky. I'm hoping he'll be able to overlook the touching since he loves turkey sausage so much.
Tinkyada organic gf spaghetti noodles, with sunbutter/honey/coconut amino sauce. Another longshot. Noodles of any shape are generally a favorite, but sauces of any kind are not looked upon kindly. My hope is that he'll at least taste it, and perhaps the sweetness of the honey will draw him in.
First initial made with daiya cheese shreds baked until slightly crunchy, then cut with cookie cutters. The girl isn't so into the daiya, but she does usually like it when it's made this way.
Gluten-free
Caveman Cookie. A brand new food, but the boy chose these at the grocery store, so I don't foresee any issues. Plus, it's a cookie. They've got good ingredients, so even if this is the only thing he eats, he'll be getting some good fats and protein.
Carrot sticks and peanut butter. The boy asked me to pack this in tomorrow's lunch. Carrots are a new like food for him (and his only vegetable), so I'm excited that he's not only willing to eat them, but also asking for them.
Clementine, with the peel partially started. The girl loves clementines and was thrilled to see that we had some. I'm not sure that she'll have time to peel and eat it, but she'll be able to finish it after school if there isn't enough time at lunch.
Peter Rabbit Organics strawberry/banana pouch. To stick with the theme, the kids haven't tried this variety before.
Crossing fingers for a happy experimental Wednesday lunch!
UPDATE: I couldn't have been more surprised. I was so nervous about sending such a risky lunch, but it paid off in the end. New foods were not only tried, they were liked! That happens so rarely around here. The hard boiled eggs were the hit of the day, and I've been asked to pack them often. The cheese initials were a flop, and didn't stay crisp at all. That meant that the girl wouldn't eat her noodles since they were cheesy. He liked the cheese, but didn't realize that it was his initial. He decided not to try the noodles because he didn't like the look of the sauce, but he was able to eat the sausage even though they were touching the egg. They loved the strawberry/banana pouch. They said it tasted like a smoothie and the boy asked me to make our own version of the same thing when the reusable pouches get here. Both clementines came home, his because he won't eat them, hers because she ran out of time. She ate them both after school.
