ABC'S OF A PICKY EATER

The food swings of toddlers are some of the most frustrating cycles of parenting. If you’ve ever had a picky eater, this rings true for you.

One of Mother’s Little Helpers was just one, picky, little foodie. Finding food that he would eat was more than a challenge.

The first clue that I was going to be in trouble was when he started on solid food. Most babies start with rice cereal. I proudly had my box of Gerber’s Rice Cereal, mixed up his first batch and he unceremoniously spit it out at me.

His pediatrician recommended waiting two months and trying again.

At eight months of age, I tried again. Epic fail. At his nine month check-up, she recommended oatmeal cereal. Finally, success!

Along came the terrible-twos. Desperate to find something he would eat, Old Mother Frugal would give him random tastes of things that I was eating at any given meal time.

One day, he discovered vanilla yogurt was pretty tasty. Score one for mom!

If it were not for chick peas, I don’t know he’d have ever eaten a protein. It’s not clear to me just how many two year olds eat chick peas, aka garbanzo beans, but this little boy was hooked on them.

Salvation came with the discovery of Campbell’s “Meatball Alphabet Soup”. The company no longer makes this soup, but it served its purpose at the time. Mother’s Little Helper had worked up a repertoire of food items for consumption which was just fine with me…yogurt, chick peas and meatball alphabet soup.

The pediatrician predicted one day he would eat me out of house and home. In the meantime, a well stocked pantry of chick peas, his favorite canned soup and yogurt was all I needed to keep that little boy happily fed.

SOUND THE BUGLE:  Today’s tip: Garbanzo beans are great food extenders. Add to soups and salads as an economical protein or find your favorite hummus recipe and use them as a dip/spread with vegetables or on a sandwich. One cup of dry beans will yield 3 cups of cooked beans.