DuckyBoy is still a picky eater but now he eats much MORE of what he does eat.
He's liked bacon for a while, but last weekend he ate almost an entire package of Oscar Mayer Ready to Serve Bacon. Tonight, after wolfing down a frozen oat-bran waffle (toasted and buttered), about 10 mini chicken nuggets (close to a full serving per the package), a Tofutti ice cream cone (with an extra scoop of ice cream added halfway through) and a Peeps ghost for good measure, he STILL wanted an after-bath snack an hour later. But he didn't like the sound of anything else sweet; he went for 1/4 cup of penne with Grandma's spaghetti sauce! He ate the whole (albeit small) bowl of pasta with gusto.
And then, bacon! I wonder how much of it he'd have eaten if it hadn't been bedtime. The guy sure can pack it in at night. No wonder he never wants breakfast!
I'm delighted he wants to eat more. Now I just need to wean him off at least a few of his expensive, prepackaged tastes -- chicken nuggets, Glenny's caramel-peanut-butter marshmallow bars, and single-serve Tetrapaks of chocolate almond milk, to name a few $1-a-pop items. Of course he gets his appetite when we try to start our own business and live off our savings!!
I think I'll keep the Ready to Serve bacon; if I had to cook bacon from scratch in that quantity, I never would. And it's one of the few high-protein foods he really likes.
Another exciting food experience to report today: (and, pork-related): After I opined at the grocery store that he was going to have to learn to like ham so he could taste different brands of cold cuts to tell me which his father would like, he actually ... hold your breath... TRIED SOME! Of his own free will. He liked that I reminded him that I think he's a "Supertaster." I think his father is too. Who else do you know who can tell two national brands of peanut butter apart? I live with two people who can.
Speaking of peanut butter, I've got to go to plan B for DB's protein-rich breakfast and snacks at school; a note came home just a few days ago that the peanut-allergy problem has hit our school. Peanut butter is still allowed in the cafeteria (where there's a peanut-free table), but not in the classrooms. Anyone have an opinion on whether almond milk or cashew butter and the like are acceptable alternatives? The Web sounds a bit scary on the cashews, maybe we'd better keep them at home. I'll know more after I call the school nurse about it tomorrow.
Showing posts with label peanut butter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanut butter. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Lunch Planning, With Autism
Kari had a recent post that included how she packed her son's lunch. Her son The Cat has long reminded me of DuckyBoy, and even though my comment on her post got posted twice (sorry, Kari!!) I thought I'd put my ideas here as well.
Kari was relating an experience about trying to pack her son's lunch and having him say no to everything she tried to put in. DB would do the same if I let him. I think he would have oyster crackers, potato sticks, and Newman-O's every day in his lunch if I let him decide.
I also don't have the time or the tolerance for the back-and-forth negotiating at 7 am, so now we decide in advance, in writing, what main dish I will pack each day of the upcoming week. I choose the sides and dessert each morning (or the night before) based on what he likes, occasionally trying something new.
Most weeks I remember to do it, at bedtime snack time on Sunday night, and it works pretty well. I post the list on one of the kitchen cabinets. It helps me as much as it helps him!
Some weeks I'll let him choose the same thing (like pasta) every day. Other weeks I figure, in exchange for giving him the privilege of mostly picking what he gets to eat, I get to pick the 5th day (and I tell him what it is immediately) or I'll say he needs to eat 2 different things over the 5 days.
So this week, for example, he has pasta today -- with Grandma's sauce, which is great since we were eating that for dinner as we made the list and it's an unusual lunch choice for him. Tomorrow is his school's Field Day, so no Thermoses, so he can have one of his beloved Uncrustables.
I told him that today or Thursday he needs to have a homemade ham sandwich, so he chose that for Thursday. (Poor kid, Boar's Head honey ham on Arnold whole-wheat bread, it's a tough life.)
For Friday he chose another Uncrustable. At $1 apiece, I try to limit those to 1-2 a week, which is why he has pasta today (his first choice was another Uncrustable). They're also not that hearty -- pb&j on white bread, I might as well pack him a candy bar -- but it has the appearance of being a Real Lunch Choice, so that counts for something.
It helps that we do this menu planning at a time when he usually wants to be doing something else -- he's finished his dinner and wants to go watch TV, and I don't let him until we have this done.
And he's good about it -- even when he doesn't eat the homemade sandwich, for example, as happened a couple of weeks ago, at least he knew it was coming. And I try to give him something hearty on the side those days just in case ... like peanut butter cookies for protein and potato sticks for the fat.
Kari was relating an experience about trying to pack her son's lunch and having him say no to everything she tried to put in. DB would do the same if I let him. I think he would have oyster crackers, potato sticks, and Newman-O's every day in his lunch if I let him decide.
I also don't have the time or the tolerance for the back-and-forth negotiating at 7 am, so now we decide in advance, in writing, what main dish I will pack each day of the upcoming week. I choose the sides and dessert each morning (or the night before) based on what he likes, occasionally trying something new.
Most weeks I remember to do it, at bedtime snack time on Sunday night, and it works pretty well. I post the list on one of the kitchen cabinets. It helps me as much as it helps him!
Some weeks I'll let him choose the same thing (like pasta) every day. Other weeks I figure, in exchange for giving him the privilege of mostly picking what he gets to eat, I get to pick the 5th day (and I tell him what it is immediately) or I'll say he needs to eat 2 different things over the 5 days.
So this week, for example, he has pasta today -- with Grandma's sauce, which is great since we were eating that for dinner as we made the list and it's an unusual lunch choice for him. Tomorrow is his school's Field Day, so no Thermoses, so he can have one of his beloved Uncrustables.
I told him that today or Thursday he needs to have a homemade ham sandwich, so he chose that for Thursday. (Poor kid, Boar's Head honey ham on Arnold whole-wheat bread, it's a tough life.)
For Friday he chose another Uncrustable. At $1 apiece, I try to limit those to 1-2 a week, which is why he has pasta today (his first choice was another Uncrustable). They're also not that hearty -- pb&j on white bread, I might as well pack him a candy bar -- but it has the appearance of being a Real Lunch Choice, so that counts for something.
It helps that we do this menu planning at a time when he usually wants to be doing something else -- he's finished his dinner and wants to go watch TV, and I don't let him until we have this done.
And he's good about it -- even when he doesn't eat the homemade sandwich, for example, as happened a couple of weeks ago, at least he knew it was coming. And I try to give him something hearty on the side those days just in case ... like peanut butter cookies for protein and potato sticks for the fat.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Choosy Eaters Choose Jif
I try to buy healthy foods, I really do. *Sigh.*
The other day I was trying to make Duckyboy eat something with peanut butter on it, and he informed me, "Mommy, I only eat Jif now."
Jif has sugar and hydrogenated oil in it; however, it's the only brand that makes little packets I can put in for dipping in his school snack. The Skippy Natural I buy for at home doesn't have those things, it;'s just peanuts and salt. But, apparently, the Jif has a better mouthfeel. His father confirmed it. I can't tell the difference AT ALL.
*Sigh.* At least I have an excuse now to make peanut butter cookies with all my Skippy!
The other day I was trying to make Duckyboy eat something with peanut butter on it, and he informed me, "Mommy, I only eat Jif now."
Jif has sugar and hydrogenated oil in it; however, it's the only brand that makes little packets I can put in for dipping in his school snack. The Skippy Natural I buy for at home doesn't have those things, it;'s just peanuts and salt. But, apparently, the Jif has a better mouthfeel. His father confirmed it. I can't tell the difference AT ALL.
*Sigh.* At least I have an excuse now to make peanut butter cookies with all my Skippy!
