Mamas Tell All Link-Up: Picky Eaters

It's Wednesday, which means that I'm talking about being a mom again!

Mamas Tell All is hosted by That Southern Mama, The So-Called Homemaker, and Everyday Thoughts. Go here for a list of the upcoming topics and check out the other mama's involved!

This week we're talking about kids and eating, and how to get your picky kid to eat.

I have to admit that I'm a bit of a fraud on this particular topic. Emily is not a picky eater in the least, and that's really not due to anything special that we've done as parents. We've always offered her a variety of foods, and left her to it. She also eats her fair share of mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, and quesadillas (all easy weekend lunches).

We eat dinner, and a lot of lunches on weekends and days off, as a family. We've never obsessed over what Emily was eating or not eating on her plate. I really feel like if you make a big deal out of it, their little independent selves will say "no" just because they have a choice. So, what we're having for dinner is what she gets and if she doesn't eat it...then tough. I hate cooking as it is, and I'm not going to be a short order cook.

However, Emily is pretty easy going in this area. Sometimes she'll turn her nose up at something, but bribery goes a long way! If she eats 4 more bites of this, then she gets that. (Or whatever, just a broad example here).

She is a big fan of baking with me recently, so that's a go-to treat for us. And so this post isn't totally boring, here's a recipe that we made this weekend. Emily gobbled this up with no questions asked.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

My mother-in-law gave us some zucchini and squash from their garden this past week. One of the zucchini was over a foot long and wider than my bicep. It was huge! I'd always heard that big zucchini like that aren't great to eat alone, and better if used in something. I wanted to do some baking, and so an idea was born. Since it's also Fall, I knew I wanted to add in pumpkin. Since I also love chocolate, the chips were like an obvious no brainer.

I shredded 2 cups of zucchini for the bread, and still have nearly an entire zucchini left over. Crazy.

The original recipe that I used came from Little House Living. I followed her recipe pretty exact, and just threw in the chocolate chips at the end. About a cup, or half a bag.

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup butter melted
1 cup pumpkin puree (1/2 can)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix zucchini, melted butter, sugars, eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract in one bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices.
- Add flour mixture to zucchini mixture slowly, mixing with hand beater or stand mixer if you have it. Once well combined, add in chocolate chips.
- Grease and flour two bread pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes. I started checking for done-ness around 45 minutes, but with 2 loaves in there it really took the extra time. Just keep an eye on them.

 

Honestly, these tasted exactly like the muffins we made a few weeks ago. Honestly, no one in my house cared. Emily has eaten two huge pieces so far, even after I told her there was zucchini in there. I will not disclose how many pieces I've had! 

So, now that I've written you a book, go check out the other mama's stories in the link up! 

Do you have issues with a picky eater? Any tips or tricks that have worked in your home?