Juiciness Mama

When my triplets started solids, I truly thought I was doing everything “right.” We did baby-led weaning. I offered a wide variety of foods: vegetables, meats, different textures, different flavors. And for a while, it worked beautifully.

They ate everything… until around 18 months.

Then suddenly, it all changed.

Foods they once loved were rejected. Meals became frustrating. And their diet narrowed down to a very familiar toddler menu: chicken nuggets, fish sticks, toast, mac and cheese, and rice cakes.

By 2.5 years old, constipation started to show up. At first, we followed our pediatrician’s recommendation and used Miralax. But after some challenges (including one child developing hives, which probably wasn’t related), I knew I needed a more sustainable, food-based approach.

So I shifted my focus: less pressure, more strategy. Instead of fighting picky eating, I started finding ways to work within it; sneaking in fiber and nutrients in foods they already enjoyed.

Here’s what has worked for us:

• I love the More Veggies Please recipe book: from here I love the following recipes:
  • Mac n Cheese with cauliflower and sweet potato
  • Tortillas with sweet potato
  • Beef bolognaise with celery, carrots, and mushrooms
  • Vanilla Crumble muffins with white beans
• Spaghetti (I cook ground beef, zucchini, and mushrooms then add to a high quality jar of spaghetti sauce, then puree everything with some chicken broth and serve with rigatoni, rotini or spaghetti noodles)
• Black bean brownies for breakfast
• Heritage Flakes cereal from Trader Joes (lots of fiber)
• Xôi Vò (Vietnamese Mung Bean Sticky Rice) – a dish my mom makes and they love, but I found a quick recipe in a rice cooker
• Daily fruit smoothies (I make the standard fruit smoothies but add spinach, flax seed, and prune juice ice cubes)
• Soups – they devour this simple lentil, onion, and brown rice soup from our local farmer’s market that I still have not been able to replicate. They also enjoy my chicken noodle soup (I puree everything except the noodles) and sometimes miso soup
• Dosas – I buy the pre-mixed batter at the local Indian market and feel better about giving them something that has plenty of lentils (fiber) in it

I’m sure there is so much more I haven’t discovered or tried yet, but would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions on what has worked for you!