Raising a non-picky eater

Wow! It's been awhile since I posted anything. That was not my intention, but sometimes life gets in the way of plans. My husband was very sick for about three weeks, five days of which he was hospitalized. (However, I'm happy to report he is completely well. Although the doctor never did diagnose the problem. Where is Dr. Gregory House when you need him?) Then my three year old had a bout with asthma. He also required an overnight stay in the hospital. So needless to say, my blog got put on the back burner and as things in my family life normalized the blog remained on the back burner.

So now without any further ado, the topic of today's: kids and vegetables. My girls loved and still do love vegetables. In fact they gave me a hard time for not serving brussel spouts because it is one of the few foods I don't really like. One year my oldest actually requested lima beans for her birthday dinner. So when I would read parenting magazines and see articles about getting your kids to eat vegetables I skipped passed those and wondered what the big deal was all about. When a friend told me in shock that she couldn't believe that at a family gathering all the kids stood around the fruit and veggie trays chowing down I thought of course why wouldn't they?

Fast forward several years to the birth of my son. The only one of my children to nurse without a problem and without much of a weight loss drop when he was born. When he started on rice cereal and then baby food he loved it all. Then along came finger foods and he still loved them. For first birthday party I served a taco bar and included avocado chunks because it was one of his favorites. (He loved the taco meat too).

Then suddenly between the ages of 2 and 3 he became picky. Foods he loved he now turns his nose up to. He rarely will eat a vegetable at all and will only eat processed meat- hot dogs, chicken nuggets, breakfast sausage and McDonald's hamburgers (not homemade ones). He used to like spaghetti, now he doesn't touch it.

I know he won't starve to death. But my concern is teaching him healthy habits now that will stick with him for a lifetime. I don't want to make an issue of eating and food and make it a point of contention so I do not punish for not eating. There are natural consequences though and he needs to eat some type of healthy meal before having dessert.  Having two adults, two teens and two little ones to cook for there is rarely a meal that pleases everyone so I often serve the little ones a different main corse or make it a little more kid friendly. ( For example: not too many 1 and 3 year olds will eat blackened fish but the rest of my family will request it.)

So, I was wondering how do you encourage your kids to try new foods? What things worked great and what failed.