What they don't know

I don't know how it happened, but somehow I have become the mother of two little girls who do not eat; not with any definable regularity, that is. If pickiness were a kingdom, they would be the reigning princesses. Anna's favorite new phrase at dinner time is, "No, Mama, I can't really try it. I just can't."

So, I've had to get sneaky in my attempts to get any kind of food and/or nutrition into my offspring. Either that, or dive into a new hobby of counting the girls' ribs.

One surefire trick I've discovered? Breakfast. For some reason, I have the most luck feeding the Picky Twins at their first meal. I've learned to take advantage of this phenomenon, while it lasts. Since they'll almost always eat oatmeal, I have started cooking 4-6 egg whites into their morning bowl (I just buy the big carton of pasteurized whites), then serving it topped with berries, bananas or raisins and a dash of brown sugar. I'm also prone to sprinkling teaspoons of ground flax seed onto just about everything for a little boost of Omega-3.

(I know, Mom, it sounds gross. I can see your face from here. But it's actually very tasty, doesn't ruin the oatmeal, and, unbeknownst to my victims... err, I mean children, adds gobs of protein to keep them from wasting away.)

Since lunch and dinner are almost always no-go meals for these two, I have heaped up the snacks with whatever extras I can manage. Anna's favorite, and one that she thinks is a fabulous treat, is apple sandwiches with peanut butter. That's just thinly sliced apples instead of crackers, friends. All you have to do is give her a spreading knife and she'll go to town, just loving the idea that she "did it by herself".

Rainbow sprinkles are also magic in our kitchen, a trick shown to me by cousin Lizzie. Anna won't eat her yogurt? How about some sprinkles, sweetie? Heck, we've even added sprinkles to her spaghetti, come to think of it. Whatever works.

Speaking of spaghetti, I also do my best to make this staple food a little bit more nutritionally viable. By using pureed veggies, a la Deceptively Delicious, and whole grain pasta, I feel a little bit better about the quality of their general diet.

And when all else fails? Chocolate milk with Ovaltine has never been turned down. Sometimes it's the only thing Anna or Silvia consumes all day, it seems. Ovaltine, how I love thee.