The Care & Feeding of a Red-Headed Stepchild

Thank you, MorningStar!

I have a secret.  I have two men in my life.  I love both of them.  One is my sweet Hubs who I see every day.  The other man I only see every other weekend.  We sneak in time when we can.  I've had a love affair with him for almost 4 years.  From the moment I saw him, it was love at first sight.  His smile was like a balm to my soul.  His laugh was infectious.  He charmed me even though I was madly in love with Hubs.  Yup, a 10-month old can do that!  Oh, did I mention this little man is my stepson?

That 10-month-old is now almost five.  Five and a very picky eater!  Have you ever seen a kid turn down cookies?  No, me neither.  He likes spaghetti but won't eat other shaped pasta.  He won't eat beans but will devour a bean burrito.  Real orange?  No.  Mandarin orange sections in a cup?  Yes please.  Needless to say, it's been a challenge feeding this child.

The official list of what he will eat right now (this was compiled from reliable sources):

• Cold hot dogs with ketchup
• Chicken McNuggets with BBQ sauce
• Tortilla chips, salsa and cheese dip
• Taco Bueno Bean Burritos
• Canned spaghetti
• Chocolate pudding cups
• Macaroni & Cheese
• Applesauce
• Mandarin oranges
• Peanut butter and crackers

Notice a problem here?  Yeah, me too.  All of this is processed crap.  Everything is full of salt, artificial colors and fat.  The fruit is full of sugar.  The only natural, healthy things here are salsa and peanut butter.  Not exactly the way we eat at Daddy's house.

So, what's a Stepmom to do?  Be sneaky, that's what!  'Cause, well, you know, that's how we Stepmoms are! Calculating and sneaky.  Bwahahaha!

To cover the hot dogs and nuggets, I turn to MorningStar Farms.  They have a bounty of delicious frozen foods in almost every grocery store in America.  The Chik'N Nuggets are crispy and tender and their Veggie Dogs are yummy.  Served with homemade ketchup and BBQ sauce and they are gobbled up.  They even have corn dogs if you are so inclined.  Hubs and I are crazy for their Hickory BBQ Ribletts. 

Canned spaghetti and Mac & Cheese are either replaced with homemade (he likes mine) or Annie's Homegrown brand.  They make boxed mac & cheese and canned "P'Sghetti Loops" with soy meatballs.  Both are delicious. 

Pudding and applesauce are pretty easy.  Homemade.  Peanut butter is low salt and sugar.  Salt free crackers work just fine.  As long as it looks familiar and tastes good, he'll eat it.

His veggie intake is pathetic but I try.  I always present options on his plate. I give him baby carrots, celery sticks, and a serving of whatever cooked vegetables we happen to be having.  He likes to dip things, so I give him a little dish with ranch dressing for the veggies.  Anything to try to entice him to just try them. I read somewhere that it takes ten attempts before a kid will try something new, so I'm persistent.  One of these days, he'll happily munch those carrots!  I just know it!

Until then, I'll just have to be satisfied with the small changes I'm making.  Oh, I also mix pureed veggies into things without him, or his father, knowing it.  As I said, we Stepmom's are sneaky like that!