"Eat More Chicken"....she thinks not.

She may be a Princess, but the Queen sets the menu around here. 

Eva has always been a decent eater. From the time we started giving her pureed fruits and veggies she's been pretty good about eating what we offer her. I also try to not make too big of a deal out of what she chooses to eat. For each meal I offer her a couple of choices on her tray and she can eat what she likes. I figure as long as they are healthy and she has an overall balance of foods in her diet, it's not that big of a deal. I also don't make her eat everything because I want her to learn to eat until she is full and then stop. (More of us grown-ups need that skill....) Yes, if I know she hasn't eaten very much  I will try to get her to eat a few more bites, but I don't force it. When there is a food that she doesn't seem to "like" I will encourage her to try a few bites. If she eats it, great, and if not I just try again. I try not to let there be foods in my mind that I think, "Oh she doesn't like that. I can't make that anymore." It took her lots and lots of tries before she decided to eat eggs. And for most meals, she eats what we eat.

Which brings us to chicken. Over and over again she is not interested in chicken. What???? Umm, somebody might want to let her know that her mother will be cooking chicken every week for the rest of the time she lives with us. She really likes sausage (which I rarely cook), she likes beef, she will eat a little bit of fish (especially salmon), and turkey and ham are fine....but chicken? No way. She will try a few bites but usually spits it out. And my most delicious meals are all based around chicken! Chicken spaghetti, chicken pot pie, chicken puffs, bbq chicken sandwiches, chicken enchiladas,chicken tenders. I even let her try some Chick-fil-a nuggets and she refused to eat them. I've tried letting her dip the chicken (she's big into dipping), but even that didn't work. What toddler would rather eat broccoli and peas than chicken? Oh, well. I know she won't starve. She will get protein from other foods. I will keep making my favorite meals. And there will be more chicken nuggets for me.

On the other hand, she does like to "cook" chicken in mama's pots :)

 I actually walked into the kitchen to see this.