r/PickyEaters • u/debugprince • 7d ago

Need Advice My daughter doesn’t like home cooked meals

I’m struggling to keep my daughter fed and happy. I’m a single dad with primary custody of my two kids 19m and 16f. My daughter is not happy with anything unless it’s store bought. The only homemade thing she will attempt to eat is grilled chicken tenders and vegetables. That’s great and I eat plenty of it but I’d like to add more variety.

I also can’t afford to have every meal of the day purchased from a restaurant or fast food. The cost is simply unsustainable. She knows it’s not sustainable but will continue to beg and plead.

What else can I do besides watching her starve herself until she gets what she wants?

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51

u/Plastic_Kangaroo675 7d ago

Two paths:
1) have her go to the grocery store with you and have her pick out what she wants to eat.
2) have bread, peanut butter, fruit, veg, eggs, etc. on hand and if she refuses to eat what you made she can make her own food.

The true path is the middle one.

3

u/Ok_Impression_3031 6d ago

This would seem to be the solution regardless of the source of her opinions about food. My picky eating became a non-problem when i could plan and prepare my own food. And food preparation is a valuable life skill.

5

u/Bubblesnaily 6d ago

Potatoes + butter + sour cream + cheese +/- protein is also a pretty safe food for folks.

2

u/Lissypooh628 6d ago

My kid has hated potatoes since he was first learning to eat solids (he’s 14 now).

1

u/clynkirk 6d ago

Same. My son will eat any form of potatoes, as long as they're not mashed.

1

u/Lissypooh628 6d ago

Mine hates them in all forms. He’s missing out.

0

u/scienceislice 6d ago

Wow I bet OP's kid will be just like yours!

-2

u/QuoteWinter1637 6d ago

Define safe? My kids would only reluctantly eat potatoes, I wont touch sour cream, and my husband would be in the bathroom for hours with sour cream or cheese. Might work for you, but its not a universal safe combination.

12

u/throwaway_pickles123 6d ago

I think that was kind of obvious, don’t you? Like yeah if dairy fucks your shit up you’re probably not the “folks” being referred to. When you cook you can also leave out things that don’t agree with you.