Take Your Pick

My little lady can be a bit of a picky eater at times.  Granted, she is two, and I think it is a typical trait of children her age more than anything.  She will put down any fruit I put in front of her, some vegetables, every cereal known to man, pancakes, and a handful of other things.  Most of the time she is content with what we serve her, but there are times that it is a downright chore to get anything down her little throat.

Its during those times that I have to become creative.  Sometimes that involves pulling out the bottle of sprinkles (because she will seriously eat ANYTHING with sprinkles on it!), making her food into shapes of well liked objects like the "winking guy", giving ultimatums (To get movie time, you have to eat three more bites), eating bites together as a family (yes, this actually works for whatever reason--I don't question these things), and pretending her food is a favorite character needing her help ( in a distressed voice, I may say "Amelia, its me, Belle.  I need your help!  I have to hide from the Beast" at which time she will open her mouth and eat the food/Belle.  I feel absolutely ridiculous doing it, but it works, so I will continue to do it).

So, although Amelia hasn't been in a particular food funk, per se, I have been wanting to try these muffin tin meals that I keep seeing all over the internet.  There is a whole gang of moms who hold "muffin tin Mondays" where they serve their child's meal in a muffin tin, take pictures of it, and then blog each Monday about what they served and how it went over.  These women and culinary creations are incredible!  Some even make shapes with the food, some follow themes each week, and a select talented few base their Muffin Tin meal on a favorite book loved by their child.  I am certainly not that creative, but have been wanting to see if serving lunch in a muffin tin would be a new stunt I could add to my current bag o' tricks for when Amelia is being picky.

As a note, I have been wanting to try this for a looooonnnnnnggggg time, but I only have two muffin tins.  One I would never dream of using to serve ANYTHING to ANYONE and the other is a mini muffin pan which means I would have to come up with 12 things to serve instead of just an already difficult six items.

When I got out all of the fall decorations, I came across this brand new 6-cup muffin tin I bought on super clearance last year after Halloween.  The fact that the "cups" are pumpkin shaped only made it all the more exciting for Amelia.  She exceeded my expectations and ate NEARLY EVERY MORSEL of food I put in for her.  (I should have taken an "after" picture, but I was in too much shock).  Granted, the things I served were all tried and true favorites of hers, but still!

Our first Muffin Tin Lunch included peas, cheese, applesauce (with sprinkles of course), pineapple chunks, turkey dogs, and ketchup.  It was a huge success and I plan on using it lots more, especially during those picky eating phases.