A tiny bit of food success...

I've been trying to change my kids' eating habits in tiny baby steps recently. One reason is that we're starting a new daycare and I'll be sending a cold lunch and snacks daily, which will need to include foods they are not accustomed to. And the second is that I've realized they eat a lot of snacky foods, sometimes at the expense of their real meals, and they are stuck in a rut of not trying new things.

Now, I realize they are only 2 and almost 4. But I had gotten into some bad habits that I am trying to remedy. Here are some things I've started to do that seem to be working:

1) Notice the time when they request a snack, and give them a small one (eg, only one peanut butter cracker) or tell them if they are still hungry that they can have fruit or vegetables. If it's close to lunch or dinner time, just go ahead and have it early, rather than fill up on goldfish.
2) Allow crunchy snacks only once daily. For the other snack, provide something more nutritious.
3) When they request more of the same item, tell them there is no more (or give only a little bit) and encourage them to eat the other foods on their plate
4) Involve them in cooking things (we made mini-quiches this weekend) so that they will try them.
5) Give them vegetables first when they are hungry (I've been doing this for a while, and my son is a great veggie eater, but my daughter needs help)
6) Switch to whole wheat noodles (this is done; they happily eat any kind of noodles)

For inspiration, I've found some great bento/kids lunch blogs, like What's for lunch at our house, Lunchbox limbo, and Lunch in a box. I received my awesome Easy lunchboxes and already packed a picnic in them. They really do encourage you to branch out and provide more lunch diversity.

My successes this weekend were that they both ate some tuna fish (they apparently eat it for their daycare provider, but never for me), and they both tried the mini quiches we made together (neither loved them, but at least they tried them). I thought they were delicious and so easy; I put about half in the freezer and hope they will warm up to them. My daughter also ate some orange and apple pieces when we ran out of strawberries; usually she will not eat these.

All this newfound excitement also meant that I cooked a nice meal for my husband and I- I have not been interested in the kitchen for about 4 years, but I think that may be changing for the better.