~YUM~ and my veggie-hating child!

This is long.. just a warning. I thought about dividing it into 2 posts but I can't seem to copy and paste it and I'm not re-writing it!

So my wonderful trip with my hubby (more on that later) kind of threw me off as far as menu planning and grocery shopping goes. We did all of our grocery shopping Monday night because if I waited until my normal Tues or Thurs shopping we would have starved to death! And on a side note, we went to Ingel's because I wanted to 'try' it out... mainly because when we were in Helen we had to sign up for a Ingel's card to rent a movie. Let me just say, I will stick to Publix. So, here is our menu for this week. Nothing too big & fancy but you can tell there is a slight chill in the air because I'm doing 2 soups! And since we're having soup which usually makes a lot I'm not planning as many meals. R will just have to eat leftovers!

White Bean and Ham Soup, Cornbread
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Baked Chicken and Potatoes w/ Green Beans
Spaghetti and Salad

We had spaghetti and salad last night and tonight was leftover/whatever-you-can-find night. Tomorrow I'm making the Bean and Ham Soup. It's a recipe from my mom.

I've been struggling the past few weeks with Luke and vegetables. I think I blogged about it before. He has totally decided to refuse EVERY kind of vegetable, unless it's a french fry. Now, I do not buy french fries (I don't even consider them a vegetable) so he only gets them if we go out to eat. I've read articles on picky eaters and ways to help your toddler eat their veggies. Most of them says to keep giving the veggie to them and they will eventually like the food, going on to say that it may take 10 or more tries before they decide they like it. This is all said assuming that the child is at least tasting the food. Luke will not even touch a vegetable (with the exception of peas... he likes to smush them!) much less taste one! I don't really understand it all either.. because just 2 months ago he was gobbling down broccoli, cauliflower and green peas. He would eat the occasional carrot or baby corn on a good day. Well, I found an exception. In my attempt to get my child to eat veggies I decided to do a search for muffins... zucchini muffins to be exact. I found a good looking recipe, made it healthy and baked up a batch while Luke napped. I had one.. and it wasn't the best thing (or worst thing) I have eaten. It's healthy.. so you know?! Luckily, Luke doesn't get many sweets so he has no idea how sweet things are really suppose to taste. He ate 2 muffins after his nap! I was thrilled to finally get some veggies in him! Next time I'm making carrot/apple muffins. I might even try to find a way to sneak broccoli or spinach in them! Just to give you an idea here is what Luke was offered today:

Breakfast- Juice (half water/half juice), WW pancake, cut up pear
Snack- Gerber Cereal Bar, water
Lunch- 2 baked chicken nuggets, green peas, 1/2 slice of WW toast w/ unsalted butter, 1/2 slice cheddar cheese, milk
Snack- zucchini muffin, water
Supper- Egg and cheese omelet, halved grape tomatoes, 1/2 piece of toast w/ unsalted butter, 1/2 c diced fresh pineapple, milk

(**WW means whole wheat)

Here is what he actually ate:

B'fast- Juice, pancake, 3/4 pear (he always does good with breakfast!)
Snack- cereal bar, water
Lunch- maybe 1 chicken nugget, 1/2 slice of toast, cheese, milk
Snack- 2 zucchini muffins (I normally don't give him so much for a snack.. but since they are good for him!), water
Supper- a few pieces of toast and maybe half of his pineapple chunks, milk

Today was actually a pretty good day. As you can see he loves fruit... minus tomatoes. I usually offer him veggies at dinner but didn't tonight since it was a rushed night after church. And he is always offered what we are having. For instance, last night we had spaghetti. I offered him noodles with no sauce (just cheese) and he did try one.. but that was the only one.
If any wise mom's out there have any suggestions I would love them. I just keep offering the veggies praying that he will actually start eating them again. It's just a phase, right?