Suggestions for fussy teen?

homesweeths

My 16yo is celiac and probably casein intolerant as well, though her celiac manifests as nervous system disarrangement, and dairy doesn't, but seems to damage her gut (in that if she eats too much she's queasy for several days afterward and has trouble eating anything at all).

This kid has so many dislikes -- seafood, a lot of veggies. She will eat romaine (sometimes), broccoli, peas (I know, not really veggie but legume), carrots (sometimes). Some things she can eat if she loads them with sour cream. She will only eat eggs if they're scrambled and sprinkled with grated cheese; otherwise she can't stand them.

I'm at my wits' end. What do I feed her? Is there a website with teen-friendly recipes you can recommend?

I've been cooking a lot of paleo recipes for myself. She liked the ground beef I made today with a little chopped onion and garlic (though she prefers her ground beef plain). She hasn't shown much interest in other paleo recipes I've made, like stir-fried kale or spinach along with some sort of meat ("Ugh!") or homemade spaghetti sauce (too many vegetables) on spaghetti squash. (She'd rather eat Trader Joe's corn spaghetti with ricotta and parmesan.)

She loves lemon chicken (homemade Chinese restaurant style, made gluten free with tapioca starch and lemon sauce made with lemon, vinegar, and sugar) and teriyaki chicken (again, lots of sugar -- brown sugar this time, with tamari soy sauce, ginger and garlic). And white rice with teriyaki sauce. She puts balsamic vinegar on most meats and could probably drink the stuff plain. She likes homemade chicken broth, so I make it almost weekly. (She misses eating it with sourdough bread, one of her great loves that she had to give up when we discovered that gluten was a huge problem.)

She'll eat chocolate as often as she can get it -- semi-sweet chips or M&M candies, and dried cranberries (Craisins), and Trader Joe's giant Belgian milk chocolate bars. I know. It's a lot of sugar. But sometimes I buy the stuff for her just to get some calories into her, and other times she buys it for herself with her spending money. Oh, and she loves baked sweet potatoes -- drenched with maple syrup.

I think eating Paleo/Primal style might help to heal her gut so that she could gain some weight, but with her fussiness it's a challenge to contemplate.

Shadowknight137

As a coeliac, I can kinda relate. I was diagnosed when I was seventeen, and I can tell you this: you start picky as hell. I could barely stand most foods - ESPECIALLY gluten free replacements, which just aren't the same - which is why I (unintentionally) dropped a crapton of weight and ended up on MFP.

IMHO, she's sixteen. She's a sixteen year old girl who's just been diagnosed with a problem that - take my word on it - will likely change her life. Let her have foods she can enjoy; calorically dense ones to make up for the lack of calories she'd get from other things. Sweet maple potatoes? Sounds delicious. Chocolate> Hell yes! She sounds kinda like me.

Maybe cook up a big batch of ground beef and serve it over white rice or sweet potato crisps? Maybe make a butter chicken over white rice? Coeliac and gluten free may seem restrictive, but once you get some good recipes under your belt, you really find you're missing nothing that great.

homesweeths

Some good ideas. Maybe it's as simple as giving her ground beef with balsamic, over white rice. Butter chicken? is that spicy?

I'd like to get her off dairy for a stretch to see if that would help heal her gut, but she uses sour cream to make a number of foods palatable, so it's probably not going to happen. I guess I worry about her diet being so restricted -- limiting herself the way she does makes me nervous that she's going to make herself allergic to the foods she eats often, like corn (in corn spaghetti) and rice. Since she has a very difficult time forcing herself to eat anything new, it complicates things. (I admit, I'm a worrywart.)

So, are you not picky anymore? How did you learn to like new foods?

Shadowknight137

Some good ideas. Maybe it's as simple as giving her ground beef with balsamic, over white rice. Butter chicken? is that spicy?

Pretty much, yeah, it's just about finding things she enjoys and letting her eat them. As for the butter chicken... so, I wouldn't say it is spicy. Just creamy and delicious.

I'd like to get her off dairy for a stretch to see if that would help heal her gut, but she uses sour cream to make a number of foods palatable, so it's probably not going to happen. I guess I worry about her diet being so restricted -- limiting herself the way she does makes me nervous that she's going to make herself allergic to the foods she eats often, like corn (in corn spaghetti) and rice. Since she has a very difficult time forcing herself to eat anything new, it complicates things. (I admit, I'm a worrywart.)

Yeah... In my opinion, avoid restricting more foods, particularly dairy. Last thing you want to do is actually BUILD UP another intolerance, which I hear can in fact happen. Let her enjoy her sour cream on her food - I used to love sour cream back in the day (maybe a little too much, put myself off it, as well as cream) and enjoy her rice and GF spaghetti.

I think her suspected casein intolerance and gut problems are just her body healing from years of malnourishment from gluten... mine sure took awhile to heal.

She's a kid still; introduce new foods slowly, but don't take away or restrict her old ones. She's already lost a wide palate of foods she used to love.
Maybe offer her a side of whatever you're having, to see if she likes it?

So, are you not picky anymore? How did you learn to like new foods?

Oh, I'm still picky. I still hate most GF baked/store goods. But I've expanded my variety.

Started with a bowl of cream and nuts (macadamias, mostly, though they were expensive) with berries and honey for breakfast ,nothing for lunch (breakfast was ridiculously satiating) and something like steak and eggs for dinner.
Then I started breakfast of eggs, bacon and cheese. Lunch of big-*kitten* salad with some kinda meat, and dinner of steak, fried veggies and maybe eggs.

Both scenarios I didn't snack due to satiation, both scenarios I dropped a crapton of weight. And I didn't need to lose weight.

Your daughter has the advantage over me in this case in A) not hating gluten-free stuff with a passion and not thinking rice is glutinous (I went ages thinking it was glutinous due to being a grain, and because, I dunno, I'm dumb?).

I learned to like new foods by, well, trying new things, trying old things (used to hate potatoes, now I love them. ) and just finding enjoyment in food. Maybe get your daughter cooking in the kitchen for the family more often; both on her own and helping out. Buy new, exotic foods.

Best of luck to your daughter. Seriously. Coeliac to Coeliac here, I'm hoping for her success and that she doesn't mess up like I did.

shar140

If she likes peas and ground beef, cook up the ground beef with some onion (and garlic if you want), toss in some peas, serve over rice. I grew up eating that (my sister had a ton of food intolerances, including wheat, corn, dairy, chicken, eggs, nuts, etc). It's delicious!! I made it last week with zucchini instead, as peas aren't my favorite.

That's basically all we ate growing up - rice (occasionally potatoes, but she couldn't have mashed due to dairy, so rice was easier), a veggie, and a meat (pork or beef, occasionally ham or turkey). Add in some fruits for lunch or snacks. But, she grew up knowing she couldn't eat certain foods, so a different experience.

Howbouto

Goodness that is tough for such a young age!! I don't have kids, let alone a teenager. But if I were in your situation, I would check out numerous paleo and Gf cookbooks (I recommend Practical Paleo and Paleo comfort foods). One weekend when she seems receptive, invite her to sit down with you and look at the cookbooks with you. The recipes she is interested in, try. Include her in the cooking process if possible. Also encourage her to try veggies she has never tried to expand her palete. Good luck!