It's tough to reverse the path, if you have introduced them to juice, sweets & processed foods, IMHO. If that isn't the case, I try to at least ensure there's some veggies snuck in to homemade quesadillas, homemade soups/stews and grilled sandwiches. I find that frozen veggies are the easiest to work with for quickness. Frozen spinach is GREAT, especially in quesadillas. My toddler has taken to scrambles for breakfast finally, so I can sneak some veggies in there. It's tough, because they get so picky SO QUICK. With mine, it seems to be mostly textural, so I find that cutting things smaller and maybe even overlooking some things a bit helps here and there.

Covid stay-at-home just leaves me wiped out in the creativity department, too. I get it. Its one thing to have a picky toddler palate on your hand. Its another to be dealing with that, AND trying to change up meals all of the time and keep it creative. I've learned in the last 4 months that I just have to be kinder to myself in this department. I am working on it, day by day. ✌

Hmmm. This is a slippery slope -- so many kids out there allowed to win are now ONLY eating froot loops, goldfish, and chocolate milk. You do not have to prepare elaborate meals. Plain cheeries, plain milk, plain meats, lots of fruits (try cutting oranges -- peel on -- into slices, few kids refuse it). You can wean a kid off of sweet drinks by slowly watering them down, really slowly until after a few weeks you can give them water. The same for white pasta and white rice: slowly mix in the whole grain and eventually they will eat whole wheat pasta and brown rice. When people get hungry, they eat. Truly. Stay strong through the whining. If low weight is a concern, see a doctor, otherwise stick to the plan. Good baby green beans, bananas, whole wheat bread (I made "bread balls" for fun -- just pull soft bread and smush into small balls). Oatmeal, hi protein greek yogurt... Simply do not BUY any crappy food -- don't have it in the house. Sorry to preach -- I just see so so so many unhealthy eaters out there. Let them snack, just do so with fruits and veggies -- then it does not matter if the get "full" before dinner... good luck

more foods my toddler ate without even thinking twice about it... refried beans, whole cold chic peas, cooked Lima Beans (truly) with the peel/skin pulled off, sweet baby corn (from freezer not a can).. mashed potatoes, lots of fun shaped pastas plain and/or with parmesan -- rotini is curly and fun... apples, melons, kiwi, all berries, carrots, brocolli (cooked but not over), tuna and salmon, cheese, tomatoes, cauliflower... first child didn't like spices so plain was always best, 2nd child enjoyed spices like masala sauce and LOVED chick pea/cauliflower in that sauce... simple plain turkey burgers in ketchup... pears, mandarin oranges...

For sauces, it helped to puree so there were no lumpy things... spagetti sauces or otherwise. I have a friend who would cook lots of veggies and chicken and then blend the whole thing into a "soup" and her kids ate that without fear...

If kids know there is a choice to have crackers, soda, ice cream, muffins, granola (candy) bars... they will hold out for it.

Last tip: you can always say "the doctor tells us this is what we must eat" -- kids respect the authority of a doctor and don't blame you!

Oh, in place of potato chips and cracker snacks, simple dry plain low sugar cheerios and also whole wheat Chex cereal... WAY more fiber in that than a cracker, no oils, etc. Rice and Corn chex still better than crackers or chips, not as much fiber in them.

peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds and the green pumpkin seeds, dried fruit in moderation...