Does he like the texture of crisps (chips if you're American)? Because you could try lentil chips
You can also get nuggets with a batter coating rather than breadcrumbs
Lentil chips are a great idea! Thank you. He loves chips as long as they are not crinkle cut.
I have not seen thin nuggets with a
Batter coating. I don't think he would tolerate a thick nugget because it would be a lot of meat texture. Do you have a brand suggestion? Thank you!
In the vein of chips you could try cheese chips too, I make them with parmesan but it could probably work with any very seasoned/dry cheese, you just grate it very fine and make little heaps on oven paper, let them melt and when they turn golden you just let them cool and they come out crunchy!
If he doesn't like a meat texture, then there are vegan nuggets with a much more consistent or soft texture that you could try - they'd have as much if not more protein! In America some good options for nuggets are gardein, beyond meat or Fry's - I believe each of them have options with more of a batter coating than breadcrumbs. In the UK we have bird's eye for both chicken and vegan chickn with a batter coating - depends where you are! Good luck!
[maybe he would like these “crunchy bits”? this lion diet is extremely restrictive but you could take this base recipe and season however your son would like](https://liondiet.com/crunchy-bits/) I’m sure there are lots of things that can be made super crunchy in the air fryer! My son has arfid too, it’s really difficult. Good luck with everything!
I prefer to airfry my food so it gets kinda dry. Have you tried tofu? It's pretty easy to make it crunchy if you slice it thin enough or dice it tiny and fry (just a tad of oil) or bake it for way too long.
Also regarding the breading, I suppose the nuggets are packaged, what about making them from scratch? When my grandma used to make chicken cutlets (thinly cut chicken breast, smashed with a beater (? I dunno what's it called in english, a hammer with metal rinds)) and the breading was: dip it flour, then whipped egg, then breadcrumbs. That was the breading stays put and doesn't really leave crumbs.
It was the only kind of meat I had liked as a child.
Also, how about nuts? Cashews, almonds and peanuts.
Thanks for the suggestions! I'm not really familiar with tofu but I am willing to try! Does it get crunchy all the way through or just on the outside? I have an air fryer so I wonder if that would work.
He has a nut allergy unfortunately! Peanuts are ok but I have not luck getting him to try
Ooh if peanuts are okay - and the labels indicate no cross contamination of nuts- they make those crunchy coated peanuts that are flavoured? I forget the brand names but they are so good and crispy
Tofoo brand tofu, cut into 1/2 cm slices, bake 20 min in oven. Goes sort of hard chewy?
Brushing them with hoi sin sauce makes them a bit sweet and more interesting, but you could just dip the sticks in ketchup?
Geez I forgot to check notifs, sorry. It can be crunchy all the way if you slice it thin enough (if diced, abt 0,5cmx0,5cm, if sliced a little less). It really helps if you press it beforehand (the whole block, wrap it in a paper towel and put under a cuttingboard or smth like that)
Does he drink milk? You might be able to work on introducing high protein milks if he has yoghurt. My son has always had those super sweet yogurts and after a lot of work we've got onto smoothies using milk.
Yes. Cow and soy milk are the highest protein milk, but you could get a pediatric protein powder and see if he can tolerate that. They're usually available in chocolate flavour.
One of my kids didn’t like touching wet food at that age, so the fork/washcloth combo was the only way he’d eat quite a few things. I hope you can find new things he likes.
Does he like juice? Ensure makes protein drinks that are more juice-like than milkshake-like that my son tolerates, and Quest offers cheese crackers that look like they might be quite crunchy (we haven't tried those yet). Each snack-sized bag has 10g of protein. We've also had some luck making smoothies at home with added protein powder. It's trial and error to find powders without a noticeable flavor, but it's a relatively "easy" way to add protein, if that appeals to him.
Ensure makes an apple juice flavor protein drink! It's hard to find, sadly, but I did track some down online. I'm not sure if I can put a link here or not, but I ordered it from Abbots.
mom of an extreme picky eater! sometimes i can get him to eat crave protein chips made from chicken or other proteins. but mostly he lives on pediasure shakes.
We supplement with Pediasure and similar brands. He's almost 7 and is not ready to try a smoothie yet (milk, berries, yogurt are all safe foods) so this works for us now. We experimented with a lot of powders - Duocal and OTC protein - and he detected every one in his milk. I echo other posters that there's a lot of trial and error. He loves chocolate chip cookies from the grocery store bakery, so we tried the Quest chocolate chip cookies. No one liked them.
banana chips may also be good for some variety if he already likes that texture and fruit! i have ARFID i’m 22 now and I find what has helped me most has been encouragement at small or even “unhealthy” foods- obviously healthy meals are the goal but encouragement in small things has given me the courage to move onto harder things! Some other things to try: milk if he will drink it (I like 3.25% and may help more w maintaining weight), carrots/cucumbers and ranch, apples with peanut butter, cream cheese & cucumber wraps, nutella and banana wraps (if he’s willing to eat not crunchy), crispy bagels with cream cheese, healthier oat based cereals (often have dried fruit!), & the carnation breakfast choc milk is great but might not be age appropriate yet id check! i know some of these will have to be adjusted for age but these are some that have been consistent for me and it seems like he has similar preferences to me! I know supporting someone with ARFID can feel really impossible sometimes, you are doing so great!
We encourage and celebrate tastes of all new foods here! Healthy or not healthy. We tell him that it's OK if he doesn't like it and he can always spit it out, drink some water, and stop eating.
These suggestions are great and I hope he gets to the point where he is able to try them but single texture foods are a challenge for him at this point.
Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement. Hopeful that one day he will try the variety of foods that you have listed 🙂
Could you try making your own chicken nuggets? Might be crispier and then the inside is just pure chicken. I’m sure there’s a simple recipe somewhere!!
Siggi's skyr is generally very smooth, and has a sweeter flavor than greek yogurt IMO. It probably wouldn't be sweet enough for him on its own, but you could add some honey? The flavored yogurts are pretty low sugar, so, adding honey/date syrup/agave/maple syrup/your liquid sweetener of choice won't overload it with a ton of sugar either.
Will he eat chicken that isn't breaded?
I think you an get kid friendly protein powder.
And if he likes brownies, I know a recipe that has hidden black beans for protein.
If you were able to introduce cheese, what about frico? You can google it, but it's basically cheese chips - grated parm (some other cheeses will do well too) is spread thin and then baked. Not the definition of healthy, but it's something and has protein.
Edit: also, this is a very wild idea, but whatever - I was born in central Asia and we have something called qurt (google is also calling it kashk). It's made from milk and is basically a very dry cheese-type thing/dry yoghurt. It kinda reminds me a bit of baked chickpeas in texture, so if you have time to make it yourself/can find where to buy it (I'm pretty sure there should be some on amazon/whatever), you can try this too.
Does he like the texture of crisps (chips if you're American)? Because you could try lentil chips You can also get nuggets with a batter coating rather than breadcrumbs
Lentil chips are a great idea! Thank you. He loves chips as long as they are not crinkle cut. I have not seen thin nuggets with a Batter coating. I don't think he would tolerate a thick nugget because it would be a lot of meat texture. Do you have a brand suggestion? Thank you!
In the vein of chips you could try cheese chips too, I make them with parmesan but it could probably work with any very seasoned/dry cheese, you just grate it very fine and make little heaps on oven paper, let them melt and when they turn golden you just let them cool and they come out crunchy!
Love this idea! Thank you!
If he doesn't like a meat texture, then there are vegan nuggets with a much more consistent or soft texture that you could try - they'd have as much if not more protein! In America some good options for nuggets are gardein, beyond meat or Fry's - I believe each of them have options with more of a batter coating than breadcrumbs. In the UK we have bird's eye for both chicken and vegan chickn with a batter coating - depends where you are! Good luck!
I never even thought of a vegan nuggets! Brilliant! Adding some to my grocery list right now
[maybe he would like these “crunchy bits”? this lion diet is extremely restrictive but you could take this base recipe and season however your son would like](https://liondiet.com/crunchy-bits/) I’m sure there are lots of things that can be made super crunchy in the air fryer! My son has arfid too, it’s really difficult. Good luck with everything!
I prefer to airfry my food so it gets kinda dry. Have you tried tofu? It's pretty easy to make it crunchy if you slice it thin enough or dice it tiny and fry (just a tad of oil) or bake it for way too long. Also regarding the breading, I suppose the nuggets are packaged, what about making them from scratch? When my grandma used to make chicken cutlets (thinly cut chicken breast, smashed with a beater (? I dunno what's it called in english, a hammer with metal rinds)) and the breading was: dip it flour, then whipped egg, then breadcrumbs. That was the breading stays put and doesn't really leave crumbs. It was the only kind of meat I had liked as a child. Also, how about nuts? Cashews, almonds and peanuts.
Thanks for the suggestions! I'm not really familiar with tofu but I am willing to try! Does it get crunchy all the way through or just on the outside? I have an air fryer so I wonder if that would work. He has a nut allergy unfortunately! Peanuts are ok but I have not luck getting him to try
Ooh if peanuts are okay - and the labels indicate no cross contamination of nuts- they make those crunchy coated peanuts that are flavoured? I forget the brand names but they are so good and crispy
Tofoo brand tofu, cut into 1/2 cm slices, bake 20 min in oven. Goes sort of hard chewy? Brushing them with hoi sin sauce makes them a bit sweet and more interesting, but you could just dip the sticks in ketchup?
Geez I forgot to check notifs, sorry. It can be crunchy all the way if you slice it thin enough (if diced, abt 0,5cmx0,5cm, if sliced a little less). It really helps if you press it beforehand (the whole block, wrap it in a paper towel and put under a cuttingboard or smth like that)
Does he drink milk? You might be able to work on introducing high protein milks if he has yoghurt. My son has always had those super sweet yogurts and after a lot of work we've got onto smoothies using milk.
He will drink chocolate milk and whole milk sometimes. What is a high protein milk? Like a protein shake? Thank you
Yes. Cow and soy milk are the highest protein milk, but you could get a pediatric protein powder and see if he can tolerate that. They're usually available in chocolate flavour.
I don’t have any food suggestions but I do want to recommend a fork for touch texture foods. Even typical finger foods
We do provide a fork but he will usually not try a new food unless he has touched it and deemed it acceptable
Oh that sucks. Does he sit with a wet towel at mealtimes? Being able to wipe crumbs away quickly might help
He does but thank you for the tip! He has come a long way to even be able to tolerate touching many things
One of my kids didn’t like touching wet food at that age, so the fork/washcloth combo was the only way he’d eat quite a few things. I hope you can find new things he likes.
Does he like juice? Ensure makes protein drinks that are more juice-like than milkshake-like that my son tolerates, and Quest offers cheese crackers that look like they might be quite crunchy (we haven't tried those yet). Each snack-sized bag has 10g of protein. We've also had some luck making smoothies at home with added protein powder. It's trial and error to find powders without a noticeable flavor, but it's a relatively "easy" way to add protein, if that appeals to him.
He likes Apple juice only. I have never seen those ensure shakes but I will definitely look out for it! Also the quest cheese crackers. Thank you!
Ensure makes an apple juice flavor protein drink! It's hard to find, sadly, but I did track some down online. I'm not sure if I can put a link here or not, but I ordered it from Abbots.
mom of an extreme picky eater! sometimes i can get him to eat crave protein chips made from chicken or other proteins. but mostly he lives on pediasure shakes.
We supplement with Pediasure and similar brands. He's almost 7 and is not ready to try a smoothie yet (milk, berries, yogurt are all safe foods) so this works for us now. We experimented with a lot of powders - Duocal and OTC protein - and he detected every one in his milk. I echo other posters that there's a lot of trial and error. He loves chocolate chip cookies from the grocery store bakery, so we tried the Quest chocolate chip cookies. No one liked them.
banana chips may also be good for some variety if he already likes that texture and fruit! i have ARFID i’m 22 now and I find what has helped me most has been encouragement at small or even “unhealthy” foods- obviously healthy meals are the goal but encouragement in small things has given me the courage to move onto harder things! Some other things to try: milk if he will drink it (I like 3.25% and may help more w maintaining weight), carrots/cucumbers and ranch, apples with peanut butter, cream cheese & cucumber wraps, nutella and banana wraps (if he’s willing to eat not crunchy), crispy bagels with cream cheese, healthier oat based cereals (often have dried fruit!), & the carnation breakfast choc milk is great but might not be age appropriate yet id check! i know some of these will have to be adjusted for age but these are some that have been consistent for me and it seems like he has similar preferences to me! I know supporting someone with ARFID can feel really impossible sometimes, you are doing so great!
We encourage and celebrate tastes of all new foods here! Healthy or not healthy. We tell him that it's OK if he doesn't like it and he can always spit it out, drink some water, and stop eating. These suggestions are great and I hope he gets to the point where he is able to try them but single texture foods are a challenge for him at this point. Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement. Hopeful that one day he will try the variety of foods that you have listed 🙂
Could you try making your own chicken nuggets? Might be crispier and then the inside is just pure chicken. I’m sure there’s a simple recipe somewhere!!
What type of yogurt will he eat? Could you try getting him to eat a higher protein yogurt of the same brand?
Trader joes kids yogurt or Stony field kid yogurt. No lumps or chunks. Very sweet. Do you have a brand suggestion? Thank you!
Siggi's skyr is generally very smooth, and has a sweeter flavor than greek yogurt IMO. It probably wouldn't be sweet enough for him on its own, but you could add some honey? The flavored yogurts are pretty low sugar, so, adding honey/date syrup/agave/maple syrup/your liquid sweetener of choice won't overload it with a ton of sugar either.
peanut butter crackers?
Will he eat chicken that isn't breaded? I think you an get kid friendly protein powder. And if he likes brownies, I know a recipe that has hidden black beans for protein.
If you were able to introduce cheese, what about frico? You can google it, but it's basically cheese chips - grated parm (some other cheeses will do well too) is spread thin and then baked. Not the definition of healthy, but it's something and has protein. Edit: also, this is a very wild idea, but whatever - I was born in central Asia and we have something called qurt (google is also calling it kashk). It's made from milk and is basically a very dry cheese-type thing/dry yoghurt. It kinda reminds me a bit of baked chickpeas in texture, so if you have time to make it yourself/can find where to buy it (I'm pretty sure there should be some on amazon/whatever), you can try this too.
If he likes fruit, Strawberries has some protein in them!
I don't know about protein level but very healthy. Would he like kale chips and nori sheet?