“Tonight we are having roast chicken with all the trimmings,” I announce to the children. Cheers ring out from the two eldest followed by a loud shriek and subsequent sobbing from the three-year-old. “I don’t like chicken,” he cries. “I only like sausages,” he says.
The problem is that his diet is limited to just that – the great British sausage. He is happy to try a variety of different sausages, his favourite being a chipolota from the local butcher and he is quite partial to the odd frankfurter. His sausages regularly sit alone on his plate, refusing to be joined by any sort of potato, pasta and spare the thought of a vegetable unless it is a baked bean.
Over the past three years we have tried various methods to try and expand his diet. We have encouraged him with star charts, stickers and even the odd chocolate button in return for him just popping a pea into his mouth. We have also tried the more firm approach of placing bowls of lasagne and shepherds pie in front of him, leaving him there shrieking. We talk about food, he helps prepare meals and we have even got children’s books out from the library to try and whet his appetite for new things. None of these methods have worked and he will quite happily go without supper or any other meal until his beloved sausage appears once more on his plate.
Last week, he came back from pre-school claiming he had tried a carrot stick. I doubted whether this was the case and checked with his teacher. She told me that he had indeed tried a carrot and seemed to quite like it. The next day I filled his lunchbox with carrots. My enthusiasm backfired and he has not touched one since. A few days later he told me he had tried a “potato circle” at a friend’s house. Once more I went into overdrive on potato gratin, so much so that he has decided it is definitely now off the menu.
My last resort is to go with the sausage but modify it myself. This morning I have bought his beloved banger, opened the end of its skin and stuffed a few small peas and carrot pieces down it. It looks a bit bulky and a little discoloured but I am hoping that this might be my cunning solution to the sausage-loving toddler.
