Board 8 > Seeking recommendations for a menu for a 4 year old

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My brother lives with me, and he gets to have his 4 year old daughter over for visitation every other weekend. She's as picky an eater as I was at her age, maybe even pickier. I'm looking for suggestions on what to feed her that she might eat (besides candy).

She'll eat the cheese off a cheeseburger or a pizza, but she doesn't seem to go for meat. I tried Sloppy Joes on Saturday, but she wouldn't take more than a bite. We had a bit more success with plain Spaghetti-O's, where she took several more bites. I'm not sure she'll do pasta (we took her to The Olive Garden during another visit; she picked the cheese off the pizza and ignored the side of spaghetti entirely).

I'm looking for something with at least modest nutritional value. She obviously doesn't care for beef, and she's not into spicy foods. There's a pretty good indication that she likes cheese to some extent, but I'm guessing she won't be into anything complex.

Do any of you have recommendations?

Mac and cheese is the classic go-to. Maybe chicken nuggets.

Maybe piggy back on the cheese thing and do cheese and crackers. I know growing up I would eat like ritz/cheese/meat combinations like this:

https://assets.kraftfoods.com/recipe_images/Mini_Cracker_Sandwiches.jpg

And have you tried fruits or veggies? I have a 2 year old nephew who loves grapes, and through his love of grapes we can get him to eat most anything else. "Take 3 more bites of your sandwich and you can have some more grapes".

No two kids are exactly the same but with some experimentation you should be able to find out which strings to pull. Of course since this is an every-other-weekend situation that could be more difficult depending on what she is getting the other 90% of the time. If she's being spoiled by her normal menu there isn't going to be much incentive for her to adapt.

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When I was a (very picky) little kid, I liked plain macaroni. My brother liked rice with butter. Though I'm not sure either of those fits your criteria of nutritional value.

Toast and jam, maybe? Grilled cheese?
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How good is their palette? A lot of people go for the sirloin but I really think a good medium rare T-bone is where it's at. Skip on the A1 though, even if they whine for it, they'll appreciate you for it in the long run

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Mac and cheese
Noodles (no sauce) with extra cheese sprinkled on top
Chicken nuggets (frozen and just microwaved)
Peanut butter & nutella sandwich
Pizza (nothing fancy and probably just plain or pepperoni)

Baby carrots
Apple slices
Assorted grabable fruit (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc)
Other veggies with good crunch (green pepper slices, etc)

You want basic things that aren't too flavorful and won't make a mess if the kid is picky. Things like sloppy joes are straight out at this age. That's more of an 8-10 y/o picky eater kind of food. Also it is way too messy and they'll drop it on the floor or table or self.

Go simple.

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The noodles you want aren't things like spaghetti but something she can easily grab or pick up with her hands. And don't do sauce at all would be my recommendation. Just some cheese if she's into that.

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Is your brother at all on friendly terms with the mom? I would honestly just recommend asking her what her favorite foods are. She should have at least one fruit and veg she likes at this age.

Don't stress about variety. Whatever she eats, she eats.

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Saurkraut should be served for breakfast every morning.

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