Why Operation IFO??? Let Me Explain...

Riley World is into its second week of Operation IFO (Increase Food Options). It has been all consuming. All I can think about, tweet about, FB about is Operation IFO.

I should have probably explained why I decided to begin Operation IFO before blasting you with updates and blog posts every waking minute. Heaven knows we do not need the authorities knocking on our door. Jooooo-king people.

Riley’s “menu” has been ummmm limited from the very beginning. For reasons that have sometimes been out of our control (weight loss due to seizures) and well life in general…over the last 4-5 years, as long as Riley would eat something...anything...we were appeased. 

Just to give you an idea of R's limited menu…here is THE list of foods R eats now or has eaten in the past:

Breakfast:

            Now:

·         Cheerios (original; dry)

·         Pancakes (occasionally – plain, no butter or syrup)

In the past:

·         White “toast” (lightly browned with a touch of butter)

Lunch:

            Now:

·         Hot dogs (sans bun)

·         Perogies (Cheemo brand – potato and cheddar cheese; preferably bite-size)

·         Mr. Noodles brand only - chicken flavour

In the past: (none of these were desirables but R would “eat” them)

·         Carrot soup (homemade pureed)

·         Ham or chicken “sandwich”:  two slices of white bread (no crusts or any sign of brown edges) with a single, see-through slice of deli meat.

·         Cheese Pizza

Introduced but not on a regular basis:

·         Hot dogs (with bun)

·         Plain McD’s hamburger/chicken McNuggets

Dinner:

            Now:

·         Lipton’s Chicken Noodle Soup:  as few noodles as possible; I add small cubes of tofu and 2 eggs swirled into the soup.

·         A modified Oyako-donburi (Japanese rice bowl dish): chicken broth with small cubes of tofu and 2 eggs swirled into the broth served over Japanese sticky rice.

·         Perogies

·         Mashed potatoes, carrots with a few bites of turkey/ham (special occasion dinners)

·         Mr. Noodles

·         Udon (plain)

In the past: 

I used to prepare at least 1 food item plus rice or potato that R would eat so we could eat all together. That one food item may just be carrots. Pasta was never a desirable but R would eat a minimal amount usually followed by soup or Mr. Noodles.

           

Snacks:

            Now:

·         Cheerios (original; dry)

·         McDonald's French Fries

·         Arrowroot (aka baby) cookies

·         Lay’s Salt & Vinegar chips (crushed)

·         Minigo (to take his meds)

Occasionally:

·         Rice cakes (butter popcorn flavour – Quaker brand only)

·        Cheddar Fish Crackers

·        Mini Ritz original crackers

·         Baby apricots (on vacation only)

·         Orange popsicles (only orange)

In the past:

·         Grapes (red or green)

·         Apples (peeled and cut into 8ths)

·         Orange sherbet

This list is pretty dismal isn’t it? I racked my brains to come up with any other food items that Riley will eat/has eaten over the past 19 years as surely I must be missing some things. I even asked G. He added a few items that I had forgotten but this seems to be it.

Hard to believe he has managed to survive over the last 19 years. So why/how did I let R’s food choices slide so far backwards? Well as Bec at Snagglebox writes in her post “How to Help a Selective Eater”… “Life with a restrictive eater can be really, really frustrating. But as long as they’re eating something, does it really need to be at the top of your list of things to tackle?”  For us…these past 4-5 years…it absolutely was not at the top of our list.

So what has changed? Well now that we are entering a new phase in Riley World, we have the time, energy and I am ready to tackle my old nemesis. Let the Games Begin!!  

Image from MorgueFile