2 year old starting to go for only plain food - should I pander or continue on as normal??

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

She used to eat anything and her brother who is 8 months, currently does eat anything. i tend to cook normal food as it were so includes herbs and spices and garlic and a few ingredients - just as I would cook for us big people on a day to day basis. This never used to be a problem and infact, she used to prefer the tastier stuff.

She's now going through the usual 2 year old 'fussy' phase and I'm not stressed or bothered about it in the least. I'm a firm believer in if she's hungry she'll eat and if she isn't, she won't. I am keen to continue the flavours up for the younger one as I think it's more interesting for him plus I am keen to expose him to more variety and flavours rather than less.

BUT having said all that - I realise that food can become an issue and I wondered if really I should just work with her for a while and give her plain pasta with steamed broccoli on the side and frozen peas in a separate bowl and all the rest of the palava. What do you think? I refuse to cook her a separate meal but it's no stress to present it differently to everyone elses but I don't know if that is actually counterproductive.

Tough one. I think I'd go for the just keep giving her normal meals, personally. My DD is 2.6 and there are some foods that she won't eat now that she used to love (fried potatoes, for instance, and spinach and broccoli).

I just keep putting it on her plate and telling her how much I am enjoying whatever we are eating (not in an OTT way, just mentioning it). They all come out of this phase eventually, I hear!

I tend to present 2 or 3 things I know DS will eat with 1 or 2 that I doubt he will so he keeps up his intake without me making an issue of it. I continue to do that with everything he doesn't like and so far he's gone back to potato, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber etc (after a lot of time and wasted food, but heigh ho).
Good luck.

I would ease up as much as it takes to avoid a battle of wills / showdown. Children's taste DOES change, numerous adventurous palates seem to regress, and later they will return. DS did exactly this.

there is some biological / evolutionary reason why 2 yos suddenl;y develop very conservative tastes, and become much less willing to try new things - it is something to do with the age we would have been weaned, and suspicion of things which could be poisonous - hence a frequent aversion to veg! Someone posted a link to it all some years ago on MN.

DS1 is still in a bit of a fussy stage - we realised he doesn't like the food mixed up and if we serve it plain he will still eat anything. It just has to all look 'separate' For example he will happily eat plain pasta with some veg (each separate) and a bit of the sauce in a different part of the plate. So if we're having pasta I just serve his first before I put the pasta in the sauce saucepan iyswim.
he just likes to see what the separate things are I think.
So we aren't really pandering, but have been making things that are not so 'mixed', ie more meat and 2 veg rather than pasta or one pot meals.

Thanks everyone - it's interesting isn't it and yes I've heard that it's evolutionary etc. I am very keen not to have her dictating her meals in any way because I think that causes its own set of problems but I could do the mix and match - e.g. plain pasta and separate sauce with a spoonful of mixed pasta with sauce on the plate too (and do that for everyone) and see what she does. i think my issue is that I think it's important that she perceives that we're all eating the same meal and that nothing is being done specifically to suit her. I am very laid back during meals and when she starts leaping up and down about not liking something I just tell her to leave it and get down if she's finished. I am really not bothered if she eats or not!