Food Fight

I've been working recently, recently as in the last week or so, on helping my kids to eat a wider variety of foods. Here's what I do right: they love breakfast food including any kind of pancake/waffle/toast and it is definitely the biggest meal of the day, I offer a fruit serving for each meal and vegetables at lunch and dinner, I give them milk at every meal, and watered down juice in between meals, and I limit snacks because they really don't seem to need them. Here's what I do wrong: they have PB&J's almost everyday. On the days that they don't have PB&J for lunch, they usually have McDonalds or mac n cheese. Dinner isn't much better. So, I've been trying to give them the same thing that we eat for dinner this week especially since they're doing really well using a fork and spoon. It's failing miserably. For instance, last night I made No Noodle Lasagna. Catie dug at it a little with her fork, then picked up some spinach with her fingers and said "yucky, yucky, yucky," while brushing it off her hands and back into her bowl. (Feel free to laugh at this story. I did.) Brad made them a PB&J. Am I not being patient enough? Are they old enough to say that they have to eat what I make or nothing at all?