I had always thought pre-made baby food made finicky eaters. If you've ever tasted it its bland and often either too salty or sweet. Obviously it sets kids up to crave overly sweet or salty bland food. But as the bard might say

"The fault, dear reader, is not in the jars,
But in ourselves..."

We thought it was because we had modeled good eating habits and had introduced real food- real good food- to Helena. She is a better eater than many adults I know including myself (unlike Helena, I've never been a fan of watermelon or tomatoes). Megan is getting the same experiences as Helena did as an infant. The baby food doesn't come from a jar, mostly it's the same food we eat. Megan so far enjoys butternut squash, lima beans, peas, sweet potato, spinach, green beans, cauliflower, apples and bananas. She also gets a bit of formula and fortified cereal to make sure she's getting all the iron and vitamins she needs. So far it seems she enjoys her food and will thankfully not grow up to be a picky eater (knock on wood).

Turns out that "Children's taste sensitivity and food choices influenced by taste gene". Sensitivity to bitter taste is strongly inherited. So if mom and dad couldn't stand brussel sprouts as a kid, likely you won't either.

On a somewhat related note, Helena and I have started some seeds for our garden this spring. The radishes have been started in side and in a few weeks will be ready to go outside. Eventually they'll be joined by Snow peas, spinach, carrots and tomatoes. Pictures of course will be posted when they sprout.