While I also follow Christina Anderson and have spoken with her about a personal consultation due to kiddo having autism related food challenges, ultimately I found that I didn't need to.
1)I kept healthy foods of all types available-with no food having a "clock" or right time(ie. oh, you want cold grilled chicken for breakfast? Ok. Oh, you want boiled eggs as an evening snack? Ok.)
2)I took my kiddo shopping-she was interested in far more than I knew
Although some of this was packaging related-so I gave in, bought the "cool packaging"-then showed her that not only could I make it too(duh, I had been for ages-you just wouldn't eat it-lol), I could even customize it for her too!! She is THE only one like this-uggggh! hehe.
3)her eating habits have changed all on their own!! My gymnast refused most meat the first 5yrs of her life. With each step up in her training, she has gravitated toward more meat, and more protein in general. Now there are days she eats little besides meat(not often, but the first time made me realize my worries were for naught and just how far she had come!)
4)in addition to everything else, I have found my kiddo has been willing to try a few things because of gym friends. A great example was hummus. She flat refused it for 9 LONG years, at home, in a restaurant, as takeout, didn't matter. Six of us love it, she wouldn't even try it. Suddenly one day she ate it, I casually said "oh, you like the hummus?" She told me she tried a gym friends hummus on break, it was yummy, so now she likes it. Hallelujah, although new one on me!!
While our particular issue was protein, I truly believe that most kids(humans/animals in general)will eat what their bodies need, when they need it. It was something mentioned to me when pregnant with my first by a nutritionist. If we allow our children to eat as much/little as they want of whatever they want, they are amazing self-regulators! It is only when we force things "you must try one bite," "you must clean your plate," "you must eat x bites of xyz," etc. that we actually do a disservice to our children and shut off these regulatory mechanisms we were built with. This can often lead to a lifetime struggle with food-mentally and physically.
I have found that to be true of all of my children(although I WAS temporarily concerned when we were combining autism & higher level gymnastics...mainly because my 19yr old son had an issue early in life due to brain injury at birth-although that resolved with occupational therapy around 7yrs, still had me watchful). All 5 of my kids have always been given a balanced meal on their plates, they can eat as much or as little of anything as they want. Oh, didn't touch the carrots/veg? OK. Oh, wanted double/triple potatoes/starch? OK. Oh, havent eaten meat/protein in 3 nights? Ok. Oh, you didnt eat much? Ok. Never a fight at meal time, never a single food discussion prompted by me(as teens/adults they've occasionally brought things up/asked questions). All 5 are amazing, healthy eaters-they request vegetables(even as little kids), they eat balanced meals, and the 2 young adults are not junk food addicts when away from mom. Heck, I have thrown away half of the last 3 batches of muffins I've purchased(over about 9/10/12mos)as they all prefer healthy breakfasts to the occasional muffins that hubs requests every now & again, or the 'strawberry cake'(I use the term loosely-it was hecka artificial) from a friends party that none of them ate beyond the first bite, same goes for most store bought sweets, they just don't want or like it!!
So my advice is to keep offering DD a balanced plate at each meal and let her keep eating as she wants to eat and she will start eating what she needs to eat-usually after 2-4x on their plate they will try new foods, 2-4x after trying one bite, they will eat full servings-same toddler rules apply ;-)
It sounds like she has needed carbs for energy and dairy to assist in growth-those were her body's biggest needs and she found a way to meet them!!
Obviously serve things separately, no child wants food that is mixed together(unless they are truly unique). HOWEVER if you want to end that? Once she is eating well enough, separate out her casserole/stew into parts on her plate(ie a pile of meat in stew gravy, a pile of carrots in stew gravy, a pile of green beans in stew gravy, etc), then eventually just separate by "group"(ie meat, veg, starch), suddenly they're fine with stew in a bowl-one of mine continued to separate on her own for a minute and still separates by the spoonful(ie one spoon/fork can only have one item at a time)-she had to be difficult and add steps
That's just my advice after being mom for almost 22yrs(after following advice given by a very smart doctor of nutrition from Northwestern).
