Food for thought: How to get your picky eater to eat better
by Joanne Kimes
Some parents have it lucky. They give birth to miraculous kids that sleep through the night, don’t have tantrums and eat anything you put in front of them. And then there’s my kid.
A child that’s so exhausting to deal with, the closest thing she’ll ever have to a sibling is her pet goldfish. When it comes to her finicky eating habits, it’s a wonder she gets enough nutrients in her to survive through the day.
If you have a picky eater too, you know firsthand how frustrating it is to get them to eat a variety of foods instead of just a steady diet of mac n’ cheese and some kind of nugget. But there is hope. With a few kitchen gadgets, and a few deceptive tactics far greater than any used in the military, your kid will be chowing down on something that may actually be good for him (although you don’t need to tell him that!).
- Hide the good stuff. Long before there were cookbooks (and later lawsuits) by women such as Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, moms were hiding healthy foods in vessels like sauces, baked goods, and casseroles. My personal favorite hiding place: pancake batter. If lack of protein is your issue, use two egg whites to replace one whole egg and substitute half soy milk for cow’s milk. If lack of fiber is the problem, use less flour (or pancake mix) and add flax seed meal, a great source of fiber and omega-3. No matter what you’re hiding, add a splash of vanilla extract to the batter to pump up the flavor so it’s less noticeable.
- Make food fun. You think kids would eat celery with peanut butter and raisons if it weren’t called “Ants On A Log”? Give food a silly name or make it more kid friendly, and your child will be gobbling it up faster than sand at the playground! Add a few drops of food color to turn a boring breakfast into “green eggs and ham.” If your child doesn’t like milk, add a few drops of blue to create “Blue’s Clues Milk.” A once-forbidden slice of whole wheat bread will quickly become a favorite if you toast it, cut it into a circle with a large biscuit cutter, scrape off eyes and a smile and present it as “Tubbie Toast”!
- Make food plain. Finicky kids like things simple and texture free. Strain pulp from orange juice, put canned sauce in a blender to get rid of all those yucky chunks and don’t even think about adding “grass” (finicky-eater kid lingo for any kind of herb).
- Have your kids help out in the kitchen. If you can get your child to help make their meals, you’ll stand a much better chance of getting them to eat it.
- Use chicken stock as a secret weapon. Any food will have a lot more flavor if it’s cooked in stock instead of water. Use it to steam veggies (especially broccoli) and add some to pasta water (they’ll even eat whole wheat pasta!).
- Use peer pressure. This same influence that may one day lead to smoking and wearing those low-ride jeans where their underwear hangs out, can actually work in your favor now. If your child sees his friend eating something healthy, there’s a greater chance your kid will eat it too.
Although your child will probably never outgrow his fondness for all things pizza and ice cream (I never did), hopefully you can use these tips to get some healthy food in him so you won’t worry so much about the other junk he’s putting in his mouth. Except for that playground sand because that’s just gross.
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