HowI Get My Kids To Eat
Sometimes I can successfully hide a nutritious food in aclever recipe, like the ones you can find from The Sneaky Chef.While this makes me feel better about the nutrition they are getting, itdoesn’t help them get over their issues with food. And that, of course, is the goal.
Two things work in our house to get my oh-so-picky eatersto open their mouths and shovel the food in instead of dishing out the wailsand complaints. Those things are: Pizza and Kid Recipes. I find that my kidswill eat just about anything if I put it in some form that resembles pizza. Ican sneak some (not all) vegetables into Pizza Casserole, for instance. Thisone is easy. Just add marinara sauce to cooked noodles, throw in some pepperoniand mozzarella and any and all vegetables you can get away with, and bake it at350 degrees for 30 minutes, until bubbly. Pizza frittatas work to get the ones who won’t usually touch eggs eatingthem up. Just make an egg frittata and add ham and cheese, sometimes I grate insome zucchini too and they gobble it up. Another pizza-like concoction is ourburrito pizza. If I treat the burrito shell like a pizza crust, and layer theingredients like a pizza, and cut it in pizza wedges, some of my kids will eatit. Not all of them, but it works well for 3 out of 4. And getting lettuce in 2of those 3 is an accomplishment, let me tell you!
We rely on helps like BestEver Kids’ Recipes to get the kids involved. I try to let them choose a recipe or 2 fromthis recipe box before I go shopping, and then I have the ingredients on handfor the kids to make these fun kid friendly recipes that week. At least twice a month they have to pick arecipe from this that they haven’t tried yet. I know, I know, it is a smallvictory at best. But hey, a victory is a victory. I’m not going to argue withsuccess, however it comes. The kids lovethe recipes best that make some food look like a face or an animal. I’m tryingto get them to branch out, but at least they are more excited when they getinvolved. I find that allowing them to choose, involving them in the cookingand inviting their opinions makes them feel less put-upon by me. They are incharge, and they know if they quit eating this stuff, they have to go back tome making all their meal decisions. So they eat. Usually.
I wish you luck with your picky eaters. Hopefully theselittle ideas that work for us will work for you and your kids. Hang in there!
Aboutthe Author
Colleen O. Ridgely writes and writes and writes. Hergusto for life finds its greatest outlet in writing. She is interested in online colleges and any other way to learn that she can find.
