Creative Food Solutions

Here comes the fun part; not only for you, but for your whole family as well. Making food fun to eat and interesting is a surefire way to get your picky eater to take a second look.

Do you remember that time in your childhood when Thanksgiving was ruined because the gravy on the potatoes touched the turkey on your plate? Many picky eaters like to have control of the way their foods are combined. Here’s one way to give your picky eater more control. Instead of mixing your pasta and red sauce, make the sauce a “dip” for the pasta. Speaking of dips, even though ketchup and ranch dressing will always hold top spots as “food phobia conquerors” in the picky eaters hall of fame, some other dips that also pack a nutrition punch include, hummus, easy homemade guacamole (mash one avocado and mix with ¼ cup prepared salsa), vanilla yogurt – (the Greek style also adds a nice punch of protein) applesauce and of course peanut butter.
 
Another way to make food fun is to make it a smoothie! As long as you are careful to stay away from milkshakes masquerading as a healthy drink, smoothies are a fun way to get a variety of fruits (and for those adventurous types: a variety of vegetables) into your child. Combining a very ripe banana, a sectioned orange and a cup of mixed berries, thinned out with some fruit makes for an incredibly healthy drink (that combination makes at least 4 servings too!). Smoothies are also a great option for your child to help make. Ask them to toss in the bananas or the berries or ask them for suggestions for fruits to add. You can even try sneaking in some wheat germ, yogurt, honey or peanut butter to power up the nutrition. How cool is it to drink lunch through a straw? Very!
 
Picky kids often do better when they are involved in the cooking process so give them a stake in the game. As mentioned above, if your child is involved with creating the meal, she is more likely to give the food a chance, and more likely to understand how to construct a healthful meal. Toddlers as young as 2 can rip lettuce, help wash fruits and vegetables, and make some pretty cool presentation plates with faces. Older kids can build sandwiches, peel some fruit and even measure ingredients. Or try asking your child to help with the menu, keeping an open mind. Breakfast for dinner is always a huge hit. Just because you don’t consider something a breakfast food, doesn’t mean that your child won’t – if she’s willing to eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast, why not?
 
Presentation counts!  Just as you’re wowed at a restaurant when a dish comes to the table looking beautiful, so too will your toddler– even more so if they had a hand in creating it. Another simple and healthy tip from many pediatricians is to make the meal colorful. Each food on a plate should be a different color – an orange carrot, a red apple, some green peas – plus your lean protein like chicken – think of the presentation possibilities with a color palate like that! Place Green olives on top of carrot sticks for a magic wand, or make a pizza on a half a pita – that’s a blank canvas for some food art that might eventually be eaten! A scrambled egg sheep, spaghetti hair on a meatball face or a hummus and pretzel porcupine is pretty tempting as well.  
 
Sneaking healthful foods into meals by way of purees is another option for getting healthy nutrients into your picky eaters. Remember that even proponents of this method will tell you that it is important that your children are learning to eat healthy and they have to see that food to understand the concept. So if you’re going to sneak squash into your lasagna, remember to put some peas on the side too!