Those Picky Eaters Can Make Mealtime Tough

Do you have a picky eater in your family? I have always prided my family on being such good eaters and willing to try new things (even the 4 year old)….but my son tends to throw me a curve ball. He has a strange palette. He loves yellow apples but won’t touch another piece of fruit. He will eat pizza or spaghetti with tomato sauce, but won’t eat a chopped up tomato and he loves sushi. All of us tackle these food issues with our kids. Every once in awhile I try to slip in a new veggie or fruit and wham, I’m caught! This led me to do a little more research. I found an article in  EverydayHealth.com  written by Lynn Yoffee “How to Get Your Picky Eaters to Try New Foods”, I thought I could apply some of these tactics whether it’s for toddlers or teenagers. Our Finds and Fun editor own the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook Deceptively Delicious. They have made a few of these recipes and their kids didn’t notice a thing, nor did their friends. Some examples are putting 1 cup of avocado puree in chocolate pudding and oat flour in brownies. Jessica even uses flax seed when she breads her chicken fingers. The article from Everydayhealth.com points out that kids love dip and you can offer them fruit and veggies with it. You will be surprised how many takers you will get. You also shouldn’t use food as a punishment. They recommend introducing new foods frequently and steer clear of sweets and snacks before a meal. We have a few examples for you to try and see which works best for your family. Does the example of deceiving our kids and placing the veggies in their dinner or the article giving some tips of how to approach the picky eater, work for your family best? Give them each a whirl and I’ll let you know what worked best for me. I am guessing it will be the deceiving one. ha