Hi everyone, just in time for Back-to-School I thank our featured foodie Kristy, from Mommy Hates Cooking, for this helpful blog post. See some great tips on dealing with picky eaters – we all know some!
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Beating the Picky Eater Blues
Recently, my son went from being semi picky about which foods he would eat to being mega picky. Not only has he been very picky, but we have also been through him having iron deficiency anemia. As soon as the doctors diagnosed this, I went into overdrive to find the best ways to beat the picky eater blues.
As I went through this myself I discovered a few things, one being that my son will not eat meat; however, if it comes in the form of a Lunchable, he’ll eat it. All of it!
I do not mind buying Lunchables on occasion, but I felt like they were not as nutritious as the ones I could make at home. The difference was I needed to find a way to serve it in the same Lunchable fashion.
I found that there are hundreds of ways to beat those picky eater blues and some of the simplest ways are by changing how you serve the food. I found many ways to mix up his brown bag lunch each day.
Here are my top 5 tips on beating the picky eater blues:
#1- Use a divided plate– Similar to the picture above, make sections and a smorgasbord of sorts offering your child various foods from all the food groups. They may not necessarily eat each food on their plate, but they have it in front of them. The more you offer healthy foods on a daily basis the more likely they will be to eventually try them and like them.
#2- Muffin Tin Lunches – A good way to mix things up is to pick up a cupcake tin. Each season these are easily found in many dollar stores around the country. They make the perfect dividers for your child’s meal and they are a fun way to serve and celebrate the different seasons. It could even be a good learning tool as well.
#3- Spinach Smoothie – One of my all time favorite ways to know that my child has the nutrition he needs is by serving up a spinach smoothie. It turns green and may not look that appealing, but most kids love smoothies and the spinach they will not taste. Make one for your child using your favorite fruits or veggies, plus a handful of spinach knowing they are getting an extra boost of iron.
#4- Sandwich Characters – For us in particular, we struggle with our child eating meat. Using these fabulous sandwich ideas, you can easily make lunch or dinner fun with their favorite characters.
#5- 10 Healthy Brown Bag Lunch Ideas – These ideas can work not only for lunch but dinner as well. Just as the article suggest is may be a good benefit just to get those kids involved with preparing the meal. This site features hundreds of recipes perfectly designed with the picky eaters in mind.
Try out these tips along with healthy snacks and see if it helps engage your child and beat those picky eater blues!
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Kristy Still is the creator of Mommy Hates Cooking, wife to a loving husband and mother to an energy filled toddler. She realized after her son was born that her cooking skills were going to have to go up a notch to keep healthy food on the table for her family. There was only one problem, she hates cooking. She ended up making the decision to start her own blog as an attempt to find motivation and share her trials with others. To learn more about Kristy be sure to check out her featured foodie profile on RecipeLion.
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Great post, Kristy! I loved the spinach shake idea — I’m going to pass it along to my sister :).