Mom’s 13 Tips & Tricks for Picky Eaters _ How To Get Kids to Try New Foods _

One of my greatest accomplishments as a mom is raising three kids who are not picky eaters. Don't worry, we have plenty of other issues. But I'm here to show you my 13 tricks to get your picky eaters to become a little less picky. Let me start with a little disclaimer. I am not a dietician, I am not a health professional, and I am no expert. Let's get started. Number one, don't force your kids to eat. You want food to be a positive experience and never a negative experience. So, you know, like your grandparents used to tell you, they'll eat when they're hungry. Along those same lines is my second tip, limit the snacking. When kids are hungrier, they're a little more likely to try new things. My next tip, be sneaky but don't hide it. I'm not a big fan of disguising food into sweet treats. For example, zucchini muffins or zucchini bread as a way to get your kids to eat zucchini, to me is not the way to go because you're covering it with tons of sugar and making it into a delicious cake. That's not really gonna teach them how to enjoy zucchini. So I just like to transform the food into something else. For example, turning a can of beans into delicious hummus. This is still beans, if they ask, but it's in a little less scary form and it can be enjoyed with chips or veggies. I also love using things like butternut squash stirred into a macaroni and cheese sauce. Now this gets a little more into the sneaky category, but if they ask, I'll be happy to tell them. At the end of the day, that just looks like a delicious bowl of creamy mac and cheese. A great tip for transforming your beans into something a little less scary for your picky eater is to add them to other things such as taco meat. This works great for mushrooms as well. Next, try to get your picky eater to try that one scary food more than one way. For example, plain broccoli doesn't look that appetizing. If this is the way you've started them on it, well, I wouldn't be excited about that either. Try turning it into creamy broccoli cheesy soup. Yes, this might not be as healthy, but it can at least take the fear factor away. I've also found with my son that he prefers his vegetables raw and crunchy and dipped in ranch dressing. Another great example is with okra. When you cook it, it tends to get slimy and mushy and it's a no-go for a lot of picky eaters. If you try grilling or roasting any of your vegetables, what happens is there's a little bit of caramelization that occurs when the sugars get cooked. It makes them sweet and crusty and absolutely delicious. Another way my son started eating vegetables is by having things pickled. Okay, he didn't eat any green vegetables at first except pickles. He would eat an entire jar of pickled okra, pickled green beans, even pickled asparagus. So, if anything, it can just be a gateway to introduce the kids to the fearful foods and take the fear factor away. Next tip, just say no to short order cooking. I am not going to create multiple meals when we are sitting down to dinner time. Ain't nobody got time for that. What I will do, however, is separate some of the things I'm already cooking to please the pickier eater. For example, if I'm making a stir fry or a casserole, my son doesn't love things mixed together, but he will eat the same items if they're separated. So, while I'm already cooking things anyway, I will hold some aside and keep them separate for him. Speaking of cooking in the kitchen, the next tip is bring that picky eater into the kitchen and let them help you cook. As they sit there, not only is that good quality time spent with you, but they're becoming less scared of the food and, just by accident, they might be helping you prep and just take a bite. I can tell you that all three of my children have come to like bell peppers just by standing in the kitchen while I cook. Next tip is to get your picky eater to try foods in very small doses. Look, you gotta work your way up. My friend Elise used to bargain with her kids and get them to just eat one or two leaves of spinach at a time. Gradually, they've worked themselves up to a larger tolerance. Another great trick I learned to get your kids to eat just a little bit of something is to roll a dice. The number on the dice determines the amount of bites of that food they have to take. Next, include the picky eater's safe or comfortable foods with the scarier foods. This way, the plate doesn't look so intimidating and they only have to get over one hurdle. Next tip, blend it, okay? Yes, this can be a little sneaky at times, but I'm also talking about soups and sauces is a great way to get your kid to try that vegetable a different way. A great example is that broccoli soup again. You know, it's broccoli but a little less intimidating. That works for butternut squash and potatoes and other vegetables as well. Obviously, smoothies are the thing that first comes to mind when you're talking about blending up some nutrition. And so I'm gonna stop right here and show you my favorite healthy smoothie. Avocado to start, spinach, almond milk, dark cherries. These are full of antioxidants. We're making a black forest smoothie. And unsweetened cocoa powder. Looks like a chocolate milkshake to me. You have no idea that there is anything green inside of here. I have a feeling my healthy camera boy will taste this because he saw all the nutrition that went in it and it's not junk food. Tell me what you think. Does it taste like junk food? That's pretty good. Yeah. It's pretty good. Here's my next tip. Funny names equal less scary foods. If you come up with a funny name or a fun name for your food, this works really well, especially with the really young picky eaters. My friend Sherry calls this the Shrek smoothie. It's absolutely delicious. I put this in a cup. Michael said it's the best thing he's ever had. And this snack at my house is called mango tangos. How fun is that? Next tip, stick it. Not only does it look more fun to eat, but it is more fun to eat. My daughter went through a little bit of a picky stage and wasn't eating much at all. So this on her plate looked a little intimidating. Once I started cutting it up and putting it on a stick and serving it with her favorite dip, she was all in. Speaking of serving it with favorite condiments, the next tip is dip it. Dip, baby, dip. Picky eaters are likely to get that food down if it's covered in their favorite dip, such as ketchup, ranch dressing, or even honey mustard. And for my final tip, and you've seen this trick before in a previous video, set up the food buffet style and let your picky eater build their own meal. This works wonders. Now maybe they're not gonna choose everything, but I think they're a little more likely to try a little bit of something on their plate. I love a great build your own pizza and salad bar. I hope you can find at least one tip here to get your picky eater to eat a little better. And if all else fails, give them a Flintstone vitamin, will ya? For more great tips to get your kids to eat better, don't forget to follow my recipes on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. And if you're watching on YouTube, click the bell so you're notified every time we post an aha moment like this. So I like to just disguise the food. So I just like.