The other week, I participated in a great dialogue on TheMotherhood’s Cooking Connections about “Expanding Your Family’s Palate by Placating Picky Eaters.” The hosts and co-hosts were some of my favorite bloggers, many of whom blog about food and parenting and topics in between.
There were so many great takeaways from our discussion about picky eaters, and I was sure to add my two cents about the experiences I had growing up with an extremely picky sibling. I loved hearing other parents’ suggestions about getting picky eaters to try new foods, as I’m sure it’s something many of you have experienced firsthand.
My favorite suggestions for placating picky eaters includes eating and introducing colorful foods and involving kids in the cooking process. My friend Carol said it best: “involving kids in the kitchen gives them a sense of accomplishment…”
Some great insight from the other participants and hosts was the effectiveness they had with the “one-bite rule” to get their kids to try a food before simply refusing it.
“Our rule is you just need to take a full size bite, chew, swallow and then say, ‘Yes, please’ or ‘No, thank you,’” said host Jennifer Leal, Savor the Thyme.
The details for our Cooking Connections class on “Expanding Your Family’s Palate by Placating Picky Eaters” is up. There are a lot of great ideas and links related to our discussion about picky eaters. Be sure to check out the summary of our chat here.
Check it
Several great recipes and links were mentioned during our chat, and here’s just a few of the many great links worth checking out:
Great Links
They look like burgers, but they’re … Tuna Sliders: http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Tuna-Sliders-5236.html
Work some fruit into an old favorite … Grilled Cheese and Pear Sandwiches: http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Grilled-Cheese-and-Pear-Sandwiches-4727.html
To expand the horizons of those kids who will ONLY eat mac and cheese … try South of the Border Mac and Cheese: http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-SouthoftheBorder-Mac-and-Cheese-2214.html
Exploring food with your kids: http://food.yourway.net/exploring-food-with-your-kids/
Supermarket scavenger hunt: http://www.superkidsnutrition.com/sckids/nutrition-adventures/na_abby1.pdf
How to develop and teach your family healthy eating habits: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/guide/how-to-develop-and-teach-your-family-healthy-eating-habits/
To help cure food boredom, if that’s what causes your picky eater to turn up his or her nose: http://www.funkylunch.com
Full disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in TheMotherhood’s Cooking Connections, which is sponsored by Con Agra.
