PICKY EATERS?
I GOT A GOOD TRICK+TREAT FOR Y'ALL !!!
Who said you can't play with your food? That's certainly an old-school saying my friends but we about to change this for sure!
Recently, I was having a #foodie conversations with a good friend of mine and we've agreed about how his toddler and my niece toddler (same age group) are picky eaters when it comes to having a "gourmet meal" (Yes, we're fancy that way hahaha ). I had to share a good trick and ideas that I came up with in order to get these kid(s) to eat!
While, I was doing some research about toddlers becoming picky eaters at a certain age, I came up with putting myself in their shoes. What does these toddlers love in this phase of life? Well, that super easy!
They are very view visual, kids enjoy singing, shapes, colors, and numbers. With that, I told myself.....let's get more involved by making food fun and visually exciting. What do I mean by this? Basically, I figured that kids are very visual and hands-on with everything around them.
Since, my niece enjoys (sometimes) "Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches" . I thought to myself, what can I do to make this more fun? Then I was hit with an idea.... "wait kids love cookies and I have tons of Cookies Cutter let's level-up this P+B and Jelly Sandwich into fun-shapes." It became a success- she wiped out that plate in a few minutes!!!
I had to tell my foodie friends, new parents, aunties and uncles to use this method if they struggled while feeding their toddlers. My foodie friend and I said....WE HIT THE JACKPOT WITH THIS COOKIE CUTTER IDEA! So far he even got a compliment from his kid pre-school teacher! Now that's exciting news.
Disclosure:
1. The adult has to eat the leftovers and crumbs. ( NO FOOD WASTE PLEASE).
2. This can be done with many types of food like veggies, fruits, rice... use your imagination.
3. This is a perfect and good method to sneak some veggies in their meals friend!
EXHIBIT A : "Thank You" to my foodie friend (A.Nguyen) for sharing your kid's meal for this amazing BLOG :)
EXHIBIT B : The amazing Ghost Grilled Cheese!!!
EXHIBIT C : My toddler niece "Pumpkin + Chocolate Chip Pancakes" I sneaked the winter squash... what a winner!!!
Endnotes :
1. Toddlers also enjoy getting involved in the process of prepping and making the food with the adult! Remember, they are in a learning stage, they process everything like little sponges with lot of curiosities on how things works. My main advice, is Involving the kids more often, makes it a good habit in teaching them at an early age to develop cooking skills. This enable the kids to participate, expand their palette and eventually eat what they make with you.
2. Kids are attention seekers too: Kid's like to eat also with adults, if you can, take that time and sit on the same table, have a conversation and eat with your kid(s) this for sure will make them a happier kid in the long run.
EXHIBIT C : FUN LUNCH MEAL
My niece was excited to eat her fun creative lunch. What's on her plate: Organic Peas, Homemade Semi-French Fries, Chicken Sausage and her 2nd time trying Organic-Ketchup).
Final Disclosure: Although, I am not a parent (yet), I do have years of dealing with babies, toddlers, teenager and young adults. I am very involved in my family and/or close friends kiddo's and I'm grateful for the opportunities. This is my own experience and expertise in this case.
