Feeding Picky Eaters - 5 Tips to End Food Battles
By Julie Languille

Feeding picky eaters can be challenging. Forcing kids to eat can set up a battle of wills and as a parent you know you have to pick your battles. There are several things you can do to improve the odds without getting into a contest of wills. Here are 5 tips to make dinner easy.

Hunger

Tip one: (Don’t laugh) Hungry kids will eat; when they aren’t hungry it is very easy to be picky. If you have a picky eater stop snacking for 2 hours before dinner so they come to the table hungry. The appetite is a good thing, it naturally cues us to stop eating when we are full and everything tastes better when we are hungry. I know several people that allow their children to have sugary cereal an hour before dinner. If you choose to allow snacking, think about only allowing foods you would serve at a meal like fruit, vegetables, whole grains or yogurt.

The Dreaded Vegetable

Tip two: First things first. If your kids are reluctant to eat vegetables, serve them first. When they’ve eaten them, or made a fair attempt, then serve the remaining courses. Praise them for eating their vegetables and especially for trying new ones.

Tip three: Fruit has many of the same vitamin, mineral and fiber benefits as vegetables and its higher sugar content makes it more appealing to kids. If they absolutely won’t eat vegetables, give them fruit and slowly introduce vegetables, starting with the easiest ones first. Then you can try things like carrot raisin salad or apple coleslaw. From the familiar friendly fruit, branch into the vegetables. Apples or pears lightly sautéed in butter makes a nice side dish for pork and both go well on top of a salad.

Tip four: Crudités like carrots, broccoli and cauliflower raw, or lightly blanched, cut into small pieces and served with a little ranch dip is party food, baby! Raw vegetables or very lightly cooked vegetables have a sweeter flavor more appealing to kids.

Tip five: Cute! Arrange the food in cute patterns, make faces out of vegetables or create zigzag patterns with carrots or beans.

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Julie Languille. Mom, step-mom, foster mom and adoptive mom and owner of Dinners In A Flash http://www.dinnersinaflash.com Easy Dinner Recipes, Menus and Meal Planning for Busy Families.