Picky Eater

I was at dinner with my extended family and my husband almost choked on his food when I mentioned that I never thought I was a picky eater. I guess that solves it. I need to own it.

I AM A PICKY EATER!!!

I LOVE veggies, but if Sam does get the picky part of my genetic code regarding vegetables, I found some ways to get around it.

• Make macaroni and cheese using shells. Hide a green pea in the middle of some of the shells. Gently fold into cheese sauce. They will never know.
• Add cooked, pureed vegetable to your meatloaf.
• Add steamed and pureed turnips or cauliflower to mashed potatoes. They are mild enough that they should not be detected.
• Create funny names for foods — broccoli trees, bunny salads, mashed potato sand castles, etc.
• Make sweet breads with veggie in them—zucchini bread, carrot bread, etc.
• Add extra sautéed onions, bell peppers and tomatoes to chili. Chop them very fine.
• Fix shish-kebabs with meat and veggies. The skewers will be too cool to pass up.
• Serve salsa.
• Spin broccoli and cauliflower in the food processor and add it to pasta sauce. They will never know.
• Add spinach to scrambled eggs. Tell them if it’s good enough for Popeye, they can eat it too.
• Add fruit to Jell-O.
• Get the kids involved with menu planning and preparing meals. They may be more apt to eat what they have made.
• Use cookie cutters to make cute little designs on soft vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes.
• Serve raw vegetables with a little dipping sauce, or cheese on the side.
• Ask the kids to come up with a list of things they like to eat for dinner. Write these items down on pieces of paper, with simple pictures if you like.

I hear that sometimes, new foods have to be offered to youngsters as many as 12-15 times before they’ll give them a try – so be patient.


Do you have any suggestions?