Grandpa Richards Kids

This is the 3rd time I have titled an article using the word “picky”. The facts are there to support it, though. Many of our children are picky eaters. (not at all like Grandpa Richard, who eats practically anything, except spicy stuff!)

I also wrote about using smoothies to get some fresh fruit and vegetables into your children. It is true that most children don’t like to eat vegetables especially. How can parents get them to eat the food that is so good for them? Here are some additional ideas:

1. Healthy breakfast - fill your kids up on their fruit for the day at breakfast.
a. banana on toast, maybe with peanut butter;
b. cereal with fresh or dried fruit;
c. pancakes or waffles with fruit toppings;
d. fresh fruit smoothies and a yogurt and sliced fruit combo.

2. Hide vegetables in a sauce.
a. Grate and chop zucchini, carrots and spinach into pasta and cheese sauces;
b. puree mushrooms before putting them into spaghetti sauce to avoid kids seeing them and picking them out.

3. Add to dessert
a. Add fresh fruit pieces to Jello, yogurt or ice cream for a healthy treat;
b. puree fruit to use as homemade topping in place of chocolate or caramel syrup;
c. let your kids make their own fruit parfaits.

4. Put vegetables into the meat;
a. grate vegetables in meat dishes;
b. hide grated vegetables in meatball, casseroles, meatloaf, shepherd’s pie and lasagna;
c. try an all-vegetable lasagna;
d. make all-vegetable “hamburger” patties.

5. One pot, many vegetables
a. Making homemade soups stews and chili are all easy ways to increase your family’s intake of vegetables and fruit (yes, fruit!) Everything and anything healthy should go into the pot. Puree vegetables that the kids don’t like and add them to the stock to use as a thickener.
b. Make gazpacho, a fruit soup using mangos, yellow pepper, yellow tomatoes, carrot, cantaloupe, cucumbers, papayas, raspberry vinegar, honey and vanilla extract.

6. Mystery foods
a. Use the kids’ favorite cookies, cakes and breads as a cover for fruits and vegetables. Make sweet breads and desserts with vegetables - zucchini bread, sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie.
b. Slip fruits and vegetables in all kinds of things: applesauce in cookies, zucchini in chocolate cake, and grated carrots in pasta sauce.

7. Fast and healthy food
a. Homemade pizza. Give the kids tons of healthy toppings to choose from such as tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, spinach and pineapple. Let them make their own pizza.
b. Tacos or fajitas can be a great way to get kids to add vegetables in various forms - diced tomatoes, salsa, etc.
c. Stir fries - sugar peas, snow peas, spinach and carrots.
d. Omelets - salsa, tomatoes.

8. Keep fruit and vegetables handy
a. Keep washed fruit in a bowl nearby;
b. Have ready-to-serve individual fruit cups in the fridge;
c. make up vegetable-and-dip packs for snacks;
d. serve fruit and vegetables as a side dish at meals.

If at least some of the items on this list don’t work, try making their food more interesting - like shapes out of vegetables - trees, animals, houses - and let your kids pretend to be King Kong eating his surroundings.

Do you have ideas that work? Please let me know via the comment box that you get when you click on the link just under the title of this post.

My granddaughter Jasmine told me the other day that she really likes the milkshakes that her mom makes. I was curious and decided to see what these milkshakes are all about. It turns out that what we are really talking about are fruit smoothies.

That brought up a really important question. Do you know how nutritious a fruit smoothie can be?

If you are an average parent, you have discovered that if a particular food item is very healthy and great for us, our children quickly learn to dislike it. The challenge then becomes, “How can I get my kids to eat more healthy stuff?”

Smoothies can be the answer. Most children love these drinks. And for the real die-hard kids, we can add just a bit of “bad” food and the children will surely come over to the good side! If you have never made a smoothie, it is easy. Just prepare the food as if you were going to eat it raw, put it in a blender, add some extra liquid, and blend away.

One big advantage to smoothies is that it is easy to pick ingredients that give the result an appropriate colour. Young boys are often fascinated by gross looking objects, and some of the smoothies that I make myself sure do look the part. Girls, on the other hand, might like pastel shades, and you can do that as well.

Another advantage to fruit smoothies is that they travel well. Make sure their consistency is right (add more water or milk if necessary) and put them in travel safe drinking containers. Then either just take as is or add them to your picnic cooler so they are still cool when you bring them out. They may be just right for you as well while watching the kid’s soccer game.

Advantage number three is the ability to sneak in some powdered supplements that your doctor may have recommended.

Here are several simple examples.

• 1-1/2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 cup frozen unsweetened pineapple chunks
• 1 cup low-fat vanilla soy milk
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1/2 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt or vanilla soy yogurt

You could also use regular pineapple and skip the honey.

Here is another.

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup low-fat vanilla soy milk
• 1 Tbsp. frozen lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

Note: Although these recipes use milk, you can (and should) experiment with adding water instead of milk. The presence of a protein source (the milk) slows digestion and can lead to more gas, and we don’t want that!

You can also add spinach leaves into a fruit smoothie and still get an amazing taste! Experiment by using leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, chard, and celery. These green smoothies are the ones the boys should like, as the colours are not appealing looking to adults. Get creative and come up with interesting names like Alien Juice, or Swamp Slime.

Enjoy.

We have all seen them. Children who will not try new foods. We make sure that we have the same foods on our plates, and we make sure that we are seen to enjoy them, but our children just cannot be convinced.

What is a parent to do? Experts suggest continuing to try. It can take up to 10 attempts before a child tries a new food. Here are some ideas.

• Continue to offer your child a variety of foods, even ones they have rejected.
• Keep a variety of healthy foods available in your house. Limit the high energy low nutrient ones.
• Get your children to help prepare supper. Perhaps something as simple as tearing the lettuce into pieces for the salad.
• Try to have a common pattern for your meal times. One at which all members of the family can be present, in an atmosphere that encourages social interaction.
• Above all, make sure the adults of the household eat all their food.

One last idea I will leave you with is to make some of the dishes you prepare for your children attractive. As an example, take various types of fruit and make easily recognizable shapes. Kiwi makes for good eyes and a banana makes for a good smile. I’m sure that you can come up with other combinations.

Is your child a picky eater? Forcing them to eat the foods you choose for them is not the best solution. You need to decide what foods are available at meal times. Your child decides which of these foods they eat. Your child may be going through a phase. Their desired choice for every meal may be a peanut butter sandwich. Don’t be concerned. If you provide a variety of foods, they will eventually come around.

Some experts have said that it can take 10 times before a child accepts a new food. Keep offering, and don’t force them. They will eventually try it.

If you do become frustrated easily, that can have an impact on their future food habits. Tense mealtimes are not the way to encourage a child’s good eating habits. Another option that many parents are tempted to take is to offer a dessert as reward. This is another option that I would recommend you not fall for.

Do you or your partner have bad eating habits? These also can have a terrible influence on your child. They see and hear everything.

One other suggestion that everyone familiar with the situation has, is to make sure that mealtime is a pleasurable social event, eating together as a family. Many families allow the TV to continue to run during dinners. Do not be tempted to allow that. It will backfire on you.

Make sure your meals have a variety of fruits, vegetables, starches, and meats. Your child will eventually come around and enjoy all of them.

As long as I can remember I have have been eating whatever was put in front of me. My mom still thought I didn’t eat enough. So she started to buy special pies with high calorie counts. Perhaps you’re watching your child eat and wondering if they’re getting enough; enough food, enough nutrition. One way to doublecheck this is to start a food log to check their eating habits.

This food log could be something as simple as a small notebook or elaborate as a color-coded chart, complete with special stickers. If your child is old enough, you can get them involved. Provide some incentive for them to work along with you. Consider awarding stars on the chart for achieving specific goals by eating the right number of servings from each food group. You can also use the food log to look for other patterns of eating. Perhaps they are having too many snacks, perhaps lots of protein and not enough fiber.

The key to this plan is to make sure you’re consistent. Decide ahead of time how long you’re going to use the food log for and stick to it. Otherwise, your child will see the inconsistency and you will be setting a bad precedent.

Check with your government’s nutrition department to find out what quantities are suitable for someone the age of your child. Help your child to understand what the guide says and they will probably be happy to get on board this plan with you.

When all is said and done, you may find that your child is indeed eating enough and getting the right nutrition. In that case, this will have been an interesting learning experience for both you and your child.

“Mommy. What is this?”, your son questions as he pushes the food around on his plate.

“Mom. This stuff is yucky!”, your daughter proclaims, yet you know she has not even tried it.

The battle over the food plates of the world continues, generation after generation, parents against picky eaters. Are you irritated when your son constantly picks things out of his plate like they were the most disgusting things he had ever seen on earth? Vegetables are usually the unfortunate targets. However, picky eaters are definitely not picky about the battles they fight.

 What could be some of the reasons behind such fussiness?

(to read the rest of this article, please click on the following link http://www.grandparichardskids.com/picky-eaters.php