Last week my mom forwarded me an article in the Wall Street Journal about how children eat. It was really interesting and focused on the difference between how kids process a plate vs. adults, as well as ways to persuade picky eaters. In short, it's all about presentation. Children prefer six colors and seven different meal components on their plates, are more apt to eat something that resembles a design {such as a smiley face}, and will typically go for the items at the bottom of the plate, whereas adults gravitate towards the center.
With this in mind, I've been heading into the kitchen 15 minutes before mealtime to design Devon's plates. {I just said that out loud, didn't I?} And when Devon sits down in her chair, I present everything to her the way the waiters at our favorite sushi restaurant explain each of the fishes: "Devon, look! We have cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, broccoli, chicken, raisins, and cheese! Mmmm!"
Other tricks I employ are serving the stuff I know she's not interested in first {"DEVON! Check out this delicious plate of meatloaf!"}, alternating recipes {hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs... chicken cutlets with lemon, chicken soup with wild rice}, adding butter and parmesan to nearly everything {green beans, pasta}, and putting a scoop of whipped cream or raspberry jelly on her yogurt to make it taste more like dessert.
Blake, on the other hand, would gladly eat from a trough filled with anything and everything—carrots, squash, crayons, paper, zucchini, Cheerios—you name it, she'll eat it, just NO t-u-r-k-e-y, not happening, no thank you, bye-bye.
Do you have any picky eaters in your home? My mom is the pickiest eater I know and often stocks the entire top shelf of her fridge with one item only—seltzer, cottage cheese, cranberry juice—it is bizarre. And my friend Lauren puts ketchup on everything, including bagels with cream cheese! I'm not picky AT ALL, though I am most definitely a creature of habit. Below are the foods I'm currently eating en masse: salads with walnuts, cranberries, and grapes... spicy vegetable udon... apples, and avocados. Yum!
P.S. What to feed picky eaters, part 1 {read the comments if you need ideas...they're great!}
11 comments:
My son is incredibly picky, which started when he was two. I have to say, after almost five years of it, we've given up on vegetables and most meats for now. He will eat edamame and does drink green machine (which is incredibly sweet, of course). I applaud you for your efforts with Devon!
{I just said that out loud, didn't I?}
(love)
;-)
Such good ideas! I'm not a picky eater, but my husband definitely is. I might use these tricks on him. :) Can't wait to meet you tomorrow!
I have to say that I am really lucky, because my son isn't picky at all (YET? :/). He is 2. He will eat almost anything.
Good luck!
So, we are totally lucky and have three great eaters. My five year old and two year old twins eat an enormous variety of food - veggies, beans, sushi, all sorts of fish and fruit aplenty. Now wait, before you roll your eyes I have to make a confession…I have NO idea how it happened. No magic trick, no secret recipe. We approached feeding our kids with some basic "themes" but I have no idea if they worked or we just got lucky. (I am leaning heavily towards lucky, btw.)
In the event it was more than luck I will share our few basic tenants: 1) We don’t project food dislikes onto our kids. Before we even had kids we were very aware (because of a great dietician friend) of how people "project" food dislikes onto kids. Really, the next time you are in a park or out to eat, eavesdrop on some people with kids. "You won't like that", "That is yucky", “Oh don’t give him that he won’t eat it”, on and on. It is amazing; kids are assaulted with other people's opinions of what they "won't" like. So we have done our best not to do that. (Harder is not letting strangers/well meaning relatives do it - just yesterday my 5 year old was helping pick some broccoli crowns at the grocery store and this guy came up and said to my son, “Eww – broccoli – yucky, right?”) Ugh. 2) Follow the 30 times exposure “rule”. There is that school of thought that kids need to taste something 30 times to know if they like it or not. Who knows the validity of that but even if our kids say they don’t like something, we keep serving it to them – they usually end up loving it over time. 3) Celebrate “trying”. When our kids taste something new, even if they don’t like it, we go over-the-top crazy with celebration for the “trying”. I mean clapping, cheering, wild hooting, what-is-the-matter-with-that-family commotion!. “Trying” gets major attention in our home. 4) I do “hide” some veggies in food. Pureed beets added to pancake batter creates “magical” pink pancakes that are devoured; kale gets pureed into pesto for fun green spaghetti. To be honest, I started this because I was desperate to use all of the veggies in our weekly veggie box; I have continued it because it works for us. 5) Ellyn Satter. Best perspective I ever read on feeding kids.
Love your blog. It makes me smile on days when I might otherwise tear my hair out. Thanks.
i'm not sure if I was a picky eater or not, but I can't recall a kid I babysat for who wasn't a picky eater. I served a lot of pasta with butter and cheese! That part of motherhood is really going to test my patience! Well, likely all of motherhood. I loved reading about the way you present food to Devon, I'd eat everything on my plate if it was given to me that way!
Great post, thanks for sharing! xo
http://dreamingenfrancais.blogspot.com
i was never a picky eater, and really no one in my family was! my mom is a fantastic if eccentric cook and we really didn't know any other way!
in dramatic fashion
I'll have to check out that article. Gus isn't too picky though he's just not eating a lot...
Your pics are gorgeous by the way, can't believe how big your little one is now. We are still a little sleep deprived here but Cole is a sweet baby.
ketchup on GLORIOUS cream cheese?! UGH that is vile.
By the way, if you make a "button" I would love to put it on my blog.
Just don't provide much in the way of snacks. I was always the mom who didn't have a sack of granola bars, gold fish crackers, gogurts, etc.I have never in my life bought a juice box. I felt bad about it, but I could barely remember to pack diapers and wipes. My kids are school age, now, so they eat half a pbj or a small quesadilla when they get home, and I do put out a plate of apple slices while I'm cooking dinner--no one ever ruined their dinner eating apple slices. Guess what? My kids are hungry at meal times, so they chow down. I make one meal for our family. Making a sandwich or a bowl of cereal is NOT an option. They have never never been picky. It's not rocket science. Just ditch all that crappy sugar/chemical/packaging laden snack food. You'll save money and your kids will eat.
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