Cooking With Kids
Strategy #1 for getting kids to try weird food
How do you get kids to try foods they would normally turn their nose up at faster than they can say, "no way mom!"? These are foods that they might describe as weird because they look a little different than a similar food or because they just haven't tried them before.
Answer: have them help you make something that includes those foods. The minute they are the ones in the kitchen pouring the smoothie or chopping the fruit, they tend to develop a sudden strange case of willing-to-try-it-itis. I've witnessed this many times myself.
What kinds of weird food are we talking about? How about tofu, soy milk, dried fruit, okra, barley, spinach, water chestnuts, jicama, etc... Recently I had one of my cooking sessions with my friend's daughters and one of my daughters and the theme for the hour (although I didn't let them in on it) was "how to get your kids to try weird food and like it." We made a tropical mango smoothie with vanilla soy milk (you know, that milk that looks funny). We made a spinach dip with frozen spinach and water chestnuts or chopped jicama, and we made a tasty treat by dipping dried apricots in a little melted white chocolate then pressed into chopped peanuts. They loved all of it.
My daughter believes she is "allergic" to yogurt, that it gives her a tummy ache after she eats it. Not that I doubt it, but I'm guessing a little yogurt would be just fine. We added yogurt to the smoothie and I don't think she even realized it. No tummy ache ensued.
Bottom line: Kids love to cook. As their involvement goes up with the making of the meal or snack, so escalates their willingness to try new foods. Just keep that in mind the next time you are staring at a tub of tofu or a box of barley.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Ask Dr Parker: Picky Eaters, Parenting the Picky Eater
Technorati Tags: cookingwithkids, pickyeaters, weirdfoods, tofu, soy, jicama, smoothies
How do you get kids to try foods they would normally turn their nose up at faster than they can say, "no way mom!"? These are foods that they might describe as weird because they look a little different than a similar food or because they just haven't tried them before.
Answer: have them help you make something that includes those foods. The minute they are the ones in the kitchen pouring the smoothie or chopping the fruit, they tend to develop a sudden strange case of willing-to-try-it-itis. I've witnessed this many times myself.
What kinds of weird food are we talking about? How about tofu, soy milk, dried fruit, okra, barley, spinach, water chestnuts, jicama, etc... Recently I had one of my cooking sessions with my friend's daughters and one of my daughters and the theme for the hour (although I didn't let them in on it) was "how to get your kids to try weird food and like it." We made a tropical mango smoothie with vanilla soy milk (you know, that milk that looks funny). We made a spinach dip with frozen spinach and water chestnuts or chopped jicama, and we made a tasty treat by dipping dried apricots in a little melted white chocolate then pressed into chopped peanuts. They loved all of it.
My daughter believes she is "allergic" to yogurt, that it gives her a tummy ache after she eats it. Not that I doubt it, but I'm guessing a little yogurt would be just fine. We added yogurt to the smoothie and I don't think she even realized it. No tummy ache ensued.Bottom line: Kids love to cook. As their involvement goes up with the making of the meal or snack, so escalates their willingness to try new foods. Just keep that in mind the next time you are staring at a tub of tofu or a box of barley.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Ask Dr Parker: Picky Eaters, Parenting the Picky Eater
Technorati Tags: cookingwithkids, pickyeaters, weirdfoods, tofu, soy, jicama, smoothies
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