Making foods yummy

by Harriet Hughes Moser
(Durham, NC)

Have family tasting nights with bite size foods eg. baby pizza's, bagels with assorted toppings, cheeses, fruits, veggies and dips and nutritious but interesting snacks. Invite your child to participate but don't put any pressure on them or ask them to try anything. Have the party in a central room where your child is most likely to be just so he can watch. Let him see you and your spouse and other kids trying foods and he or she may eventually join in. Keep having tasting parties on a weekly basis and don't put any pressure on your child but let she or he see the fun the rest of the family has. Invite one of his friends over from preschool or the neighborhood. If your child tastes something and likes it(eats more than one) don't make a big deal over it. Just ask them what they thought of the taste and remember it for a future dinner. I know this works because I've always been a picky eater and as an adult I discovered I liked cottage cheese at a tasting party. We had a cheese tasting party at a preschool I worked for. I had never been interested in trying cottage cheese before but in a no pressure setting I tried it and liked it. I still do!

Try making recipe's with your child and let them pick from a kid's recipe book, help shop for and prepare it. It's much more fun to eat something you create!

I have always been a picky eater and the way I have gotten to like most foods is trying someone elses food when it smells good. I won't order it but if I try it and like it I will from then on. Make foods accessible to your child that the family ate earlier. Put little amounts in fridge in case he gets hungry and encourage him or her to find something to eat in the fridge. He may stumble across something he's willing to try. That's how I discovered skillet lasagna and I still love it!