Do you have a Picky Eater????

Do you have a child/children that is a picky eater. My eight year old's menu is very limited. I know that children's taste buds are constantly changing. This she liked at five, now at eight she doesn't. One day she loves something, the next week I can't get her to eat it anymore. Sometimes she won't even try it because of the way it looks. The other day we went to CiCi's pizza, and she shocked me. She ate pizza with cheese and spinach. Wow, my kid just ate a new veggie! But I can't feed her pizza every day with spinach on it, now can I. I have been told picky eaters are not uncommon, and as long as she is not losing weight that's fine. But what a menu. So I would just like to share some tips that I have tyred. Some have worked, some failed. But I will share them with you all the better. Good luck if you try them. One of the best tips that worked for me, is letting her pick her produce and putting it in the bag and into the cart. And then when we get home and make dinner I let her pick what veggies she will eat that night for dinner. Some veggies she will not eat cooked like carrots. So the ones she doesn't like cooked goes in her salad.

Making the meals fun has worked also. I make what she call's a buffet. I just get a large cutting board and put a little amount of some of her favorite things. Usually cold choice's. This may include veggies, dips, cheese, fruit, even lunch meat's. I also find if I let her help me cook it, she will eat better also. Letting her put it into the pan, letting her carefully stir or flip. Or anything that she can get herself, put it on a plate and microwave. She definitely loves to dip her veggies. Together we also watch the cooking channels to get ideas. Then head to the kitchen to create. I also try and encourage her by telling her the healthy choices, and inform her of the downfalls of eating the wrong things. Another tip I use is to share off the same plate with her, she just thinks that is the neatest thing. Although I try to encourage her to eat the new things, I never get upset if she doesn't, I just try another time. I try to take her favorite things and try to come up with recipes using a variety of them. I also like to give her drinks that make up for the things she won't eat. Like v8 fusion. I was very surprised when this became one of her favorite drinks. I also give her grape juice and apple juice. Another great tip I use when making a sandwich I use a big cookie cutter to make shapes out of the sandwich. This is a favorite especially for school lunch. I definitely keep the McDonald's and potato chips to a minimum, these I know she will eat :) So if you have a picky eater try some of these tips, and good luck !