Picky Picky Picky Part 2

PICKY, PICKY, PICKY -PART TWO
LAST MONTH HOLISTIC HEALTH COUNSELOR KELLY SCOTTI TOLD US WHY OUR TODDLERS ARE SUCH LIMITED EATERS. (CLICK HERE TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY.) THIS MONTH SHE DISHES ON WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.

The first rule of life with a picky eater is don't prepare special foods just for him. Make one meal for the whole family. If you do prepare something special for your child, you are leading him to believe that he controls what is served at meal times. Instead, you can modify slightly by altering the presentation of the main course or leaving off the sauce. If your child is hungry, he will eat something no matter what is in front of him—provided he knows he will receive nothing else for the rest of the evening if he does not eat at that time. It's important to set boundaries around family meals now in order to avoid future struggles.

Meal time should be eaten at the table. According to Erin Patterson at Small Bites (www.smallbitesonline.com), this is a great way to get your little ones to try new foods. Kids like to mimic their parents’ behavior, so you can use this to your advantage. When they see what you are eating at the dinner table, they might become intrigued and want to try some. A few nights ago, I made a delicious veggie and bean soup with various spices, a little hempseed and kelp flakes and I wanted Connor to try it. So I offered him a bowl at the dinner table. He saw the green things floating in the broth and refused, pushing the bowl dramatically away from him. When my husband and I continued to eat the soup, however, Connor decided he wanted his bowl back—along with mommy’s spoon. He then ate 10 whole spoonfuls, greens, spices and all.

Patterson emphasizes that the transition to the table may be difficult, especially as your little one may not want to sit in one place too long, but it is something you can and should work on. She creates routine by giving a five minute warning before mealtime and then blessing the meal when everyone sits down. She only offers the family meal, watching portion size for her daughter. If her daughter doesn’t eat the meal, she doesn’t eat for rest of the night. “By having a ritual and setting boundaries, it helps kids feel like they are a part of something and makes being at the table a positive experience for them,”Patterson adds. She goes on to say that kids are constantly trying to assert their independence and push their limits, so it's important not to force foods on them too much, yell at them for not cleaning their plate or pressure them to eat. That could lead to the development of negative food issues in your child.

Make food more fun for your toddler. If he’s not eating try presenting the foods in a unique way, use novel utensils like chopsticks or play games like counting the number of colors on his plate. I put frozen bananas and strawberries in the blender to make what I call “ice cream” and my son eats every bite. Making funny faces with food, like homemade wheat pancakes with raisins for eyes, berries for the nose and half a banana for a mouth, can also work. Or perhaps assign a silly name to a dish. The Gourmet Dinner Service Kids in Sydney, Australia includes in their options “Chook on Wiggly Worms,” a.k.a. organic honey soy chicken on a bed of noodles with zucchini and corn, as well as “Bird in Creamy Maze,” a creamy organic chicken pasta with pumpkin and cauliflower, and “Piggy in the Middle” made with bacon, corn and pumpkin frittata. Not only do these dishes have fun names, but they are mostly foods that let your child explore the meal with their fingers. Finger eating might make a bigger mess, but it's definitely more fun.

Give your child limited choices so he can feel like he is making a decision. It's much easier to have your child pick from two vegetables than you trying to prepare five or six or forcing him to eat the one on his plate. In fact, studies show that your child is much more likely to eat something he picks. Or perhaps include all the ingredients in one easy meal, like the one pot pasta or chicken and winter vegetables listed in the recipe section.

You could also start offering a variety of foods and spices to your child early on, before the pickiness sets in. Evie Failla, of Edie’s Organic Edibles (www.ediesorganicedibles.com), believes early introductions to exotic ingredients made her son a venturesome eater. Some of her best sellers, all tested on her son first, include Portabella Mushroom and Vegetable Risotto, Shepard’s Pie, Sesame Ginger Stir Fry, and Broccoli Casserole.

No matter what, always praise your child for trying new foods and never use food as a reward or punishment.

If children are allowed to turn down foods, are not forced to eat and are given good choices, instinctively, they will come to choose foods that are healthy and recognize their body’s signals for hunger and satiety. Fostering these healthy habits now will help them to not abuse food later on in life.

Getting your toddler to eat a healthy, varied diet can be frustrating, but the ideas listed above can help ensure meal time will not be a battlefield. It will instead be a time your child can feel safe, loved, supported and free to make his own choices—something all of us want in our lives.


One-Pot Pasta
Adapted from One Bite Won't Kill You by Ann Hodgman
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
1/2 onion, diced into small pieces (minced)
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 red pepper, minced
1 green pepper, minced
¼ cup chopped mushrooms (pieces as tiny as you can make them)
1 (14 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 lb/1 cup pasta
2 cups water

Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onions.
2. After three minutes, add the turkey and herbs and cook slowly. Break up the lumps of meat and cook until the meat is brown and cooked through.
3. Add the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and veggies. Cook for three to five minutes, stirring often.
4. Add the pasta and water and bring to a boil, stirring often. Then lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer for half an hour. Stir every few minutes to avoid scorching.
5. Add up to ½ cup of water, if too dry. Sauce will thicken and pasta will be ready to serve.

Kids try this: Add a little Parmesan cheese to mommy and daddy’s bowl—and yours too.

Chicken and Winter Vegetables
Recipe provided by Edie Failla of Edie’s Organic Edibles
Serves 6

Ingredients:
Chicken legs on the bone, family pack
FlourExtra virgin olive oil
1 leek, white part only, washed and sliced
1 sweet potato
3 diced carrots
3 diced celery sticks
Chicken or vegetable stock

Directions:
1. Lightly coat the chicken with flour and brown them in a little oil for three to four minutes.
2. In another frying pan that can be place in the oven, sauté the leek and onion in a little oil for five minutes until soft and golden.
3. Put the chicken into the pan with all the vegetables. Add enough stock to cover the vegetables.
4. Cover lightly and cook in oven at 350 for one hour, turning the chicken and stirring the vegetables half way through.
5. Before serving, take the chicken off the bone, chop it into small pieces and add it back to the dish.

Kids try this: Count how many pieces of chicken are in your bowl. Can you identify the vegetables?

Mediterranean Quinoa
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
1 cup uncooked quinoa
4 cups vegetable broth or stock
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
½ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions and peppers. Cook and stir for about five minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for about two more minutes.
4. Stir in the quinoa, vegetable stock and tomato puree.
5. Return to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes or until quinoa becomes soft.
6. Stir in the diced tomatoes and add seasoning. Cook until heated through, then serve.

Kids try this: Count the number of colors you see on your plate. And then count the number of colors you can eat.

Published Feb 2006 in The Family Groove Magazine (www.thefamilygroove.com)