Much to my great disappointment, Evelyn has become a bit of a picky eater during the last six months or so. She used to be so adventurous – she’d try anything we gave her, and more often than not, she loved every bite. But, these days if something looks even a little unfamiliar or suspicious she won’t taste it. I suppose I should be grateful – the foods she approves are often healthy (broccoli, blueberry-spinach smoothies, peanut butter sandwiches, eggs). As a Homemade Mother, I see the value in well-rounded, nutritious homemade meals. It breaks my heart when Evie won’t even try the food I prepare.
Evie’s pediatrician said that it can take up to 10 tries to get a picky pre-schooler to accept a new food. She suggested putting three foods on Evie’s plate – two familiar items and one new thing to try.
My mom raised five kids, so I figured she’d have some good advice for handling this issue, too. She had us over for dinner the other night, and she made a fabulous fondue spread fit for a 3 year old. She prepared homemade cheese sauce for dipping with poached chicken, broccoli, sliced apples, alphabet potatoes – it was so much fun!
Perhaps the best part came at the end of the meal: chocolate sauce with strawberries and bananas! Even little Mack got in on the fun.
I like mom’s advice: have fun with the picky eating phase. So, when I saw that the fiancé of my high school friend wrote a children’s book about picky eaters, I was intrigued. “Tales for Very Picky Eaters” by Josh Schneider is so cute! Because it is broken into five short “chapters” it was very easy for Evie to stay focused and interested. Even little Mack, who has an attention span about the size of a pea, sat still for 31 pages. The illustrations are adorable and the story is charming. Definitely a good book for any Homemade Parent dealing with a picky eater.
To win your own autographed copy of Josh Schneider’s “Tales for Very Picky Eaters” leave a comment here that answers the question:
What is one food you don’t like to eat??
The contest ends Friday 7/15 at 11:59 pm.
P.S. My answer to the above question is “ham” 🙂
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Ooh! I’ve been wanting this book!
Okay, to answer the question, I don’t like to eat mashed potatoes. Everyone else seems to love them, but to me they usually seem too bland and filling. I’d rather use space in my stomach for something more crunchy, fresh, or interesting!
Oh, and I have to say how much I love this post. I think all kids go through a picky stage at some point, and it makes sense in terms of evolution and survival, but it’s so frustrating when I prepare something special and my three year old turns his nose up at it. It’s so hard to keep mealtime pleasant.
Yes indeed! How did you make the alphabet potatoes? That seems like a great way to get a picky eater interested in food. My kids do not like eating broccoli but I can’t form those into letters so easily. I for one don’t like seafood anymore. I am pulling back on animal products and am a lot happier for it!
We got our boys to eat broccoli by calling them trees. They loved thinking they were SO BIG that they could eat trees. 😉
I have never liked PEAS! As a young girl, I’d hide them in my glass of milk (which made the milk taste awful!). In front of my children, I would eat about a tablespoon. I actually discovered I didn’t mind too much the taste of fresh peas, but I’d still rather pass on them altogether.
I have a very picky eating 16 month old who rejects most of her meals. She likes only crispy foods like puffed rice, plain corn flakes etc. She refuses to have milk, curds. Does’nt try the fruits I offer. So when I saw this book, i thought its a must read for me. Personally, I dont like to eat Indian jujube fruits, they are small,wrinkly, round with a sweet and sour taste.looks apart, the smell is what repels me.
Cauliflower. I’ll eat pretty much anything and everything else from all over the world (I’ve even had snake meat), but I really just don’t like cauliflower.
Anything tomato based. I don’t like the squish that follows biting into a tomato, didn’t try ketchup until I was 32, and only politely ate a bowl of tomato soup at a friend’s house ( I was 10) by gulping milk after each spoonful!
Mushrooms and goat cheese!
Spinach. Never have and never will. My Mom always prepared lima beans and spinach on the same night. She and my brother ate the spinach and my Dad and I had lima beans.
I don’t like brussel sprouts! BUT when its time to introduce them to my DS – I plan to try them again and see if my tastebuds have changed in the last 10 years 😉
I’m not into eggplant. I think its a texture thing.
So nice to hear that others have picky eaters! My 3 1/2 year old does not eat most vegetables or meat. I myself cannot eat eggplant or seafood!
I hate peas. I will eat any vegetable, peas are gross!
When I was pregnant I became highly sensitive to certain smells, like raw chicken and pork. I got over those two after the pregnancy but now cannot eat papaya for the same reason, the smell. Luckily for me my 20-month old loves papaya, but she’s starting to get picky so this book would be a great way to explore some options and get her to try different things.
I pride myself on liking almost everything, but for some reason I just cannot choke down canteloupe, honeydew, sweet potatoes, or cooked carrots. It really annoys me, because I WANT to like them!
I don’t like oysters. really like mostly all other foods…that one just can’t get into!
Mustard – yuck! Since I’m not sure if that counts as a “food”, I also dislike olives. I’ve tried again and again but I just can’t convince my palate to like them.
I won’t eat mushrooms. I don’t have a good reason for it, I just haven’t mustered the courage to try them.
I don’t really eat fruity sweets, mostly because I always opt for chocolate but it’s not something Id usually choose.
Oh, my… it seems that the items I can’t eat are either texture-related or very strong and overwhelming for me. In the former category are oysters and cottage cheese. They both freak me out a little. In the other category are many flavoring agents – rosemary, ginger, basil (getting better at tolerating that), and licorice/anise/fennel. I try all of these every so often to see if I’ve adapted to them, but basil seems to be the only one that I will tolerate in veeeeery small amounts (like sprinkled on a pizza).
I thought I was the only one who didn’t like mushrooms–glad to see I’m not! I’ve tried and tried to like them, but it’s just not happening. My little is somewhat of a picky eater…but we keep trying. I’d love to have this book as a resource! Thanks much.
When i was 6 or 7 I wouldn’t eat chinese food because it ‘looked’ like worms to me. My aunt said if I tried it I could have something I wanted. I did and I’ve never not at least tried a food because those worms were delicious! now I still have things I don’t prefer (bacon & fruit pies top the list) but I’ll try anything once! Hoping my son will be the same.
I love those alphabet potatoes!!
Bananas! Yikes – the texture, the pungent smell, the stickiness…however…I did want them a few times when I was pregnant, so maybe if I have a few more babies I’ll start to like them!
Hmmm…I think I may need that book for myself 😉 I was a very picy eater as a child, and have somewhat improved with age. However, I absolutely will not consume any pork product (long story with a “pet” pig on my uncle’s farm and subsequent bacon served at a family picnic). Yuck!!!
Brussels Sprouts. I can’t stand the smell nor the taste of it.
Look hoe happy Evie is! I love it!