Money Wise Mondays - How not to cater to picky eaters.

Mmmm ... muffins

   Catering to picky eaters can be very expensive. Making a separate dish for every person in the house can add up to lots of money spent unnecessarily. The most frugal thing to do is to cook large nutritious meals at home that will feed the whole family, where buying in bulk can save money and time (and lets face time is money!) But what to do when you have one, or two or more people in your household that just won't eat what you make for them?
   Parents have to endure many things from their precious, little bundles of joy. We often get spit up on, peed on, we clean up throw-up, we wipe buts, we clean messes, but the worse one of all is hearing your preschooler announce "I hate broccoli, and tuna, and oranges, and .....I am not eating it!" We all have been there. Our family is no different. After many minutes, sometimes an hour or two, of cooking a nutritious meal for my family, the last thing I want to hear is "I'm not eating it!" To a parents, that statement is equivalent to treason
and deserves fitting punishment! OK, I am just kidding here, but it's not a statement that I like hearing coming from the little mouths that I am feeding. So what are some ways that our family deals with picky eaters?

Home-made veggie meatballs

   First of all, let me tell you that all kids will go through a "picky eater" stage at one point or another in their lives. It's frustrating to see a toddler that would eat anything 2 weeks before (even that old cracker he found in the bottom of a toy box) now proudly announce "I'm not eating eggs! I don't like them anymore!" Or a school -aged child refuse to take snow peas in his lunch although it was his favorite last school year. There are many reasons why kids refuse to eat a food they had liked or at least accepted before. Some of the reasons might be that their taste preferences changed (even us, adults, are prone to that), it might be that they have seen someone comment negatively on a food they previously liked, or they mimic someone that they have seen refusing to eat that particular food. On a rare occasion they might also have food sensitivity that has developed to the food item and it upsets their tummies. This is where a parent has to do a bit of detective work and look into reasons why their child is refusing that food. Once sensitivity to a food is eliminated as possibility it is time to work to eliminate dislike to particular food. How do we do that?

Cinnamon Buns made from scratch
from whole wheat bread dough

   Kids that eat everything and are not picky eaters don't just appear over-night. It starts with baby's first foods and good eating habits. The first foods that I feed my babies is breast milk. There is already tons of information of why breast milk is better than formula, but it is also very important as a means of letting the baby get used to the foods mom eats. Babies get the taste of solid food before they even have their first spoonful of mushed bananas. I never restrict my diet during nursing period since I want my kids to be exposed to many different tastes. The only exception to this is food sensitivities. We noticed early on that Girly Monkey had milk sensitivity (cow's milk, not my milk) so I had to exclude all cow's dairy from my diet. She was able to tolerate goat's dairy products, so I just stuck to that.

Little Monkey's first taste of food

   Second stage of making your kid into a great eater is introduction of solid foods. It might be surprising to many but I don't do prepackaged baby cereals as first foods. My top choice for first foods are mushed avocados, mushed bananas, cooked and mashed carrots. I then introduce other veggies and fruits and cooked whole grains (mashed up), and eventually cooked meats. Since I don't introduce any solids until my baby is 6 months old I don't have to worry about food being in perfectly pureed, almost liquid form. By about 8 months I aim for the baby to have whatever we are having, just in mushed up form or easy to chew pieces. It might be because I really don't feel like making separate meals for my family and my baby. Since we already eat low sodium, low sugar diet at home, there is no worry about exposing my babies to too much of either.

Girly Monkey enjoying
cake for the first time.

   It might also be a surprise to many, but I will never, EVER! make separate meals for my kids. Even when Girly Monkey had cow dairy allergy we all ate what she was allowed until she outgrew her allergy at the age of 5! That's right, for 5 years we only had dairy in form of goat cheese and goat's milk in our house. I have always said that I am not a short order cook and I will not make individual meals for everyone. I take different approach with food; I aim to make healthy, nutritious meals and leave it up to the kids whether they will eat it. My only rule is that they have to try at least one bite of everything on their plate. And if we happen to have a desert after a meal then they have to eat at least half of what is on their plate. It's a simple rule and I will not budge on it. What is my reasoning behind it? Well, kids need to be exposed to food many times before they will accept them, and they need to be exposed to verity of foods. If I give up offering those "unliked" food items, then I am risking my kids not liking them at all, ever. Here is an example:

Funky Monkey feeding himself

   When Funky Monkey was just a little toddler he refused to eat oranges. Whenever we had oranges he would throw a fit and refuse to eat it. then I came up with a rule; he had to have one bite before he could be excused from the table. Many times it ended in a big fuss on his part but I never let him get away with not having a bite. By the time he turned 6, he loved oranges. Same thing was with shrimp, raspberries, sushi and spaghetti. He eats all of those now, and he loves them. We are still working on mushrooms, but he no longer pretends to gag at the sight of them and will eat a meal with mushrooms in them, although he said that he doesn't like them.
   Girly Monkey was different. She was a great eater when she was little and would often ask to try new foods, but then slowly, little by little she stopped liking many foods. Now it's very common that she finds at least one item on her plate at every meal that she doesn't like. But my food rule applies to her too, so she often will grumble but eat the required bite of everything. My reasoning says that if kids are active enough, and work up an appetite, they will never starve themselves and will eventually eat some meals. As long as there are no treats or sugary drinks offered in between meals (we do water and only fruits, veggies, or healthy snacks in between), a child will be hungry enough to eat something. So put down your short order cook apron and relax and enjoy feeding your family. Just remember this saying "this too shall pass!" Eventually your little picky eater will be marching off to meet his friends at a sushi bar!

Let them eat Ice Cream!