Recipe Ideas for them picky eaters?!

Ashley - posted on 10/10/2011

I will take any recipes with hidden nutrients!

Melanie - posted on 06/18/2010

My oldest son has type 1 diabetes so our familly is followed with a nutitionist. I've found that in order to introduce new foods I always put a very small amount of it on his plate (of course they are other things he likes with it) and he only has the obligation of taking 2 bites. Sometimes it took 5-10 tries of it before he actually liked it. Now that he's older he knows that new foods are frequent and he'll have to at least taste it no matter what so now there's no fuss. Of course I respect that after tasting them there are foods he doesn't like. So I went from a picky eater that once said eating fish was child abuse and sobbing at the table (of course he had never tasted it!) to a pleasant boy that will pretty much eat everything at this point.

C - posted on 06/18/2010

hi, i sometimes i bring my kids to the grocery and let them choose the food that they like. Each kid has a different preference base on my experience.

Marika - posted on 06/17/2010

I add cooked egg whites with icecream, put them in the blender. This way my child gets proteien without tasting it.

Lou-Anne - posted on 06/15/2010

I hide broccoli in spegetti sauce & chilli & sloppy joes!...they have no clue...LOL

Lou-Anne - posted on 06/15/2010

I have a mentally handicapped sone who is turning 9 this July, He was an incredibally picky eater but is getting better... for the longest time he would not eat anything orange, nothin mashed, nothing touching, nothing with a sauce/gravy, no soups, stew ect..and I won't even talk about fruit & veggies.... he loved Dark red apples, white cheddar cheese, and meat (loves meat)...His meals were basically meat, cut up apple & cheese....and daily vitamins. My Doc told me, we can only get into them what they will take, as long as he eats something & takes vitamins, go with it.
Today he is a little easier, he will eat orange food ( but not orange cheese) I often make his food fun, He loves food on a stick, so I will put baby carrots & corn niblets on a couple Brochette sticks...and what ever meat (cut up) and more vegies on other sticks, ... I will poke the sticks into a small box (no plate for dinner) and in the box is a treat for dessert, but he can only have the surprise treat if he eats all his dinner. Genealy the treat is a handful of jelly beans, a pudding, or a muffin.
I have learned to think outside the box. and it actually becomes fun for us all.
it will get better, and since their taste changes all the time, every so often try something they once said no to....You never know :)
Good luck
Lou-Anne

Jamie - posted on 06/15/2010

Check out Annabel Karmel's recipe book for picky eaters. She's amazing!

Jennifer - posted on 06/15/2010

one thing my picky eater ate was mashed sweet potato with drizzled maple syrup just enuff for taste. i also made fries with sweet potato let her dip in honey, she loved acorn squash if cooked with butter brow sugar and lil bacon for flavor...see the sweet pattern mixed with veggie! but we have a rule and game... anyone caught saying yuck has to eat it! (small bite) and anyone tries something new and kinda likes it gets dessert!

Mavis - posted on 06/10/2010

This is what I do also, when I make a spaghetti sauce, I put all the veggies in the blender and blend them up. They are getting their veggies and don't even know it.

Another recipe I make is called Mexican Spaghetti. You take some spaghetti noodles and follow the package directions, when they are done, you need to drain them. After that you need to put a little oil in the pot with some flour to make a thickener. Add two cans tomato sauce, and a couple of boullion cubes, mix well, add the noodles, and then mix. in the end add cheese of your choice and let it melt through, then serve with a salad, and garlic bread if you want.

Jennifer - posted on 06/09/2010

I had this happen to me when my 2nd child was born. I found that because she was jealous and losing my focus because of the infant time needs I had to include my daughter in the food prep time. get out the step stool let them was and break up the vegetable, let her stir the batter etc..find little things she can help with it will add sometime to your prep time but she will be proud of her helping and much more likely to eat what she has made herself. don't forget you can always grind any other nut into butter...apples and almond butter, celery and flavored or herb cream cheese, make your own pizza and let them top it with fruit and nuts for dessert.etc....I cook for a living and have a world of Ideas let me know if you need more help
PS your taste buds change every 7 years maturinbg as they go so be patient it will get easier after it gets harder...my 4yr old think that any type of friend chicken is the only food she should ever have to eat so I get it. But by having her help I still stand a chance at proper habits

Jennifer - posted on 06/07/2010

this is a odd combo but my picky eater loves it..was passed down veggie burger or souper buger... 2 lbs ground hamburger or use turkey add one family size of vegetarian vegetable soup and one reg size can add one small can of water (basically goes your preference) put on heat till boiling. serve on buns. I serve with homemade fries and glass of milk... they eat this before they eat sloppy joes

Cathie - posted on 06/07/2010

My kids are pretty fussy, but will eat Chicken Curry made with Korma sauce (because it is mild). They will eat whatever veggies I put into that, I guess because all they can taste is the curry! They also like pizza (we cut everything up and put on the sauce with extra veggies pureed in, and let them choose the toppings). They also loved mashed potato, and you can add cauliflower or cannellini beans to that and they won't know.

Also, have you tried them on soup? It took a few goes, but our kids now love pumpkin soup. You have to make it yourself - canned is just not the same (and probably isn't nut free either). Try roasting the pumpkin in the oven and then adding it to the potatos, carrot and onion you have cooked. It tastes delicious!

I also make banana muffins and banana or pear pancakes and also chocolate milkshakes in which I add banana. This way they get fruit without realising.

Andrea - posted on 06/07/2010

Annabel Karmel Fussy eaters cookbook. Has lots of good receipe ideas. And they are really good family meals as well.

Brittany - posted on 06/06/2010

The Sneaky Chef by Jessica Seinfeld is full of great ideas. Along with pureeing veggies to mix into sauces or whatever, it's a good idea to keep some of them whole so they don't avoid those foods without realizing they've been eating them all along. My daughter LOOOOOVES brownies and I found a great recipe to make them a little more healthy. If you have a box of brownie mix, add one can of black beans (pureed first) and skip the water, oil and egg. Just the brownie mix and the pureed beans. Bake as directed. They're delicious and you can't tell the difference!

Sheena - posted on 06/06/2010

Thank you all very much for your insight, I am definetely going to try these ideas out and see how well it goes. the only issue I have with them helpin me is I usually have little patience with people gettin in the way while I am tying to cook. So I dont let them help me often, I also try to keep them out of the kitchen til its ready...But maybe if I let them help out more often it might help...

Tami - posted on 06/05/2010

If your kids like pizza let them make their own "pizza" with healthier topping alternatives. Salsa can be used in place of sauce and is a great way to sneak in some tomatoes, onions and peppers. You can also add pureed veggies to traditional pizza sauce. Chicken works well on pizza in place of fattier pepperoni. Require them to add one veggie if you can get them to do it. Broccoli chopped small is good or whatever veggie they will eat. Top w/ a little light cheese and you have a pretty complete meal served as a "pizza." I have served taco pizza that has salsa for the sauce, a few black beans (great for fiber), ground turkey w/ taco seasoning, sliced olives, light cheese and then topped w/ shredded lettuce when it came out of the oven. The kids added light sour cream and taco sauce and thought it was great. A whole wheat pita makes a great crust and then everyone can make their pizza however they like it.

Sometimes my kids refuse to eat cooked veggies but are fine w/ raw veggies so we have raw carrots, celery, broccoli or cauliflower served w/ hummus or light ranch for dipping sauce. My kids love to dip their food in stuff so if I can find some sort of "dip" they frequently eat things they wouldn't otherwise.

Good luck. Finding healthy foods that our families eat is one of the more difficult things we have to do as a mother.

Bridget - posted on 06/05/2010

i add vegtables to everything! my daughter cant even tell. i put cauliflower in chicken alfredo. corn in speghetti. butter noodles and snap peas, homemade meatballs with onions,corn, green pepper, and spinch. i love brochilli but i have found that it is very hard to hide that in anything- mash potatoes add califlower and lima beans! sounds crazy but it is quite yummy. my daughter would never eat a salad and i change to romaine lettuce and added chicken with corn and i watered down ranch dressing (bcause she said it was to tangy) and she loves them now.

Bethanie - posted on 06/04/2010

If they like salads, don't use iceberg...it has no nutritional value to it. Switch to romaine, mixed greens, or red leaf lettuce. Those are all good healthy vitamin filled options. Too much protein can be a bad thing because it taxes the kidneys. Start by giving them all some sort of multivitamin. The 5 and 3 year old could take a gummy of some kind (but watch anything artificial or added sugar) and the 1 year old could take a liquid like Enfamil Poly Vi Sol, half a dropper, in some milk. My son takes the one with Iron. Keep the candy, treats and unhealthy snacks out of the house and then they won't have that option available. Terrible for their teeth and just empty calories and excessive sugar. If they have a "sweet" craving, make them a fruit smoothie (a great way to sneak in a veggie that will blend well) with either lowfat milk or OJ or offer them a sweet fruit such as apples, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Also, if they like chinese, make your own! The takeout kind is LOADED with salt, MSG (unless they state there isn't any), sugar, it's almost all deep fried and loaded with saturated fat and calories--not good! Here are some ideas for at home "take out". I apoligize, I make these items myself without measurements, so you need to taste and adjust to your liking.

Asian turkey meatballs with brown sticky rice and plum sauce:

1 pack of ground turkey BREAST (lower fat then the other which is a mix of light and dark meat turkey)

Finely chopped green onions

A tsp of low sodium soy sauce

a few dashes of Sesame Seed Oil (a little goes a long way!)

A pinch of salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp ground ginger

A few handfuls of cleaned mushrooms and shredded carrots ground up in a food processor, blender or chopped VERY finely.

Mix all together and form into golfball size or smaller meatballs. Fry up in a pan in canola or regular olive oil until brown on all sides. Meanwhile, take a jar of all natural plum sauce and spoon approx 4 tbsp into a bowl. Dilute with 2-3 tbsp of water and stir. Microwave until warm. For the rice, you can purchase Annie Chun's (found in the natural foods or asian foods isle, you'll need about 4 to feed the whole family) microwaveable Sticky brown or sticky whole grain rice or just regular minute brown rice. Put rice on plate, top with meatballs and a drizzle of sauce. Top with chopped green onions and maybe some toasted sesame seeds (that you can get in the spice isle) and serve! This is a very fast dinner to make and super yummy! This could also be served like "asian style spaghetti and meatballs" and served over whole grain pasta like Ronzoni Smart Taste or some soba or buckwheat noodles.

Another dish I like to do that's fast is a veggie stirfry:

Take a pack of brocolli slaw (already shredded)

A few handfuls of shredded carrots

A few green onions, chopped

Fry up veggies until carmelized slightly and tender. Mix up a sauce of:

Orange Marmalade, soy sauce, sesame oil, a little water if it needs diluting, garlic, pinch of salt and pepper. Taste it to get the ratio of sweet and salty that you like. Pour over veggies and toss with one of the cooked pasta suggestions above. You could also add in a pack of inexpensive fajita beef (presliced). Add it first into the hot pan, remove once all pink is gone (don't overcook) then proceed with veggies. Hope this helps!

Tiffany - posted on 06/03/2010

My only baby is only 8 months old so I dont quite have that problem yet. BUT I have watched many children who loved to help. Your youngest may be too little but I have noticed that if they can help make it they are more willing to eat it. That and colors. Make the meal look fun. Different fruits and veggies that are bright and fun make the meal more fun to eat!
Hope it helps!

Sheena - posted on 06/03/2010

Well most veggies my kids wont eat either, lol! They do love to have salads, in fact thats one of the number one things besides pizza that they ask for. But usually when I do a salad so that its not just plain and lettuce like they'd prefer, I buy a chunk of turkey and a block of cheese, I cut them up and add them to it....They love it!!! But they will not eat tomatoes, not at all lol!! I guess they eat a lot of things but not what I want them to. Chinese foods are the favorites, but with the peanut allergy my 3yr old cannot have that. Mostly now all my 5 yr old wants is the meats and nothing else.... In a way thats good but she needs more then meats and candy lol!!..

Bethanie - posted on 06/03/2010

What is it they WILL eat? I have so many recipes! My son has a few issues with certain veggies and for that (and so I can just sneak the extra servings of veggies in our food) I LOVE my food processor! I grind up veggie combos and put the mix into lots of things: sauces, meats for meatballs or burgers, stir fry's, soups, etc.