Kid-friendly simple recipes for picky eaters
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Anonymous
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I am sure people have posted this before, but I wanted an update and also wanted to list the things my kids actually eat, which is limited.
I am getting desperate. I need some quick, simple meal ideas -- my kids will only eat fruit, chicken nuggets, pasta (plain or with marinara sauce), tacos with turkey meat, rice, mac and cheese (sometimes), chicken sausages, fried shrimp, pizza, and grilled cheese and hard boiled eggs. they will not eat any veggies except corn. I am SO OVER making the same thing overnight. Most of this stuff I make from scratch except the sausages and the marinara sauce. Does anyone have any ideas? |
Anonymous
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It actually sounds like your kids like diverse items. That's pretty good. So maybe start there and mix them up.
Corn and pasta: http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/pasta-with-roasted-tomatoes-and-corn/9453/ Shrimp scampi (serve with pasta): http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/shrimp_scampi/ Try doing a taco or pizza bar. Maybe they could pick out a fun pasta shape from the grocery store? How old are they? Could they help cook? |
Anonymous
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Buy a package of chicken tenders. Dredge in flour, dip in a beaten egg, then dip in Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, add salt and pepper. If they are really "fat" ones I will pound them thinner. You can bake them, or we just put a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan and cook them for a few minutes on each side until browned and cooked through. After 1 batch I usually need to add a bit more oil to the pan. Serve with ketchup or barbecue sauce. If they like it, then make a whole batch and freeze for quick dinners. Also if I am making a chicken dish that I know my DD won't eat, I will just put a couple of tenders in the toaster to reheat so at least she is eating chicken.
Another thing is once you make the chicken tenders, pour some tomato sauce on, add shredded cheese and put in the oven/broiler (or even microwave) to melt the cheese and you have chicken parmesan. |
Anonymous
| Try the Rachael Ray turkey sloppy joes....DD loves it. |
Anonymous
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I know people are going to jump all over me for this, but....
If kids are hungry, they will eat. I'm not suggesting you make a spicy squid curry, but cook them regular food. With perseverance they will eat it. |
Anonymous
I don't think you read the post correctly. The OP cooks regular food and is looking for recipes to expand her repertoire. |
Anonymous
| How about soup? Or turkey chili? Can you add veggies to turkey tacos? I would get a chart from Amazon kind of like behavior chart but for vegetables. Start each meal with veggies they don't have to eat a lot a slice of cucumber or a bite of carrot to start. Once they get used to the taste and texture increase to two bites. Introduce new veggie once a week. |
Anonymous
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Add chopped meat to the marinara sauce with pasta. Try cooking the same things different ways. I liked raw carrot sticks for example, but not baby carrots or cooked ones.
I'm an adult picky eater who used to be a kid picky eater. My parents forced me to eat stuff I hated. I still hate those things. |
Anonymous
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If they like tacks, try quesadillas (same flavors). Then try adding/swapping a different flavor the next time -- goat cheese, veggies, mashed sweet potato, shredded pork, whatever. They may like them and it helps if delivery is in a familiar form but they can't see the ingredient. Then they may be more willing to try the ingredient in other dishes.
Also you might try a make-your-own piazza bar with a variety of toppings (mushrooms, ricotta, fresh basil, maybe a little spinach). |
Anonymous
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I'd start by using the foods you know they like as a base, and adding some veggies. Examples:
pasta with olive oil or butter, with fried shrimp on top and a squeeze of lemon - add wilted spinach to the pasta (inevitably they will eat at least a piece or two bc the spinach sticks to the pasta) -- after making this a few times, try switching fried shrimp to grilled shrimp grill kebobs of chicken sausage but add veggies to the skewers add some peas or broccoli to the mac and cheese (small amts, gradually increasing) My kids like raw veggies before they liked cooked ones. If you think that may be true for yours, the. set up salad ingredients and let them make salads - think untraditional, add craisins, sliced grapes, crumbled tortilla chips, etc to the typical offerings of lettuce, carrots, etc. |
Anonymous
Not OP but I have picky kids who will eat about half of what is on OP's list. They just don't care about not eating dinner. They know they are going to get food that they like at breakfast and lunch. It's really frustrating. |
Anonymous
| A rotisserie chicken? Refried beans and tortillas? Just make steam fresh veggies whether they eat them or not. |
Anonymous
so I do too, and I sort of just let them. I make what I want to for dinner (hey, I am the cook!) and its usually veggie heavy, etc. That being said, my kids are good eaters elsewhere and while not fat (they are 2 and 4), they are not skinny, so its not like we are falling off the growth curve or anything. my younger one is pickier, but I usually won't cater to his taste unless he is sick and I need to get calories into him (then I bring out the big guns, like mac and cheese, which I personally can't stand but he loves) and lay off offering the veggies. he was super picky for a while around veggies and then suddenly started hoovering the veggies last night??? to be honest, they have come around unless its super spicy or super smelly, and if they are hungry, they will fill up on fruit, rice and yogurt, which I don't mind. that being said - we do a lot of veggies and in multiples ways. I roast broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, I made mashed potatoes out of cauliflower, I do chicken sausage, spinach and onions, basically I try to make sure we have 2 or 3 different veggies in each meal |
Anonymous
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My new favorite: melt in your mouth chicken breasts.
Mix 1/3 c mayonnaise with equal part Parmesan cheese. Brush over boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Top with Panko if you want to entice the kids. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Delicious! For the grown ups, reserve a little of the mixture and mix in garlic powder or other spices/herbs. Penzeys sells some terrific salt-free mixes. |
Anonymous
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Random tricks that have worked:
-I had a container of grape tomatoes on the counter next to a container of grapes. Since the packaging was the same and the contents were so similar I convinced my son that the grape tomatoes were half grape/half tomato. DS who hates tomatoes so much that he won't eat pizza or pasta sauce, tries one and exclaims "I love grape tomatoes these are yummy!" Now I lie and tell him all tomato based products are made with grape tomatoes and he will eat them. -I never put new foods on his plate. Instead I will eat it myself while he is playing and he typically gets interested and asks if he can try it. He recently became obsessed with endamame which he wouldn't have touched in a million years if I had tried serving it for dinner. -I mix veggies with food he loves. He loves tortellini and pesto sauce. Aside from the spinach hiding in the tortellini I mix green beans into the pesto sauce too which he will eat all up (but won't touch by themselves). -If he helps me cook dinner he is more likely to try it and have a positive reaction. I gave him a big mixing bowl and made a pasta salad and put spiral pasta, sautéed peppers and brocolli, canned tuna, parmasean, garlic, basil and olive oil into the mix. He ate all the peppers up, no questions asked and same with the tuna - both new foods. |