Here are a Few Tricks for the Picky Eaters

If like most parents you are faced with a picky eater, don’t worry and don’t give up. Like all stages of parenting, all you have to do is understand your child and how to spark their interest when it comes to eating. Here are 5 tricks which might come in handy:

1) Puree or juice: Pureeing or juicing vegetables makes it easier to incorporate them with other items without your child knowing. For example, a banana, broccoli, carrot and pawpaw smoothie mixed with milk and yoghurt is a great way to get your little ones eating (well drinking 😉 ) their vegetables. All you have to do is mix a few of your childs favourite fruits with their not soo favourite steamed vegetables.

[Learn how to make chicken and apple puree with our delicious recipe]

2) Infuse: You might not always be able to juice everything but you can infuse certain ingredients into your meals. For example, dice steamed spinach into very small pieces, then mix this with grated carrots; add a serving portion of cooked rice into raw eggs and fry. This makes a balanced omelette which your child might be more open to eating than each item separately.

[Read our uji (porridge) recipe for tips on incorporating spinach into uji]

3) Flavour it: For example, if drinking water is the problem try squeezing in some drops of fresh orange juice or a slice of lemon to flavour it up. For foods you can also try adding natural spices such as dania (coriander), ginger and so on.

4) Presentation: To make meal time something your kids look forward to, try working on the presentation of the meals. For example, you can shape the pancake to look like a bunny or a cat head or even arrange the food to look like a cartoon character.

5) Make it FUN: You can also turn meal time into a song and game, for example when feeding my little girl we would play a very simple lion game where I would say “…and the lion went roar and bit some food” and from the excitement of the “lion” roaring she will in turn bit some food like the lion. This game’s charm like most games will only last for a period of time, so you better get creative. On the other hand, similar to point 4 above you can also arrange the food to spell out the letters of your child’s name and ask them “which letter would you like to eat first” and “which letter would you like to eat next?” Before you know it their plates will be empty and their stomachs full with a happy, less frustrated mummy and daddy.