On Picky Eaters: How to Develop A Sense of Food Adventure

I have been blessed in many ways, that's certain, but one of the most frequently things that others comment on is my boys' willingness to try just about anything under the sun. Yes, I do believe that picky eaters are born, but I also believe that there are specific things you can do to make trying new foods a fun and healthy experience that involves the entire family.  I'm recording down my experiences mostly as a way to remember what I did with our young boys and if it helps you figure out what works with your family, even better.

Yes, I was raised vegetarian and I am raising two vegetarians.  When you don't eat at least half of the items on menus in restaurants, you must learn to be a little adventurous.  Unless you want to starve because you don't like mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes, and garlic.   Or unless you want to die of high cholesterol due to the appalling amount of cheese and cream you are consuming.  I have many memories of dining out in the early 80's and seeing the only option on the entire menu being a grilled cheese sandwich.   If you tried to be sneaky and ordered a baked potato without bacon, it still always came with bacon, but maybe by the third try they got it right.  If we were attending a wedding you could bet that the vegetarian option (if even offered!) would be a frighteningly huge plate of barely steamed cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli with a tiny side of Hollandaise sauce.  Luckily for me, just a few short years later California cuisine took off and restaurants became a little bit more exciting and began to offer new and colorful vegetarian options.  As chain restaurants like CPK opened up, I was delighted to be able to try new things and kiss the vegetable plate and stray bacon pieces goodbye. 

This issue is a tough one.  Like many others, it is an issue that involves cheerful guidance, positive experiences, and a child's own choices.  Having said that, here's what has worked...at least for us. 

Just chompin' on an onion slice.

The Little Be.

One of Luke's favorite books is  The Little Pea, an amusing story about a pea who does not want to eat all of his dinner, which just happens to be candy. (That's what you eat for dinner every night when you are a pea.) Eventually he finishes all his candy with much disgust and, as promised, gets his dessert...

Which just happens to be a plate of spinach. YUM!

Sorry to ruin the ending for you.

Tonight I made an almost entirely green dinner. We had roasted broccoli, a fresh watercress salad with lemon dressing and diced avocado, green beans with onion crunchies, Swiss Stake, and a plate of garlicky sauteed spinach that I left on a small plate for myself, you know, because I really like lemony, garlicky spinach. Luke ate about half of his dinner and proclaimed he was done. The boy was so far from being finished. Eyeing the extra plate of spinach, I had an idea.

"Hey Luke, don't you want dessert tonight?"

"Yes!"

"If you want dessert, then you need to finish your dinner."

"How many bites?"

"Twenty."

(I'm into big numbers when it comes to finishing food. None of this one or two bite nonsense. Can you tell I'm an American? I am. But I'm not obese or slightly overweight...anymore! Lay off, I "just" had a baby.)

"Okay."

So he ate half an avocado and about 10 green beans. "Hmm...I wonder if this will actually work," I thought to myself. He has been saying, "Maaaaaaaaammmm" with that reprimanding tone quite a bit these days in response to many of my ideas, especially my best ones.

He continued to eat until he met our goal.

"Finish all of it!" he said with a mouthful of food.

"LUKE! GUESS WHAT YOU GET FOR DESSERT?" I tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

"What?"

"SPINACH!!!!!!" I squealed. "Just like Little Pea!"

"Oooooooh!!!!"

To my surprise, he ate all of it and proclaimed, "I lick my dessert plate clean."

There was nothing to say to this except, "Yum. Yum. Extra Yum."

So we did, together, with smiles in our voices and twinkles in our eyes.