One of the hardest jobs for parents is trying to get their children to eat new food. Whether it’s a taste of some new vegetables, or you’ve put more than one food group together and your children instantly turn up their nose, getting them to try something new is not an easy job. Now, you may be panicking and thinking that your children aren’t going to get enough of certain foods more than others, but the first tip we’re going to give you is to stop panicking. If there’s one thing that children are good at, it’s regulating their own eating and drinking cues. When they are hungry, they will eat and when they are thirsty, they will drink.
Some children will choose to eat everything and then one day have an aversion to all foods you’ve ever let them try, and that’s typical. Other kids are happy to eat everything at anything and you can find cheese quesadilla recipes at Britneybreaksbread.com to make sure that you are expanding their palate. The thing is, as much as the world is a very exciting and diverse place when it comes to food and cooking, trying new things can be daunting and scary. Children will always remember the one sour blueberry they once bit into and therefore refused to eat anymore blueberries after that. It can take patience, time and encouragement on your part to ensure children feel comfortable and happy. Forcing children to eat new foods is not a good idea because the last thing you want to do is to build a bad relationship with food. So, here is how you could encourage your child in a healthy way.
- Get them cooking. If you want your children to try new foods, then they need to be in the kitchen with you making those foods. You can teach them to slice and boil, so saute and fry, you can even teach them how to peel potatoes and fruit for different pies or chips. There’s nothing like the handling of ingredients to encourage children to feel confident around food.
- Always offer a choice. You will often see advice telling you not to be a short order cook, but what’s wrong with that? When you were a child growing up did you want to eat food that you didn’t like the look of, the taste of, or the texture? Of course you didn’t. As a grown up, you now choose foods that appeal to you. You don’t have to cook four separate meals in its entirety every night. If you have a meal of spaghetti Bolognese and one child likes no meat, then just offer a sauce. Offering a choice or a variant on the same dish doesn’t mean you’re cooking for five different meals, it just means you’re adjusting.
- Be a role model. Make sure that your children see you trying new foods, two. You don’t have to like them, but you must attempt them especially if you’ve never tried them before. Doing this will show them but there’s nothing to be afraid of and food can be just as exciting as anything else.
- Never use force. If you want positivity around the dinner table and a child who grows up with a good relationship with food, don’t force them to eat something they don’t want. Food should also never be used as a reward system, because your child is not a dog.