Tips for getting kids to eat new foods (whether they’re picky eaters or not)

• Don’t force them to eat everything. If they find a dish nasty, it’ll only make them hate it more.  Besides, do you really want someone to make you eat something that’s gross? 
• Use a two-bite rule. The first bite is to try it and the second bite is to decide if they really like it or not. One bite isn’t usually enough to really get a taste. Kids sometimes make up their minds before even trying it, too, so the second bite can sometimes be the deciding try. 
• Don’t fix separate meals. Make sure there are sides available for them to eat if they choose not to eat the portion they despise, but don’t cater to them with a completely different dish. 
• Re-name things! My little sister found “ground turkey” to be disgusting, but she loves dinosaur meat….which is what we re-named it early on. Trying using their favorite cartoons as inspiration. Any of you had Bug’s Bunny carrots or Popeye spinach? Pay attention to the current trends and go for it. 
• Make things fun to eat. Meatloaf doesn’t look so gross when you cook it in a muffin tins and pick it up with your fingers. Chopsticks are tricky, but cool to try out. Cook a soup that’s meant to be drank straight out of the bowl. Eat green beans like fries. 
• Make food look funny. Yep, this is where you arrange it to look like a smiley face instead of something out of a gourmet food magazine. Take a little extra time to shape food into fun shapes or animals even. Or meat baby? Maybe not. 
• Let them help cook. This can sometimes be frustrating, but what kid doesn’t want to eat something they created themselves? Pick out a few recipes with a new ingredient and let them choose the recipe. One of the girls requests tofu now because she once got to carry the squishy package around the whole store, help squish out the liquid, and cut it into cubes. Let them measure, mix, put in the spices, whatever. 
• Bring out the dips. And don’t be offended if they like your fancy chicken dish better when dipped in ketchup. If they don’t like something in the first couple bites of trying it, they might vary well like it with a little honey mustard or ketchup. Just do me a favor and don’t bring out the ranch dressing unless you make your own and it’s MSG-free. 
• Have an interesting story.  Make foods sound exciting, even if they aren’t. Mine are obsessed with knowing if dishes I make are “from Canada” because I’ve visited Vancouver several times and they like hearing about the new foods I tried. One of the girls likes knowing where things come from, so if a dish has a fancy name, I’ll tell her what exotic cuisine it originated from…even if it isn’t really anything special. 
• Turn on the cooking channel. Watch it with them sometimes and point out things you think would be delicious. Let them watch the gross ones, too, even, hehe. When they mention that humongous pizza they saw, consider making a scaled down version, just because they brought it up. They’ll be more likely to point out new things, knowing that you’re willing to make them. They might even surprise you with some strange requests. 
• Bring in new dishes regularly. There’s nothing wrong with cooking everybody’s favorite meals or not always feeling like cooking. Make sure you try to bring in something new every now and then, though, so they get used to expanding their taste buds. 

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   Kayttie
   December 8, 2010

   My kids call spinach Dinosaur Food – I often bake it into fun nugget shapes (mixed with other veggies I have on hand, an egg or two, some seasoning, oil, and breadcrumbs. They’re quite yum!) Another big hit is Muffin Tin Lunch – I put together a muffin tin of finger foods (cheese, deli meat, crackers, fruit, veggies, and one or two for dip) and they love it. Plus you can get the silicone muffin tins in all sorts of fun designs now-a-days from craft stores and sometimes even the dollar tree!

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   Quirky Jessi
   December 9, 2010

   Love those ideas!

   Do you bake the Dinosaur Food after you mix it all up?

   I saw something similar to muffin tin lunch before but haven’t done it myself. I keep forgetting to try it out.