Picky Kid + Cookbook = Recipe for Success

[amykhar]

My son is undoubtedly the pickiest eater on earth. He was picky as an infant, pickier still as a toddler, and impossibly picky until he was about 9 years old. Then I learned a secret that turned my extremely picky boy-child into a reasonably picky one.

Two years ago, I learned that the secret to getting my son to eat was as simple as teaching him to cook and involving him in the preparation of our family meals. Because he could see that the ingredients going into the recipe were things that he liked, he became more adventurous with new combinations. In fact, he even became a bit bolder about adding unknown ingredients if the recipe looked interesting enough.

Cookbooks have done wonders for increasing the variety of foods that my son will eat. The attractive pictures combined with the knowledge of what the food contains has broadened his taste buds to the point where I can now serve foods like coq au vin or chicken with asparagus and a lemon-mustard sauce. In the past, he would have turned up his nose at any sauces or exotic seasonings in favor of plain baked chicken.

It was a slow process, and required me to start out with recipes that I knew my son would like. Gradually, he has become more willing to try new things, and we no longer have to draw battle lines at the dinner table. Once my son became more accepting of a some variety in his diet, I was more than willing to compromise and keep my ingredient list restricted to items that I know he likes. In short, it’s a win-win situation.