It's umm... Chicken... Helping out with your picky kids

How many of you have finicky eaters in the house? Yeah, that's what I thought. Here are some tips to get your picky eaters to try new foods. I have tried all of these suggestions and they have all worked at different times.

1) Involve your kids in the cooking process

Kids love to help out, especially in the kitchen and if they are involved in making what's for dinner, they will be a lot more willing to taste what they help to make.

2) Let'em Dip
If your kids are anything like mine, they like to dip their food. Ketchup, honey mustard, ranch, bbq sauce... When my daughter was 1, she wanted nothing to do with meat or veggies. When I introduced her to dipping and she started to eat both. After a while, I cut down on the dip and now at 3 she eats pretty much whatever I put in front of her. Just be careful because dips can be high in salt and fat, so don't go for this option all of the time. 

3) Don't give in
We all know it's easier to give in than try and argue with a toddler but in the long run you are only hurting your child and yourself. By giving into your kids picky eating, you are only reinforcing their pickyness. And really, do you want to be preparing 2 plus dinners a night to cater to all of the finicky eaters in your house? I think not!

4) Tell 'em it's chicken
If all else fails, go for a little white lie. I don't advocate lying to children out of convenience but bottom line, your kids need to have a well balanced diet. If you have tried everything else and it is not working, tell them it's chicken or something else they like, and hope they eat it. The most important thing is to keep introducing new foods, because eventually they'll come around... Most of them anyway. :)