Tips For Cooking For KidsIn an ideal world, a toddler would eat exactly the same meals as the rest of the family without fuss or complaint. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the reality, and toddlers are notoriously picky eaters. Here are some ideas for toddler-friendly cooking without needing to cook separate meals. First, take advantage of what your toddler will eat, and cook with those foods in a balanced meal. For example, if you are planning on making home-made pizza for the family, leave a small section to add your child’s favorite ingredient or food. Yes, even if that means the child is having a pepperoni, mushroom, green pepper and… chicken nugget pizza! Hopefully, the toddler will be intrigued enough to try some of the other ingredients. Even if not, it results in he or she being exposed to new foods in a fun way and may become more receptive to eating them in the future. 
Second, never underestimate the power of sauces or toppings. If you are not sure whether your child will like a
particular sauce that you are making, why not leave it off their food at first and then try it with it on
another time? In most cooking recipes involving sauces, the sauce is frequently the end part of the recipe,
meaning that a small portion of the food may be removed early for your child. Sauces and toppings may also be
used in a positive way to make new foods appear more attractive.
For example, most toddlers love ranch dressing, so add small amounts of it to new vegetables they haven't yet
tried. Other popular sauces and toppings for that age group are ketchup, peanut butter and yogurt. Also, don’t
assume the topping has to ‘match’ the particular food they are eating. As adults we tend to restrict ourselves
to tastes that complement each other. However, children don’t have the same mentality, so try peanut butter on
carrots, or spread yogurt on a bagel.
The way your cooking is presented has a considerable effect on whether your child will eat it or not. The size of the pieces of food often will have a dramatic effect. To determine the optimal size for a particular food, simply cut a range of different sized pieces and observe which ones get picked up and eaten. Other times, they may simply ‘tune out’ foods that have been on the plate awhile during the meal. So halfway through the meal, rotate the toddler’s plate about ninety degrees and see if that inspires them to eat more. Alternatively, the food on your plate can be viewed as much more appealing than the identical food on their plate. So every now and then, transfer some food from your plate to your child’s when he or she is watching. Children are picky eaters, but by being armed with a few tactics, cooking for kids and getting them to eat it can be made much easier by observations and trial and error. |
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