True story 1. I was the kid who liked all my foods to be separate on my plate. I’d eat each one on its own and would sometimes get upset if the different foods touched. I have a vivid memory of my grandmother watching me eat a meal she had made food by food and…
So you are sitting at the dinner table and your four-year-old refuses to even take a bite of the roasted broccoli that is being served that night. You take a breath and lightly say, “Ok. Well, if you change your mind the broccoli is here.” Then you try to focus on enjoying your own broccoli…
We just got back from a week with the grandparents at an all-inclusive resort (Thanks, Vovô and Vovó!). If you have never been to one before, part of what that means is absolutely enormous buffets of food. This is a type of eating that I haven’t had much experience with. Other than the cafeterias in…
My kids have told me over and over again that they don’t like beets. I have tried offering them in a variety of ways over the years- roasted, steamed, grilled, in salads, as a side, with herbs, and plain. Never any success. Then, two weekends ago, my husband and I had an outstanding dinner at…
We’ve been going through a rough patch in our house recently when it comes to eating. My almost-four-year old has fallen back into some of his “picky” ways and now my six-year-old, who has always been an adventurous and excited eater, is going through a “I don’t like the way it looks! I don’t like…
I’ve been reading a ton recently on different approaches to feeding our kids. There are so many theories out there about the best ways to introduce new foods, the best ways to encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, and the best ways to help selective/picky eaters to overcome their challenges with foods. It…
Last night at dinner I set out a beautiful platter of salmon fillets surrounded by sautéed baby broccoli. The colors were striking and appealing and I invited the boys to serve themselves. Both boys, as expected, dove into the salmon and the millet (which I served for them since it was still quite hot), but…
Over the weekend I heard a great conversation on The Splendid Table with Katie Workman about the challenges involved in feeding kids. There was one factoid she mentioned that I am sure I had heard before but somehow really struck me this time: we are born with 10,000 taste buds, but by the time we reach…
As I was making my daily read through Facebook yesterday I came across this blog post which talks about how we handle difficult situations. Dr. Hanson encourages us to recognize that a situation is difficult, accept it, and then let it go. He says that fighting or resisting against the difficulty doesn’t help, if anything it just…
I have a confession to make. Despite all of my best efforts at introducing foods repeatedly and in different ways. Despite my numerous deep breaths and creative responses in order to avoid the battles of the wills. I have one kiddo who can be a very picky eater. The thing that really drives me crazy…