{"id":16526,"date":"2016-09-17T07:09:09","date_gmt":"2016-09-17T12:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/?p=16526"},"modified":"2023-08-17T15:57:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T20:57:27","slug":"how-do-you-handle-picky-eaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/09\/17\/how-do-you-handle-picky-eaters\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Handle Picky Eaters?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

Growing up, I had a friend whose mother would save whatever he refused to eat at one meal and serve it to him for the next. I don\u2019t know about you, but I doubt I would recall my childhood very fondly if I\u2019d routinely had the same bowl of soggy cereal set before me for several meals running. I\u2019m so grateful my mother chose a different tack.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anytime I was reluctant to eat something she served, she\u2019d encourage me to try \u201cjust one bite.\u201d <\/strong>Who knows? Maybe someday I\u2019d discover that I liked it.<\/p>\n

She hoped that, given enough one-bite attempts, I’d eventually develop a taste for the new dish, but in the meantime, she didn’t force things. In fact, she didn’t even insist I swallow those single bite samplings. I was allowed to spit it out if I found my taste for a particular dish still hadn’t changed. There were plenty of other options on the table. And if nothing there appealed to my appetite, there would be another meal served a few hours later<\/strong>. No grazing on junk food in the interim.<\/p>\n

Although I don’t think my mom and dad ever compiled a list of hard-and-fast rules regarding mealtimes, they adhered to some guiding principles, which my husband and I have tried to follow in raising our own children<\/strong>. These may be summed up as follows:<\/p>\n

How We Handle Picky Eaters:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    Avoid junk<\/h3>\n

    Junk food is high in calories and low on nutrition — and the companies that sell it have done extensive research to make it as addictive as possible. Any efforts to train your children to eat whole, healthful foods<\/a> will fall flat if you stock your pantry with high fat, high sugar, high salt alternatives<\/strong> and allow them to graze between meals. <\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Offer variety<\/h3>\n

    Consistently put a variety of good, wholesome food in front of your children at mealtimes, including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables<\/a>, and they will eventually learn to love most if not all of it<\/strong>. Set a good example for them to follow and don’t let your dinner hour turn into a time of contention. <\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Be patient<\/h3>\n

    Your children’s food preferences will mature as they do. Encourage them to try new foods, but don’t try to force them to eat anything<\/strong>. That’s a battle you can’t win. If there is something you know your child particularly dislikes, pair it with a healthful option you know he’ll eat. I have one son who hates beans but loves salad, so anytime I make bean soup, I serve a big salad alongside it. <\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Don’t obsess<\/h3>\n

    Don’t freak out if a friend or relative offers your child something he normally isn’t given at home<\/strong>. An occasional piece of candy or drink of soda will not completely undermine your child’s health or negate the good progress you’ve made toward establishing healthful eating habits — and you will both learn important lessons about gratitude and flexibility in the process. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Thanks to my parents’ efforts, I learned to like a wide variety of healthful foods from a young age<\/strong>, although it was not until I was an adult that I finally developed a fondness for green beans. Now they\u2019re my favorite, but I had a hard time even swallowing \u201cjust one bite\u201d as a child. I\u2019d gag every time.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019m so glad my parents took such a balanced approach to training my taste buds.<\/strong> They didn\u2019t reward finicky-ness by catering to my every culinary whim, but neither did they try to break me of personal preferences by making battles over diet a hill on which to die. They suspected I would eventually come around — and they were right. Which is why we’ve tried to handle our picky eaters in much the same way.<\/p>\n

    More ideas for feeding your family<\/h2>\n

    Love to cook? You can view a categorized list of my other recipe posts here: Our Favorite Recipes<\/a>. Or — for even more Flanders family favorites, plus a wealth of ideas for making mealtime memorable — get a copy of my book Sit Down & Eat<\/a>. <\/p>\n

    \"Sit<\/a><\/p>\n

    Have enough nutritious and delicious recipes to fill a book of your own? Then grab a copy of my new devotional journal for culinary artists, Bread of Heaven<\/a> so you can put them all down in one place.<\/p>\n

    \"Bread<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Nana's<\/p>\n

    PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through any of those links, we may receive a small referral fee, at no extra cost to you. Such fees help defray the cost of running this website. This, in turn, allows us to continue offering our readers a wealth of FREE printable resources. So thank you for your support! <\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Getting<\/p>\n

    \"Fun<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Growing up, I had a friend whose mother would save whatever he refused to eat at one meal and serve it to him for the next. I don\u2019t know about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[10344],"class_list":["post-16526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting","tag-toddlers"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Do You Handle Picky Eaters? - Flanders Family Home Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's a question we hear from a lot of parents: How do you handle picky eaters? 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In so doing, I've dropped over 45 excess pounds and feel amazing! As for all the foods I've given up? 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It's been cold here this week. This sort of weather makes me crave a hot and hearty bowl of soup. So I thought I'd share one of our family's favorites today: Mama's Marvelous Minestrone. The recipe was given to me many years ago by my dear friend Wendy. 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One of my big ones for the coming 12 months is to eat more healthful, wholesome meals at home. 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It\u2019s popular enough with my kids that I usually have to double this recipe, and we still have no leftovers. To print recipe, click here --> Black Bean Salad Ingredients: 1\u00bd cups freshly cooked black beans (or a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipes"","block_context":{"text":"Recipes","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/recipes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black Bean Salad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/woods_recipe_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/woods_recipe_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/woods_recipe_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/woods_recipe_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/woods_recipe_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9620,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2015\/01\/27\/all-american-potato-salad\/","url_meta":{"origin":16526,"position":5},"title":"All-American Potato Salad","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"January 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking for a good side dish for Super Bowl Sunday? You\u2019d have a hard time doing better than a huge batch of our All-American Potato Salad. Throw in a pot of baked beans and some barbecued pulled pork sandwiches (with a little mustard and thick slices of sweet onions), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipes"","block_context":{"text":"Recipes","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/recipes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"All-American Potato Salad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/All-American-Potato-Salad-1.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/All-American-Potato-Salad-1.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/All-American-Potato-Salad-1.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/All-American-Potato-Salad-1.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16526"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33223,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16526\/revisions\/33223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}