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Tips for Parents of Picky Eaters

1. Eliminate snacking and juice drinking 2 hours before mealtime.
2. Set boundaries.  No separate meals.
3. Include one dish at each meal that you know your child will enjoy.
4. Encourage your child to help with meal planning.  (Not “What do you want?” but “Would you rather have this or that?”.)
5. Have your child help shop for and prepare meals.
6. Try new ways of presenting the food.  (Sauces and dips can be attractive.)
7.  Relax.  Don't nag them about invisible micronutrients. See it as a challenge not a health crisis.

For a whole bunch of great ideas on helping your picky eater visit Laptop Lunches.  And Dr. Susan Rubin has some additional  tips in her e-book "Winning the Picky Eater War".

Tomato Basil Soup

Recipe reprinted with permission from Feeding the Whole Family (third edition) by Cynthia Lair (Sasquatch Books, 2008)

When I was a child tomato soup was one of my main comfort foods.  It is simple to make.  The nightshade plants, such as tomatoes, are thought by some to affect calcium stores negatively.  Perhaps that is why they are traditionally paired with calcium-rich dairy. The food company Muir Glen makes a fire-roasted canned tomato that is yummy to use in this recipe.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 14.5 ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil and butter in a 4-quart pot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic and salt and sauté until onions are soft and translucent.  Add stock, tomatoes and honey and simmer for about 10-15 minutes to marry flavors.

Let soup cool slightly and put ½ of it into blender with sour cream.  Blend until smooth.  Transfer to another pot.  Blend the other half of the soup and add.  Warm blended soup.  Add basil and pepper before serving.

Preparation time: 25-30 minutes
Makes 4 servings
 

9 Comments:

claire allen
You fogot something: Plant a vegetable garden with your kids. My son planted spinach seeds 5 years ago and still insists on eating a huge bowl of raw spinach most days with dinner. It's about ownership!
March 18, 2009, 3:14 pm

Donna Dorsey
Hi Cynthia, I was the one who left the comment on the blog asking your advice on this topic. Thanks so much for making this video! The tips you gave are excellent and I can't wait to try them out. It was especially reassuring to hear that I don't have to be a short order cook. That is exactly what I have been, feeling like if I didn't then my son wouldn't eat anything. But your other tips (for example limiting snacking and juice drinking) will set the stage for his eating better at mealtimes. We got into some bad habits, thanks for pointing us in the direction of some good ones! As always, love your videos. Thank you so much for sharing them!
March 22, 2009, 1:55 pm

cheryl cuevas
Hi Cynthia. Thanks for your wonderful videos. Here's a different take on picky eaters. If your child consistently turns down a specific food, it's worth considering the slim possibility that they may have a sensitivity to that food. I always hated milk as a child and recently came to find out I'm lactose intolerant. It all makes sense now. Cheers!
May 8, 2009, 2:54 pm

Cynthia Lair
Right Cheryl, Same for me. I don't have a lactose intolerance but find straight milk pretty indigestible and didn't like it as a child. I prefer the fermented dairy products - live cultures help the belly!
May 8, 2009, 9:09 pm

Cynthia Childs
OK, so I think we have broken all the picky eater rules. We have a 12-year-old who is the pickiest eater I have ever known - he eats NO fruits or vegetables (salsa being the one exception) and he refuses to try fruits or vegetables. He gags if we make him (I know, we probably shouldn't make him). Is it too late to institute your rules? And what do we do on the nights when we, the parents, are having something 'fancy' that we know they won't eat but we want it?
July 2, 2009, 10:59 am

Cynthia Lair
Hi Cynthia, I'd start by making sure that every meal (fancy or not) has something included that you know your child will like. Even if it is simply bread and butter. You are right, do not make him eat food. Your next step is to relax and ignore the fact that he doesn't eat fruits or vegetables and enjoy them yourselves. No bribes, no lies. Enjoy is the key word.
July 2, 2009, 1:00 pm

Sarah Kingston
Hi Cynthia, I'm looking through the lunch box section again (please may I never have to make another ham sandwich!) and I'm wondering about the thermos. Do you warm up the soup in the morning and send him to school with it? What kind of thermos do you have? I know there are many that are stainless steel in the inside, and I'll just assume you're not using one that's all plastic, but really, what are the options? And please continue with the wonderful lunch ideas!
September 22, 2009, 7:15 am

Cynthia Lair
Hi Sarah, I have always used a small stainless steel thermos such as the link below shows. Laptop lunches sells some “lunch jars” for packing hot items that are stainless steel. http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Nissan-16-Ounce-Stainless-Steel-Insulated/dp/B00009V4FI/ref=pd_sim_k_1 http://secure.laptoplunches.com/AMAZING/items.asp?Cc=LUNCHJARS&Bc=
September 22, 2009, 11:34 am

Charles Andrews
Hi Cynthia, My wife wanted tomato soup soup this week, but I don't have a good recipe for it. I came to your website and found this recipe. It is super good. Thanks for sharing it. I also made some applesauce--we made some in Whole Foods Production--so that I could add something to our lunches!
January 28, 2010, 1:09 pm

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