“Eat what’s on your plate or go to bed hungry,” my mom would say watching me pick at my plate of spinach gratin or lentil and sunflower seed paté. In my pre-kid naiveté, I thought I’d abide much by the same “eat what’s on your plate or go to bed hungry” philosophy that I’d grown up with. Come on, I thought to myself, how hard could it possibly be to get a kid to eat green veggies or to try something that wasn’t on the “kids menu?” “How hard?” I wondered. I think I’d have better luck getting my 3 year old to put together a piece of Ikea furniture than getting him to try a bite of quinoa salad. From about a year old, he started spitting out nearly anything I’d put in front of him, he was consistently near the bottom of the weight growth chart and, to make matters worse, he had a whole host of allergies (most of which he grew out of by his third birthday) which made him all the more suspicious of unfamiliar foods. I contemplated the “eat it or go to bed hungry” philosophy, but I knew he’d choose option b every time.
Desperate, I asked my pediatrician for advice. “He’s impossibly picky, he won’t eat ANYTHING,” I said to her exasperated and scared that he wasn’t getting the nutrition his body needed to grow and thrive. Her advice was simple and unexpected: “try to sneak more nutrient-rich foods into his diet.” I’d expected the conversation to go a little more in the direction of, “grow a pair lady, show your kid whose boss and don’t let him leave the table until he’s eaten all of his spinach.” Instead, we chatted about which nutrients were most important for children his age and in what quantities, and which nutrient-rich foods were easy to sneak into the foods he was already eating. “Picky eating is a developmental phase” she also assured me, “pick your battles.” So, though I can’t share sound parenting advice on how to instill healthy eating habits in your children, nor can I give you discipline tips on turning picky eaters into foodies, I can offer you a few tips on how to brave the picky eating battle by improving the nutritional content of the foods your kids are willing to eat anyway.
#1: Befriend the Shelled Hemp Seed
Hemp seeds are packed to the brim with protein, good fats, vitamins and minerals.Also, unlike flax seeds or chia seeds which have a distinct texture, hemp seeds have a comparatively nondescript texture and pleasant taste, which makes them pretty easy to hide in a variety of foods. I toss organic hemp seeds in virtually anything my son will eat – smoothies, nut butters, yogurt, cereal, breakfast muffins and everything in between.
#2: Play with Nut and Seed Butters
I’m hard pressed to find a kid that won’t eat a PB&J sandwich. If your kid loves peanut butter, try mixing it up a little with alternative nut and seed butters to add nutritional variety. Different nuts and seeds have different nutrient contents and most are packed with good fats, protein, vitamins and minerals. Pumpkin seeds, for example, are a good source of zinc and iron, whereas almonds are high in biotin and vitamin E. You might not want to start with a pumpkin seed butter sandwich, but you can try mixing a bit of almond butter with your regular brand of peanut butter and work your way up from there. Most health food stores and grocery stores carry a variety of raw and toasted sugar-free, additive-free nut and seed butters, but they are also easy to make yourself if you have a hearty food processor.
#3: Discover the Disappearing Hardboiled Egg Yolk
Egg yolks are packed full of fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids. You might already be blessed with a picky eater who loves eggs. If not, try blending or mashing hardboiled egg yolks into foods your kids already love. Add egg yolks to your kid’s bowl of blueberry yogurt, smoothie, mashed potatoes or even their peanut butter sandwich. Believe it or not, even the most discerning of eaters will gobble down a cooked egg yolk if it is properly blended and hidden into foods they love. Start small – half a cooked egg yolk blended into 1 cup of smoothie, for example, and experiment.
#4: Pass the Extra Virgin
Olive oil has long been prized for its phytonutrient content. As far as healthy fats go, its health benefits are hard to match. Plain noodles with butter are a picky eater’s go-to. Instead of butter – or at least instead of only butter, try a light tasting, high quality extra-virgin olive oil.
#5: The Miracle of Veggie Popsicles
I discovered the miracle of homemade popsicles when, after offering my son sweet potatoes on numerous occasions with zero success, I bought him a sweet potato and pear popsicle at a farmers market and he gobbled it up in two minutes flat.When making hidden veggie popsicles, I use Greek yogurt with a touch of maple syrup as my base for hiding veggies. Or, for those who want a dairy free option, pureed frozen bananas with coconut cream work well.You will need a food processor or blender to hide veggies into your popsicle bases. Veggies I’ve had the most luck with include kale, avocado, cooked carrots, cooked sweet potatoes and spinach. If your little one is green-o-phobic (as many are), a handful of frozen blueberries are colourful enough to mask even the darkest green veggie.
#6: Keep Snack Time, Minimize Snack Foods
We naturally hold dinner to a higher nutritional standard than snack. We wouldn’t give our kid a bowl of goldfish crackers or popcorn for dinner, but when it’s snack time we make concessions. If you’re struggling to get your kid to eat a proper balanced diet, serving nutrient-poor snack foods throws a monkey wrench in your nutrient-optimizing plans. Try setting aside a portion of something you’d normally serve for dinner and try serving that at snack time instead.
