Is there anything more discouraging than slaving away over a hot stove, preparing a delicious meal (or multiple meals!) for your baby or toddler, only to have her take one taste and let you know, in no uncertain terms, that yuck! You’ve wasted your time, energy and money, because it seems your little darling is harder to impress than a MasterChef judge.
To add insult to injury, you’ve tried to be smart and made a big batch of this latest puree/mash/meal to freeze in portions, saving yourself the trouble of making dinner from scratch every night this week… Now you’re faced with bowls and bowls of food that, apparently, no-one likes. Does it go in the bin? Can you reinvent it? Or do you try serving it up again next week on the off chance your little one has developed a taste for it?
To help make cooking for fussy kids less time-consuming, expensive and frustrating, keep these tips in mind the next time you head into the kitchen.
Trying a new vegetable? Cook an extra piece when making the family meal, then set it aside to puree or mash for your baby. Don’t buy a truckload of broccoli and prepare enough puree to last six months until you’ve tested the waters to make sure your baby likes it.
Don’t cook and freeze in combinations. So, your kids like carrots and not peas, but you can hide them in sweet potato or pumpkin with no-one the wiser? Try pureeing or mashing fruits and vegies separately, then freeze into cubes. If you’d like to sneak an unpopular vegie in there somewhere, add a cube or two to a favourite meal and see if anyone’s the wiser. Success? You’ve stumbled across a new combo that you can make again and again. Fail? That’s only one meal sacrificed – at least you don’t have a freezer full of “pea-spoiled” pasta sauce that nobody wants to eat.
Tired of being the chef? We say, stop making special meals for the kids right now! Serve up the family meal, and that’s it, just be smart about it – small tweaks can go a long way, and it’s often more about the way it looks than the way it tastes. Don’t chop your toddler’s cutlet into bite-size pieces; let him pick it up by the handle and go to town! Pop bright salad vegies and grilled meat in a wrap, or put everything on a skewer, to make eating fun. And consider grating (not chopping) tonight’s vegies into the spaghetti sauce/pie filling/casserole to boost the chances of everything being eaten.
Your kids may grow to like it. It can pay to persevere with new flavours. Often first tastes are greeted with a very cute but exasperating scrunched up face, but on the second, third or tenth attempt, your little foodie may come around and decide that yes, she likes those peas after all!
Don’t stress. Keep offering your baby or toddler a variety of healthy foods each day. If she is generally happy, active and well, she’s probably eating enough of most things despite her fussiness, but if you’re worried, always seek advice from your GP.