Make Dinner Time a Happy Time – Tips for Parents with Picky Eaters

As a parent you try to make your kids happy especially when it comes to meal time. You and your spouse however wonder how you could stand another meal of hot dogs or hamburgers. If you decide something different like a spicy dish, your kids will rebel.

You need to realize that you and your kids are not the same age. They will develop tastes for different foods over a period of time. Think about it. Did you like every meal that was placed in front of you when you were a kid? I’m sure that your answer is no.

At meal time you may want to fix healthy dishes despite your kids craving for fatty foods and sweets but not sure how to. Don’t worry help is on the way. It is possible to serve healthy dishes that interest your kids.

Try these dishes on for size:

Kids’ meal – pan-fried cheeseburgers. Adults’ meal – patty melts on rye.
Kids’ meal – cheese and chicken quesadillas. Adults’ meal – mu shu chicken.
Kids’ meal – hot dogs. Adults’ meal – turkey kielbasa sausage with grilled onion on a French roll.
Kids’ meal – monster meatballs with spaghetti. Adults’ meal – meatball sandwiches.
Kids’ meal – buttered noodles with roasted chicken. Adults’ meal – brown butter with roasted chicken and pasta covered with Mizithra cheese.
Kids’ meal – cheese and ham sandwiches (grilled/cold). Adults’ meal – Reuben sandwiches.

Encourage kids to help prepare the dishes. Kids are always eager to get their hands dirty and they will show off their end result proudly. Finally meal time has become a happy time. Adults get to see their kids eating healthier and they don’t have to indulge in their greasy habits. Kids get to eat something they helped prepare and they can finally sit down to a meal that they like.

Here are a few great website resources for parents of picky eaters:

Does your picky eater have a favorite meal you’d like to share with our readers? Do you have a tips for parents of picky eaters? Leave it in the comments below.

2 thoughts on “Make Dinner Time a Happy Time – Tips for Parents with Picky Eaters”

One thing that helps cut down on the amount of work you have to do is to take the basic protein+vegetable(+starch if you’re into that) that you make for the adults and just create a simplified version for the kids. In our house for example, if we’re blackening fish we’ll make a simple pan-seared version for my son that is maybe dusted with some panko (very, very easy). That way you are using the same ingredients and not going crazy preparing a totally separate meal. This works out pretty well.
Also it’s good to slowly (and moderately) sneak in spices in small amounts so they start getting used to more complex flavors. This can backfire, but a lot of times they won’t even notice and they will start getting used to it sooner than you think.