Welcome to the Kitchen of Pignone, where the cook (ME!) refuses to make individual meals to cater to the individual preferences of each family member. Take it or leave it. If you haven’t read Part 1 of Picky Eaters Anonymous, get caught up to speed.
(I do not claim to be a child eating expert, or any kind of child expert for that matter; this is just what happens to work for my family on most occasions).
Tactic #1: Get the sous chef involved.
I have figured out that there is a 90% greater chance of Evelyn eating dinner without complaints when she is involved in the cooking process: either choosing out ingredients or having a hands-on role in meal prep. That way, when something like “I don’t like the way this white sauce tastes” arises, I can fire back with “oh really? Because you had the choice of tomato sauce or white sauce, and you chose the white sauce, and you put it on there yourself.” Bam. End of convo. Dinner gets eaten.
(I do not claim to be a child eating expert, or any kind of child expert for that matter; this is just what happens to work for my family on most occasions).
Tactic #1: Get the sous chef involved.
I have figured out that there is a 90% greater chance of Evelyn eating dinner without complaints when she is involved in the cooking process: either choosing out ingredients or having a hands-on role in meal prep. That way, when something like “I don’t like the way this white sauce tastes” arises, I can fire back with “oh really? Because you had the choice of tomato sauce or white sauce, and you chose the white sauce, and you put it on there yourself.” Bam. End of convo. Dinner gets eaten.
Tactic #2: This or that.
I often incorporate the same main ingredient into different side dishes of a meal. It makes grocery shopping and the grocery bill friendlier, and also gives Evelyn the feeling of control. She tastes both side dishes, and chose one to fully eat. In this instance, broccoli. I steamed some plain, and then also added a good amount to some seasoned quinoa. She ended up picking the plain old steamed broccoli.
I often incorporate the same main ingredient into different side dishes of a meal. It makes grocery shopping and the grocery bill friendlier, and also gives Evelyn the feeling of control. She tastes both side dishes, and chose one to fully eat. In this instance, broccoli. I steamed some plain, and then also added a good amount to some seasoned quinoa. She ended up picking the plain old steamed broccoli.
Tactic #3: Experimental Night.
There are some night I make dishes where I can anticipate that she won’t like several ingredients, usually due to it being new to her. I take advantage of this situation and use it as a time to (slowly and painstakingly) introduce these foreign ingredients to her. Here, she is clearly experimenting with arugula and chickpeas. Note the SINGLE green leaf and SINGLE bean. This is how slow we start. “Tastes like a chemical lawn” (arugula) and “this one isn’t so bad, but makes me think of baby chicks” (chickpea) were the reviews. On Experimental Nights, I make sure she likes at least one of the main ingredients so she gets a dinner. In this case, rice and tomatoes.
There are some night I make dishes where I can anticipate that she won’t like several ingredients, usually due to it being new to her. I take advantage of this situation and use it as a time to (slowly and painstakingly) introduce these foreign ingredients to her. Here, she is clearly experimenting with arugula and chickpeas. Note the SINGLE green leaf and SINGLE bean. This is how slow we start. “Tastes like a chemical lawn” (arugula) and “this one isn’t so bad, but makes me think of baby chicks” (chickpea) were the reviews. On Experimental Nights, I make sure she likes at least one of the main ingredients so she gets a dinner. In this case, rice and tomatoes.
Tactic #4: Modification night.
On occasion, I will make Evelyn somewhat of a separate meal using the same ingredients. I know, this kind of goes against my mantra “One Meal For All,” but when it takes me 2 minutes out of meal prep to make her something slightly different with the same ingredients, I’m willing to make that trade. The main meal was taco salad; I modified hers into a burrito-type roll with non-mixed-in ingredients on the side (she also had corn on the side, not pictured).
On occasion, I will make Evelyn somewhat of a separate meal using the same ingredients. I know, this kind of goes against my mantra “One Meal For All,” but when it takes me 2 minutes out of meal prep to make her something slightly different with the same ingredients, I’m willing to make that trade. The main meal was taco salad; I modified hers into a burrito-type roll with non-mixed-in ingredients on the side (she also had corn on the side, not pictured).
Tactic #5: Ingredient Omitting.
Again, this one slightly goes against my mantra. My other rule of thumb, however, is if it makes her gag, she doesn’t have to eat it. The one food group that she simply cannot stomach (we all have that *one* trigger) is bell peppers. Which is a shame, because I LOVE my chili loaded with a rainbow of them. So on chili night, and again this takes me less than 2 minutes, I set aside some plain chili (ground beef, black and kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce….) in a bowl for her before adding in my heap of bell peppers.
Again, this one slightly goes against my mantra. My other rule of thumb, however, is if it makes her gag, she doesn’t have to eat it. The one food group that she simply cannot stomach (we all have that *one* trigger) is bell peppers. Which is a shame, because I LOVE my chili loaded with a rainbow of them. So on chili night, and again this takes me less than 2 minutes, I set aside some plain chili (ground beef, black and kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce….) in a bowl for her before adding in my heap of bell peppers.
Evelyn's lonely little gag-free bowl on the left; grown up chili on the right with beautiful bell peppers added.
We aren’t a perfect family. I don’t cook gourmet meals every night. Just two nights ago, Oliver was in rare form, probably because I finally decided that I’m not his Human Pacifier and he was pretty pissed about it. I had no patience or energy to coordinate a meal prep so, we regressed to mac and cheese. Yep. Luckily, we’ve advanced from Kraft to Annie’s organic whole wheat shells. Not much better, but some.
We also still have meals from time to time that don’t go smooth. I thought this was the tastiest meal invention just about ever:
We also still have meals from time to time that don’t go smooth. I thought this was the tastiest meal invention just about ever:
...and I thought, okay….pasta, cheese……yup, Evelyn won’t have any problems with this.
I did not stop to think that the cheese in question was goat cheese. I, personally, could eat a pound of that goodness in one sitting, so I forgot that the farm-like “punch” that comes along with it is not for everyone.
Meltdown ensued. But we got through it, and the next time I made that particular dish, I just used Tactic #5, Ingredient Omitting, and the world was right again.
So that concludes it, Moms out there. It's been a year+ long process, but more often than not my picky eater will join in the family meals with minimal complaints.
I did not stop to think that the cheese in question was goat cheese. I, personally, could eat a pound of that goodness in one sitting, so I forgot that the farm-like “punch” that comes along with it is not for everyone.
Meltdown ensued. But we got through it, and the next time I made that particular dish, I just used Tactic #5, Ingredient Omitting, and the world was right again.
So that concludes it, Moms out there. It's been a year+ long process, but more often than not my picky eater will join in the family meals with minimal complaints.