Trick Your Picky Eater!

Do you have a picky eater on your hands? Those toddlers sure develop an opinion about food out of nowhere, considering they survived on a liquid diet for the first six months of their lives! As moms, we want to offer our children the most whole and nutritious foods so they grow up to be strong and healthy and make good decisions when it comes to food, but sometimes our kids give us a run for our money in this department. The good news is, there are ways to totally trick your kids into eating healthy! They won’t even know the difference.

The Milkshake Factor:

Make your child a “milkshake,” wink, wink! Of course when I say milkshake, I mean smoothie. This is the perfect opportunity to load them up on fruits and veggies and hide superfoods. Adding a handful of greens or a tasteless superfood like chia seeds, hemp seeds or hearts, moringa and coconut oil can really give that smoothie a much needed nutritional boost. And don’t forget, certain delicious fruits themselves are superfoods like blueberries, goji berries and dragon fruit. If you are concerned about the sugar in fruit, don’t be. It’s completely natural and no comparison to processed white sugars you find in most packaged sweets. If it still worries you, remember, everything in moderation.

Substitution:

Sometimes you can simply tweak a recipe with alternative ingredients to make it more wholesome. I always encourage people to buy whole, organic and non-gmo foods, so make sure you look for those labels when you shop. Did you know, unsweetened applesauce can replace sugar? Coconut milk can replace heavy cream? Plain greek yogurt can replace sour cream? Nutritional yeast can replace cheese? Cacao for cocoa? I promise your little fault-finding foodie will never know you pulled the okey-doke on them!

Eat Your Colors:

Some children are very intrigued by the pretty colors in food, while others can be very doubtful. You’ll never know until you try it out and give them some time and space to figure it out for themselves, so always keep offering it to them! Food has many colors of the rainbow; think of a juicy yellow bell pepper, a bright orange papaya or a purple potato. These vibrant colors can make food fun. Make it interesting by making things with your food like a beach scene (think a tangerine for the sun, blueberry yogurt for water, quinoa for sand). Sure it’s messy, but that’s just life with kids and this just may spark their interest enough to eat it.

It’s Backwards Day:

Eat dessert first. I’m sure you think I’ve lost my mind by saying that, but this might be the ultimate parent one-over on particular eaters. The catch is that dessert must be extremely nutritious. For example, try an avocado mousse. So easy to make and only 4 ingredients: avocado, cacao powder and just a touch of real maple syrup and vanilla extract. Blend it all together for what tastes exactly like a rich chocolate mousse but is actually a total superfood dream!

Power Oats Recipe:

Try making our power oats recipe for breakfast. It is so delicious as well as nutrient dense, it’s a staple in our household!

1 cup of organic rolled oats

Cut up a fruit of your choice (banana or apple or frozen mixed berries work great)

A splash of coconut milk for creaminess

1 teaspoon chia seeds

1 tablespoon raw almond butter or nut butter of your choice

1 tablespoon of coconut butter (we love these flavored ones)

1 tablespoon of clean protein powder (we use these superfood ones)

A drizzle of honey  (try these)

Other great toppings include: coconut shreds, cinnamon, nutmeg, pomegranates and cacao nibs