LOOKIN for advice not criticism please

[WDWisTheBest]

Something I've read about, are people who create picture food journals.

They said the more they got into it, the more they started eating healthier stuff just because it started looking more appealing in the pictures than greasy fatty stuff. Have her take a picture of her dinner plate and keep a journal the computer. Or make both your kids do it. Then they can start comparing how colorful and varied their plates are.

There's also certain foods that I'll only eat raw or eat cooked. Like carrots, they are so gross cooked but I love them raw. Broccoli, love it cooked but hate it raw or cold.

Now, that is interesting; a picture food journal. Just like the ones at Burger King.

 

[Agri]

First of all, if you're concerned about processed foods - don't keep them in the house. Only keep the healthy things that she will eat in the house.

Find out why she's picky. Maybe she only likes certain textures or has sensitive teeth? I don't like raw veggies for the most part because I prefer softer textures and I have sensitive teeth, so cold stuff really bothers me.

Sit down with her and make a list of things she will eat and things she would like to try. Then go from there. Have her check out cookbooks from the library or go to the book store and pick out a couple - then let her choose the meal one night a week.

The biggest 'trick' would be not catering to her finickiness - make her fix her own meals when she isn't happy with what you have prepared and don't keep the easy fixes in the house. Make her work for her alternative options.

 

[SandrA9810]

Or what about a food game?? My ex told me she used to play this with her family growing up. They would blind fold one person each turn and the others would find something in the house that they wanted them to eat. Some stuff was gross stuff, some yummy, some non-edible like paper. Then they had to guess what it was. One time, she decided to make her mom eat ground coffee beans, which was never forgotten.

So try this. Once a week, some one gets to be a judge. The other 3 family members get to sit blind folded. And place two or three different mini cups (like the ones for ketchup) in front of each person. Take a picture of the cup, then the judge writes down what each person thinks about it before tasting. Like the tempature, the smell, if there's a noise if you shake it. Then the judge gets to write down what each person thinks of it, and what their guess is before they take off the blind fold. If it you want to, the judge can take a picture of every one trying it for a funny reaction.

And the judge can prepare the food any way they want to. Mash it, puree it, heat it, freeze it. And determine how much each person has to try of it. Like put a dab of vanilla extract in the cup, so the judge says "you only have to taste it with your tongue". If the judge puts in like two or three skittles, the judge can say "down the whole cup". If it's ice cream, the judge can say "lick the whole cup clean".

Do it once a week, with one family member being the judge each week. Make it fun with sweet stuff or sour stuff, toss in veggies or different kinds of meats. Write down what it is, and how it was prepared. By the end of a year, each person would have tried almost 80 new and interesting things.

 

[JenInVirginia]

I have a son who is picky, so I know what you're going through. When he was much younger, we did get him to try some new foods using good old bribery! We made a 'new food list' for him that we hung in the kitchen on the fridge. Everytime he tried something new that he liked well enough that we could serve it to him in the future, we added it to the list. When he had 10 things on the list, he got some toy he had been asking for (can't even remember what it was, now). Now, several years later, there are probably a few things on that list that he has gone back to not eating, but there are several that he still likes, and it did give him incentive to try new things.

We don't make too big of a deal about his picky-ness. If he doesn't like what I am making for dinner, he can make himself something else, and his meal has to include at least one fruit or veggie. He has gotten slightly less picky over the years.

Good luck.

 

[bookgirl]

I was picky, am picky, will always be picky, well actually we now know that it is a matter of texture and taste issues, BUT as a teenager you do have to make a line in the sand so to speak. My mom did, I either ate what she fixed or I made myself something else, and that didn't mean my mom bought me a bunch of extra stuff, I had to choose from what was already available at home.

You cook one meal, if she doesn't like it she can have a bowl of cereal or a sandwich, if she's tired of that then SHE has the power to choose. Either eat more variety or be happy with what she chose to have instead.

I would at least make sure there's a few nights where there is pasta, or chicken or something she likes but it's her decision what to eat, and she is not allowed to whine about it and parents are not allowed to nag her about what she chooses to or not to eat.

It will work itself out but catering to her forever is going to give her no reason to change and unless you plan to feed her every meal for the rest of her life she needs to learn to feed herself or adapt.