Janice Newell Bissex, MS, RD and Liz Weiss, MS, RD, Co-authors, The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers
The Meal Makeover Moms have created a series of online videos featuring cooking demonstrations and mealtime/pantry tips. Discover easy ways to improve your family's diet by watching more of their how-to videos.
Given a choice between beets and French fries, which would your children prefer? Okay, so our question seems a bit silly. Beets aren’t exactly the most appealing kid food on the planet. But what if we told you that with some simple strategies, there’s a chance your kids would choose the beets? You may think we’re kidding but we’re really serious! Robin, a mother of two, gets her girls to eat all sorts of colorful vegetables, including beets. How does she do it? First, she buys fresh beets, scrubs them, trims the ends, sprinkles them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then wraps them in foil. The beets are placed in a baking pan and roasted in a 400°F oven until they’re tender. They take about an hour to cook and once the outer layer is peeled away, the end result is sweet, delicious, and incredibly beautiful beets that according to mom, are “to die for.” The bottom line here is that it’s possible to get your kids to eat just about anything as long as you make it appealing.
Here are some strategies you can try at home:
Tempt the Senses: The biggest challenge to getting kids to try a new food is to persuade them to take that very first bite. Even if the food is delicious, chances are your child won't open his mouth if it doesn’t look good. Children and adults eat with their eyes. Imagine a dinner table filled with Walnut Crusted Salmon, steamed broccoli florets drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt, and strawberries dipped in melted dark chocolate chips. With an array of colors and shapes, the meal becomes a delicious alternative to the bland-colored chicken nuggets and potato puffs that some children might be accustomed to eating.
Your next challenge is to make the food taste good. One way to do that is to lightly season your food with salt (we prefer the flavor and lower sodium content of kosher salt), herbs, and spices and to avoid the temptation to make your meals fat free. Fat gives food flavor and is a key component of a healthy meal makeover. The trick is to choose the right kinds of fats – we love extra virgin olive oil and canola oil-- and use them in moderation.
Be a Good Role Model: If the old saying, “do as I say, not as I do,” applies to mealtime at your house, chances are your children will quickly catch on. If you grimace at the sight of peas or proclaim your objection to oatmeal every time it’s served, you really can't expect your children to try, let alone eat them. And if you dash out the door in the morning without eating breakfast, getting your kids to eat their morning meal may be a tough sell as well. Since youngsters learn how to walk, talk, and eat a varied diet by imitating what they see, parents and caregivers can set a good example by making healthy food choices. Think of this as an opportunity to improve your own eating habits too.
Try New Foods Over and Over and Over Again: If you’re like us and find yourself running or driving your mini van (or hybrid!) in a million different directions, you probably have little time to plan or prepare dinner. Sure, it’s tempting to take the easy road by offering the no muss, no fuss fast food and convenience meals that kids will surely eat. But in order to get children to try new foods, it’s important to expand their horizons. The challenge, however, is that research shows it can take 10 to 20 tastes over the course of many meals before a child eventually learns to actually like a new food. The more often the food is offered, the better the odds that your child will taste it and add it to his or her list of favorite foods. And remember, there are dozens of fruits and vegetables to choose from so if you fail with one, move on to the next (just don’t forget to come back to those old “castoffs” later).
Offer the 3 Cs: Choice, Creativity and Compromise: Kids are control freaks. That’s why it’s critical to present them with plenty of choices throughout the day. Choices come in handy when you’re trying to market good nutrition. For example, rather than tell your kids they “have to eat some fruit with dinner,” consider a more positive approach by giving them a choice between two different fruits. “Do you want watermelon or grapes … or both?” Given the choice, they’ll probably pick at least one. The same goes for vegetables. “Do you want broccoli or carrots tonight?” Trust us, it works most of the time!
It’s also important to be creative. We don’t mean you have to make smiley faces on pancakes (unless, of course, you enjoy that sort of thing). But experiment a bit with your usual array of recipes by trying some new ones that may be a little different from what the kids are used to. In other words, take a few small steps “out of the box” in order to pique their taste buds and curiosity about food. Our makeover recipes are designed to do just that. With creativity you can also make up fun and silly names for foods. Telling your five-year old that, “this broc rocks” may get her to try broccoli. Hey, it’s worth a try.
The last of the 3 Cs is compromise. It’s unrealistic to expect any child, teen or toddler, to eat A-plus meals seven nights a week. Come to think of it, it’s unrealistic to expect adults to eat this way either. There’s room for compromise and we believe it can actually help your efforts to market good nutrition. If, for instance, the kids have been begging for hot dogs all week, there’s no reason to deny them. While we don’t advocate hot dogs as everyday fare, a nitrite-free, all-natural hot dog is certainly a fine choice once in a while (read our Best of the Bunch to find the healthiest hot dogs). And if the children want chips on the side, don’t feel guilty if you end up doling out a handful or two. To round out the hot dogs and chips, however, consider some crunchy baby carrots and sliced strawberries or mango as well. Everyone wins.
