Playing with your food

Recently it has been suggested to me that I write about food. More specifically how to get children interested in making good food choices. I have 5 children. Four of my children are great eaters. Then there is Mr. Jackson. If it looks or smells "weird" forget it. He has always been a challenge. At three and a half years old he has many ideas of what he will not eat.
I started him out in much the same way that I had done with my three oldest children. James 16, Joey 13 (soon), and Sabrina 11. From the time they were babies I have had them in the kitchen with me. They were taught how to crack eggs, stir, and even measure. I have always felt it very important for any child to learn how to read a recipe.
My children were all taken grocery shopping with me as well. I taught them how to make the best choices no matter what the budget. I would also let them help plan out meals. This was a lot of fun for them. By allowing them to help choose what we bought, and then to help prepare it, this increased the odds of them actually eating the food.
While my husband was deployed our eating was able to be even more creative. My husband has never been what you would call an "adventurous" eater.
Each child would be responsible in deciding a portion of the meal and then helping to make it. Salads became a lot of fun. We came up with a great basic formula that allowed for a lot of diversity. I like to start with the baby spring greens. They are mild and very colorful. Then we would pick a cheese, a fruit, and a nut. All of this would be topped with a nice vinaigrette. One of our favorite compilations is baby greens, strawberries, sliced almonds, and feta.

It became obvious from a very early age that Jackson was going to be more of a challenge. He was eager to help pick food out and help cook, but tasting it was not happening. I had to try more options.
There are two that I would like to share now.
First: Salad bar
Again I start with the organic spring mix. I then allow the children to help pick out toppings. Some favorites are:
Hard boiled eggs
cucumbers
tomatoes
avocado
shredded cheese
diced ham
celery
carrots
black olives
artichoke hearts
green pepper
chick peas
radishes
green onion

I would cut up all of the toppings and set them out like a salad bar. The kids then got to make their own salad their way. This was a big hit! Even Jackson got into.

Another favorite is our fruit dessert. I would buy a variety of fruits. Berries, bananas, and melons seem to work the best. First I melt a bag of chocolate chips in the microwave. I do this by stirring about every 30 seconds. I also add a little peanut butter. This helps to keep the chocolate smooth and silky.
Then I did the white dip. I package cream cheese, 1 jar marshmallow fluff, and about a tsp. of vanilla. Mix this until smooth. The kids were given fondue forks and they went to town.!
As you can imagine there were not a lot of leftovers.
I am not usually a fan of gimmicks. I try to get my children to try foods in a variety of ways. It has been very helpful. When shopping on a budget it is nice to be able to just buy what ever is on sale, and to not get stuck buying the same old same old all of the time.
These are just a few ideas I wanted to share. I plan on trying many more and sharing those as well

Thanks for reading!!v