I have been on a mission lately.
A mission to get my youngest son to try more foods.
You see, I believe he may just be the world's pickiest eater!
He has it in his head before he even tastes anything that he's not going to like it. So he just simply sticks to his old standby's and rarely ever samples anything different. This is sooooo frustrating for me. I don't like every food that I may try but I will at least try it.
Wait! I take that back. I do NOT like seafood and WILL NOT eat it! (I've never had shrimp and I don't ever intend too!)
Ok, now that I have said that I feel bad. I blame my son's picky eating behaviors on my husband, who by the way is known as the world's 2nd most picky eater.
However, here I am saying that I will NOT try seafood. (Shame on me!)
I guess now I need to take a little blame, however seafood is about the only thing that I can think of that I am not willing to try.
Anyways , back to my story....
My mission started out with teaching him to read food labels. We had already studied this in Health class but obviously he needed a refresher course. I didn't make the fat and calories be the big issue though. Instead I tried to show him how healthy an item was by looking at how much fiber, iron and vitamins it was going to supply his body with.
We started by looking at breakfast foods. He loves the sugary cereals but he also loves Coco Wheats. So I showed him how much more "good stuff" he was getting by eating the CoCo Wheats instead of the stuff in the sugar boxes. We continued comparing throughout the day with each meal and then the next day we went to the store where he searched the shelves and read the labels. We ended up leaving with a few "new" items for him to try.
The oddest thing that he picked out was grapefruit!
Who would have guessed?
I like grapefruit but I would have never imagined him picking it out as a new favorite.
He tried it first cold with a little salt sprinkled on it and then I told him how my Mom & Dad used to broil grapefruit and that I thought it was pretty good that way too!
Needless to say we are on our second bag of grapefruit and he now prefers it broiled with just a bit of brown sugar sprinkled on top.
Not what I expected but it's a step in the right direction.
I just hope he continues with a more open-minded approach to eating new things.
Anyone else out there have a picky eater?
If so, do you have any tips or tricks up your sleeves?
7 comments:
LOL Jessica! My kids were adventurous with food, they were never afraid to try something new. But, we have friends whose daughters were picky. When the kids were young our friends made a cheesecake and the girls went yuuuuucky. That was ok with us, that meant we got to eat more of it.
I'm not fond of grapefruit but my husband loves it. Maybe I should try it with some brown sugar.
~willa~
LOL...I'm on year # 18 with my picky eater and I have YET to conquer it, although he eats shrimp and I don't :D I am surprised by the grapefruit too, but YAY for him because it is a very healthy choice so you are going in the right direction:)
I really like grapefruit, but it's something I can't eat often because of medication that I take. I now look longingly at it at the grocery. Never thought I'd be eager to eat grapefruit. I used to peel small ones and eat them in sections, like an orange.
Did you say boiled grapefruit? How interesting.... When I was young we would sprinkle sugar on it but now I and I believe my family just eat it... yes it is hard with finicky eaters....
Country Girl....
We broil it! (Not boil it.)
We slice them in half, place them on a baking sheet and sprinkle them with a little brown sugar. They we place them in the broiler just long enough to warm and turn the sugar to a golden brown. They are really good that way.
Your way with grapefruit sounds great. I'll have to try that. Have gotten away from eating grapefruit, and it's so good for you. Have a great weekend.
We had the broiled grapefruit with the brown sugar, too...with a little chicken liver and a piece of bacon wrapped around it on top, getting broiled, too! Sounds horrible, doesn't it?
I love seafood especially SHRIMP but after getting pet shrimp, I can't bear to eat them...they have little personalities...lol...plus they look like ocean-going INSECTS if you ask me...lol...
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