Making Meal Time Fun

I recently read a wonderful eBook called "What to Cook for Dinner for Picky Eaters" and it got me thinking. What making food fun? I know, I know, We were all taught not to play with our food. But what if alittle play helped our picky eaters to eat more... to eat healthier? I'm not talking about letting your child build a tiny fort with their carrot sticks and ranch dip (even though that may work) but alittle creativity in the kitchen can go a long way.

Let me explain what I'm talking about...

Kids are naturally attracted to fun and colorful things. Try making their food fun and colorful too.

• Give your child a plate of pretzel sticks and have them spell out different words or biting regular pretzels into different letters and shapes
• Make funny faces out of fruit slices
• Sandwiches are the simplest snack that can be made with a variety of ingredients.
• Use whole wheat bread instead of white bread. Try different combinations of lunch meats and spreads to see which ones your child enjoys.
• Maybe a Nutella and Peanut Butter sandwich or squish up a banana mixed with some peanut butter and add it to a sandwich or between graham crackers.
• You can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes with the sandwiches and let your child help squish the banana.
• If your daughter helps you make the pasta for supper, Name it "Anna's Fantastic Pasta" and make a big deal about it when you bring it to the table and serve it to your family. It will make them feel good about themselves and they will want to try it more because they made it along with everyone making a big deal about something they helped with.

Kids also like things that are their size. Miniaturize their food.

• Bagel Pizza's are always a big hit - Split a bagel and cover the top in tomato sauce. Add some low-fat mozzarella cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted
• Make a bagel snake out of mini bagels - Split the mini bagels and cut each half into half circles. Spread the halves with toppings like cream cheese, egg salad, chicken/tuna salad, peanut butter, etc. Decorate with small fruit or veggie slices. You could use raisins or olives for the eyes.

Who don't enjoy Smoothies?

• Mix your kiddo's favorite fruits with yogurt and milk (you can also use soy milk or even juice)
• Try Soy Milk, Strawberries and blueberries with some low-fat yogurt.
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• Let your kids gave control of the smoothie making sometimes. Have them pick out the fruit they want and put it in the blender. They can also help add the yogurt and milk/juice.
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• Even better - You can turn your left over smoothies into Popsicle's!
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• Pour the smoothie mix or juice into small paper cups, add plastic wrap to the top (Aluminum Foil would work good also) Poke a wooden craft stick down the middle of the wrapping. Try not to touch the bottom with the Popsicle stick, if you do, don't worry about it. Pop in the freezer for a few hours and you have a healthy fun snack for a hot day! You could even stir in some fruit slices to your mix before you add it to the cups.

Be creative and Don't forget to add some fun to your meals!