Myra's Kitchen Blog » Feeding the Kids: Part 2

You’ll be teaching your children a valuable skill that they’ll need when they leave home. Moreover, kids are more likely to eat what they have had a hand in the preparation. When they feel they “own” the dish, they feel safer exploring new flavors. I’ve watched children try and like foods and dishes they would never have dreamed of eating because they have been involved in making the dish. Even when kids are tiny, they can press the buttons on a food processor, or take a spoon and stir something. Any effort on your part can foster more adventuresome eaters down the road.

Forcing children to eat is a good way to make them rebel. It also sets up distorted thinking about food. I have a vivid childhood memory of when my mother tried to force my older brother to eat a soft-boiled egg. He retaliated by vomiting, sending my other bother and myself bolting from the table. I don’t recall my mother ever forcing us to eat again.

Set the schedule and decide on the food; then let the kids decide what and how much they’ll eat.

One-bite nudging seems to work well, especially if the kids have cooked with you. When I cook with kids, I tell them that they have to take one bite of anything we have cooked. Since they feel safe in our cooking environment, they are always compliant. My thirteen-year-old niece told me that she would not eat the glaze that we were making for our roasted Brussels sprouts because she didn’t like mustard. I put a dab on the back of her hand and said she had to taste it. She did, and was surprised that she liked it so much.

Sometimes kids need to be introduced to something new multiple – even as many as ten – times until they finally take to it. Don’t give up just because they don’t like something at first.

When I first started cooking with my five-year-old nephew – knowing that he was mad about dinosaurs – I announced that we were going to make stegosaurus fries (my name for roasted sweet potato fries). He ran through the house announcing this in glee before we started. I showed him how to use a t-shaped peeler, which is easy for little hands to use. He grabbed onto that peeler for dear life as he peeled every last sweet potato. We then moved on to allosaurus fingers (roasted green beans). He snapped off the ends, tossed them in oil and salt, and was delighted with the results. He rolled chicken legs in coconut, made guacamole and pesto, broccoli and black bean burgers. I got him involved in some aspect of every dish we made, and he ate everything. When his mom made those dishes again, he continued to eat them because he had a joyful association with them.

Kids get overwhelmed if the flavors are too complex. Avoid textures and tastes that take a sophisticated palette to appreciate, such as highly spiced food (unless you come from a culture of highly spiced foods, such as Indian). Bitter tastes are tough for most kids. Slimy textures, such as okra, are difficult as well.

Most kids love roasted vegetables, because – lets face it – kids are attracted to sweetness. I cook weekly for a girl with multiple allergies who is 11. I make her a wide variety of roasted vegetables, including Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower (roasted to deep golden) sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, beets, parsnips and kale. Roasting caramelizes the sugars inherent in vegetables and makes the vegetables taste sweet, making it possible to have a sweet flavor without adding sugar.

Relatively simple food served along with sauces and dips usually go over well. Kids like the fresh flavors of garlic, ginger, and fresh herbs. They like the textures to be crunchy and creamy. I’ve found that kids generally like sautéed greens, including spinach, bok choy, Swiss chard, collards and kale – as long as they are fresh. Kids love to interact with their food, so a vegetable such as an artichoke, which is mild tasting and a real experience to eat, goes over well.

Most young people love to bake. If you bake with your kids, you can give them an occasional sweet treat while you control the quality of the ingredients – and they won’t feel deprived.

Don’t underestimate the ineffable life force in food. When food is fresh and vibrant, it just tastes better. Kids viscerally respond to that. Let them know that by eating good food they become healthy and strong. You’ll be on the way to setting your kids up with good habits for life.

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