Late Night Tastings

Allow me to let you into a little secret: nothing encourages a Picky Picker to try a new food more than being told the food is for a special grown-up supper later and it’s time for them to go to bed!

Oh, the excitement of being put to bed and smelling gorgeous foody smells wafting up the stairs, only to have Mummy or Daddy pop their head round your bedroom door ten or fifteen minutes later with the words, ‘The supper we’re having is amazing, would you like to come down and have a taste?’

Would any child stay in their bed given an opportunity like that?

A couple of weeks ago, our two eldest boys came into the kitchen whilst my husband was cooking for the pair of us. They were on their way to bed, but begged to be allowed to try the fresh crab we were having for our starter. They did so, trying four different combinations of the crab with various add-ons to see which they preferred. Half an hour later, they were invited to come down and try our rainbow trout (having first been told in gruesome detail about all the bits that squirted out of it whilst we were filleting – they’re boys, they love that stuff!) with spinach, lentils and pancetta. They loved it all, and had to be shooed away from our plates before they woofed down the lot, yet neither had tried crab, trout, or that particular type of lentil before. What a result!

Howdy!

If anyone knows about dealing with picky or fussy eaters it’s me! I was one myself, and still am in many ways.

Until about the age of 8, my diet mainly consistedof marmite toast or marmite sandwiches, with the occasional pack of ready salted Hula Hoops, apple, smooth apricot yogurt or McDonalds burger and chips thrown in. When I hit my teens, and finally started enjoying such delicacies as roast chicken and lasagne, I decided to become vegetarian! My poor parents must have despaired!

Now, I eat a varied, interesting diet and absolutely love cooking. I’m no longer vegetarian (the lure of bacon was too strong to resist!), but I am careful about the welfare of the animals I eat, and will only buy free-range or organic meat. An outsider would never believe I still have problems with certain foods (‘slimy’ ones in particular).

When I had my children, I saw fussy eating from a whole new perspective! Part of  one of my children’s autism meant that he was extremely finicky about what he’d eat. He would tolerate pasta with either tomato sauce or pesto, but the only hot food he really enjoyed was a margherita pizza. The child wouldn’t even eat chips! It took a long time, and a lot of hard work, to help him to accept the foods in the far more interesting, and balanced, diet he now enjoys.

With another son we faced further difficulties. He may not have loved everything we put on his plate, but he ate it all and had quite broad tastes for a little chap. However, when he was 5 he became ill and was diagnosed with a form of Irritable Bowel Disease. This meant a complete overhaul of his diet until medication could get his symptoms under control: no raw vegetables, no fruit or vegetable skins, no brown bread, very little dairy, and no chocolate or sweet! Add a nut allergy which he developed at the same time, and a trial with him gluten-free, and it was a bit of a nightmare!

As you can see, I really do know first hand how hard it is to help a child accept a new food, especially when unhealthy habits have already been formed, and how tough it can be to be inventive when certain foods have to be restricted or stopped completely. What I hope to do on this blog is provide a wide variety of recipes, which I hope will appeal to children, and which progressively allow for the introduction of new foods into their diet. Often the methods I suggest will involve introducing a taste very gradually, perhaps by adding more ingredients and flavours into a simple recipe over time (plain mashed potato can have cheddar cheese – first mild, building up to mature – grainy mustard and spring onions added to make what I call ‘grown-up mash’ for example). But most of all, the blog is about having fun with food, getting a bit messy and trying out new tastes and cooking styles to find what appeals to your child.

I hope that my recipes, tips and advice will help you to encourage your child, and maybe even yourself, to try cooking and eating lots of lovely new foods together.

Happy munching!!

p.s. Look out at the bottom of my recipes for printable pdf versions of those I think are particularly fun to make with little hands helping!