What are some quick and simple recipes for a 3 year old who is picky?

Question

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello, I have 4 kids (12,9,4 and 18 months). Here are some yummy ideas my kids have liked over the years.

little franks with mac & cheese - honestly - they love it! you can get the skinless little franks - i warm them up and slice them lengthways and add a nice big scoop of yummy mac and cheese (luckily my kids seem to love brocolli - so I always added a few little trees to the mac & cheese mountain.

Baby pizzas - you can buy ready made little pizza bases - or make your own - let your child help you make them with the toppings they like themselves - like tomato ketchup - spread it on first - don't like it? just put cheese, add anything they like - ham, chicken pieces, pineapple, bacon bits,

I generally do mixed plates for lunch - a few little bite sized sandwiches filled with their favorites (ham, peanut butter, cheese), a little pile of grapes or melon cut in cubes, cheese slices cut into cute shapes with cookie cutters, fresh orange cut up, or mandarin, or you can cut their sandwich with a cookie cutter - a little man shaped sandwich tasted MUCH better than a boring square one!

For dinners - we never prepared separate meals for the children - everyone eats the same meal ! They kids love bbq chicken kebabs with fresh rice and big fruit platters to pick what they like off

they love Daddy's spaghetti - just simple spaghetti bolognaise but he puts his secret ingredient - a spoonful of sugar in. We let the kids pick the pasta shape at the store - so your child might pick "bowties" or "little hats" or "curly worms" or whatever appeals to them.

they love mexian feast - we have soft mexian bread, very mild chili con carne or fresh bbq chicken, some light sour cream, cheese and salad

pancake dinner - they LOVE this one - we sometimes just be really fun and have pancake dinner. home made fresh pancakes with choices of fresh banana, strawberry, mango, whipped cream, ice cream and maple syrup

eggs - boil an egg just under 2 minutes - serve with little sticks of buttered toast - when finished - turn the shell upside down and draw on a little face - fun smashing it to pieces!!

there are some brilliant books for sale that focus on toddler and small children's recipe ideas - sometimes you just need some inspiration as you can get quite frustrated if your child only wants just toast, or just juice or whatever... hope this helps!

Oh, and to the answerer up above - picky eaters does not mean undisciplined children - my children are very strictly disciplined and I am pleased to say are growing up very respectful and with lovely manners - but they do have stages when they don't like certain foods and that is FINE - as long as they are healthy and happy - that is what is important.

Well done on being obviously a good enough parent to care enough to want to make sure your child is eating well - if you were undisciplined you wouldn't have bothered to ask!!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Chicken nuggets, baked fries and a veggie
Mac and cheese
Pasta with butter or tomato sauce
Grilled cheese
English muffin pizzas
Chicken noodle soup
Yogurt with fruit

Little ones are picky. I follow the "they'll eat when they're hungry" mantra.

Answer 4

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last couple years, I'm sure you've heard of the Paleo Diet. Read here https://tr.im/paleorecipes
I hate to even call it a diet, because it's really just the real way that humans have eaten for almost 1.9 Million years, as opposed to the modern-day processed food diet full of grains, sugars, and processed vegetable oils.

Answer 5

Ehm..
A good source of paleo recipes here http://www.goobypls.com/r/rd.asp?gid=562. It's a very comprehensive ebook (400 pages)
Bye Bye

Answer 6

i saw on tv once a lady that put pureed vegetables in a lot of her food so the child doesnt know he is eating his vegetables she took pureed sweet potatoes and put in chocolate pudding to disguise the sweet potatoes she added the cooked smashed sweet potatoes to the chocolate pudding and her kids couldnt tell the difference.
pigs in a blanket are a kids favorite just take a hot dog and wrap it in a either a buscuit or some refrigerator crescant dough and bake until light golden brown can put a piece of cheese in it too.
macaroni and cheese with hot dogs or ham.
try having your child help you in the kitchen too sometimes that helps and they learn even if he is only 3 gives him some skills like having him help measure water in the pan when you are cooking. putting a tsp of salt in the potatoes or in something that you are stirring up if he helps maybe that can help him not think everything is yukky.
my brother used to not eat tapioca pudding i had him see me stir it in some pudding one time and he found out it was jsut for thickening and no taste.
baked chicken strips just coat some chicken breasts strips with egg and dip in cracker crumbs or shake and bake and bake better than all the fried ones and healthier for him too.

Answer 7

spaghetti with no sauce..let the three year old add cheese or nothing maybe butter....have hotdogs with tater tots...put the hotdog in some pork and beans...rice with butter or a little sugar...alphabet soup...tomato soup with their favorite cheese cracker..any sandwich cut with a cookie cutter automatically taste better...pigs in a blanket..hot dogs cut in half with a slice of cheese in crescent roll baked in the oven..hotdogs arent the greatest food but sometimes you do what you have too...also cake mixes such as carrot cake use real carrots and grind them really finely before adding use applesauce instead of oil..Jerry Seinfeld's wife has a cookbook that tells you how to do this to just about everything

deceptively delicious is the name of it and her name is Jessica Seinfeld

Answer 8

My mum used to do little picnic types when my friends came over that she didnt know- because she wasnt sure what they all liked.

egg sandwichs
scotch eggs
fries
ham sandwichs
cream cheese sandwichs
mini sausages
crisps
carrot sticks
cucumber

lots of different types of things but you can do it on a smaller scale for your child

hope this helps

Flic x x

Answer 9

2

Answer 10

Will depend on on the context really. Which is better as a snack - fruits for me personally. It's tastier and gives you that little bit of sweetness. Which can be better as a snack if you are trying hard to minimize back on sugar and lose weight vegetables