Recipes

Both my children are very selective with what they eat. They're not alone. Many parents struggle with picky eaters so I'm going to share recipes or tricks that have worked for us. 

Tips

Invest in a good blender. You will need to blend a lot of foods together. Some items will need to be finely grated in order to be successfully hidden in their favorite meals.

Don't try to sell the meal too much or else they'll suspect you tampered with it. Just put it on the table and say it's breakfast/lunch/dinner time and walk away. A simple, "I made your favourite today!" will do.

If they don't eat, it's not the end of the world. It's frustrating to work so hard trying to be clever about sneaking in healthy food only to find that your efforts are fruitless (no pun intended). Try again tomorrow.

Recipes for the veggie lackers 

Z loves cheese pizza. If I'm making the pizza dough, I will mix in flax seed meal, and ground oatmeal in the flour. I finely chopped green peppers and onions into the sauce and covered with a lot of cheese. He will get his calcium from the cheese, his omega 3's and loads of other nutrients from the flax seed meal, and of course some vegetables without even knowing.

Disguise healthy food in desserts. Substitute avocados or apple sauce for butter or oil in a chocolate cake recipe. Sounds gross? Believe me, it's delicious.

Z used to love smoothies. Until one day he saw what I put in them and stopped. He'll only drink liquids now. Which is why I am planning on buying a juicer. But in the mean time, I make S some smoothies if she's not eating well. This smoothie is an entire meal in one drink.

Blend:
1/2 a banana
a handful of frozen or fresh blueberries (frozen is better because it colors the smoothie bright purple to disguise the greens)
1 cup of baby spinach leaves, packed
1 tsp of flax seed meal
milk (we switch between cow's milk and almond milk depending on what's in the fridge)
One scoop of Whey protein OR 2 tbsps of pasteurized egg whites



Recipes for the protein lackers

Z isn't getting nearly enough protein in his diet. So I make protein packed pancakes

Here's the recipe:
1 cup of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of ground oatmeal
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 egg
3 tbsp of egg whites
2 tbsp of honey (sounds like a lot but it masks the taste of the eggs)
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk
vanilla extract

Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Add more milk if the batter is too thick. Either bake in mini cupcake pan in a 375 F oven for 15-20 minutes, or make pancakes as you normally would.

If you're really worried about their intake, look into buying hydrolyzed collagen. You can buy an unflavoured powder to mix into their morning milk.




Stay tuned for more recipes!