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Dinner Ideas for Picky Eaters

Kritika Parwani
Cooking for a picky eater is not easy. Here are some dinner ideas for picky eaters, along with some tips to get them to enjoy different types of food.
In today's stressful life, where there are a million things to worry about, you really have no time to worry about dinner ideas for picky eaters as cooking for them is a daunting task. However, pleasing everyone on the table is not impossible. Also, children aren't the only picky eaters, some adults can be very picky as well.
It can be very frustrating for the cook of the family to decide whether to make something they like (which is often unhealthy) or make a simple, healthy meal. But now, you don't have to make this difficult choice. Here are some ideas which are sure to get you your daily dose of nutrients and also get your taste buds tingling with anticipation!

Ideas

Broccoli Cheese Soup: Experimenting with classic soup recipes is a great way to include vegetables that kids never eat. Most kids run away from broccoli, but one of the easy ideas for children is making broccoli soup with a strong taste of cheese.
Whether you tell your child about the broccoli or not is a personal choice, but by giving it a creative name, it will be a sure shot hit with your children. Also, the best part is, it is very nutritious.
Chili: By including beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc., chili can be a very healthy and nutritious meal. Cornbread can be served with it to make it more filling. This is one of the all time favorite recipes for troublesome kids, which is extremely easy to make.
Chicken Stir Fry: If your child loves chicken, the easiest dinner idea is making chicken stir fry with a twist, by adding snow peas, mushrooms, red peppers, etc. This is a great way to make it a more healthy recipe for dinner, and no one can complain!
Tacos: Not just children but even adults love tacos! To make it a little more interesting, set up a taco bar with different ingredients to choose from. Instead of just chicken or beef, keep different vegetables and fish and make the dinner fun and interesting for everyone.
Hot Dog Quesadillas: American food includes all kinds of fast foods, with hot dogs topping the list. Try to make it a little more nutritious by making quesadillas with a filling of beans and hot dogs. Definitely something unique that kids and adults alike will enjoy.
Meatballs: Meatballs are an all time favorite. Besides the regular filling, adding mushrooms, cauliflower, etc. is a great way of including vegetables in your meatball dishes. You can keep experimenting with the sauce of the meatballs for a different taste each time.

Important Tips

Besides being creative with recipes, there are certain simple tips which may help you pique the interest of your fussy kid/adult, thus, instigating him into trying out your new recipe! Here are a few of those pointers:
Grocery Shopping: The first problem that you come across is grocery shopping. It can be quite challenging to buy groceries that won't go waste. The easiest solution is to include the children in this chore. By doing so and letting them pick their favorite vegetables, gives them a sense of power of making decisions.
They will be intrigued by the new shapes and colors and will invariably pick out new vegetables, fruits, etc. Including the child while preparing the vegetable or fruit that he or she picked is a sure shot way of getting him/her to eat it.
Being Creative: Another way to get children to eat something they don't want to eat is by being a little sneaky. Being stealthy is not exactly the perfect solution, but it won't hurt them, right? Making a puree of the vegetables they don't like or dicing all those veggies in their favorite dishes like pastas, pizzas or even pancakes is an age-old solution.
It is not necessary for dinner to consist of the same repetitive dishes. Browse through some magazines, you will get tons of food recipes. Picky eaters won't try new recipes easily but the key is substitution. Including their favorite ingredients in any new recipe is incentive enough for them to try it, after all, they too get bored of the same food items.
Making Food Fun: Besides tasting good, food also has to be visually pleasing. Making the dishes attractive with the use of different colors and cuts is a added incentive for kids to try new dishes.
For picky toddlers, the easiest way to make the food fun is by including shapes and adding colors in the food and serving it in their favorite shaped plates.
The point here is to use your creativity and come up with unique recipes that include the ingredients that are their favorite. However, try to avoid fast food recipes as vegetables often lose their nutritional value when they are deep-fried.
Try to strike a balance between fried and healthy food which will ensure that dinner will no longer be something that picky eaters avoid, but instead, actually look forward to.