Comments

• 

  Marina

  I personally make my daughter take a try it bite of everything in her plate. If she doesnt like it thats fine but she has to try. She doesnt get to leave the table if she doesnt. good luck!

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Anonymous

  A friend who values a diversity of foods did something really creative with her kids...she created a food passport for both of them. Bought a little black notebook, pasted their pic inside and wrote many countries, bought some fun stamps. They started out easy with pizza from Italy, nachos from Mexico and have now worked up to Thailand. She made it fun and educational. Maybe this would work?

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Chef Heather (Food on the Table)

  @Anonymous~ What a cute and fun suggestion on a way to get kids to try international foods! My tip somewhat goes along with this. Try planning a 'theme' night. Choose a country, region, color, letter, etc. Plan the whole menu around the theme (all foods that start with the letter "A" or are yellow or are from a particular country say, France). Get your children involved in planning the menu and plan a whole evening of it. Decorate accordingly (you could print copies of the country's flag and have the children decorate them and use as place mats), share some fun facts, watch a coordinating movie, listen to related music, etc. Kids will be so wrapped up in the fun activities and the special night that they will want to 'play along' and try the new food!

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Annette

  Why not use their love of chicken nuggets to your advantage? Many Asian recipes can be adapted to use them, sweet & sour chicken or chicken lo-mien comes to mind first. Also point out other things they can recognize in the dish, spaghetti noodles or Sponge Bob pineapples!, to make a new dish less scary. We use the three bite rule: have to take 3 bites; one to try, two to decide & 3 to make sure. We also utilize the "No Thank You" option. Our son can say "No Thank You" to something new, but he will still get a small serving that he must eat before leaving the table. We always praise him on being a great food explorer which could work well with the Food Passport! Also try setting aside a special night each week or once a month for this "travel" & set the table according to the county you are visiting. Letting the kids explore the country on-line while you research the recipes & letting them create the table decorations might make them more excited to try it. Focus on things like the colors they see & the patterns they can recreate, I bet they'll love it! When Kyle was little we did this jointly with a World Explorer kit we bought him from Little Passports. He would get a package from a new country & that was the one we researched for the dinner. No matter what you choose to do you are doing the best thing possible by showing the kids how much you enjoy trying new things. Keep up the good work, but make sure when presented with something new you don't say "No Thank You" or the kids may have to give you a special helping... I used this a few times on Kyle & he loved dishing it out to me! Then after I tried it, he did too! Gotta love reverse psychology!

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Julianna

  Kids love to have something to fill up with stickers and stamps. Food passport is a great idea!

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Kelly

  even my picky kids like Chicken Tikka and Tandori Chicken.

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Sandy (Community Guide)

  You guys are awsome! I cant wait to gossip these ideas at our nearest country resturant lol.

  over 2 years ago
• 

  Donna (Food on the Table)

  I love the food passport idea as an incentive and way to get the kids engaged. One of my little boys has sensory issues and *loves* spicy food, so for him, eating Indian or spicy Asian food is no big deal. He loves it! The other one, though, doesn't like a lot of spice or sauce at all ("Mom, you know I'm not a saucy guy!"), so for him, I tone it down a little.

  Just like when I was cooking in a school cafeteria and we'd do separate portions for kids with allergies, I just always set aside a portion for my one guy and use lighter seasonings and less sauce.

  about 1 year ago
• 

  Donna (Food on the Table)

  I just came upon this thread again and wanted to link to a recipe I just posted here: http://www.foodonthetable.com/discussions/424-tofu It's very healthy, very kid-friendly and while it has a really nice warmth from the ginger, it's not too spicy for kids.

  about 1 year ago
• 

  Kendra

  http://www.foodonthetable.com/recipes/350545-peanut-sauce-gluten-free is something else I've used with my kids--it turns out that they like cold noodles with peanut sauce just as much as I do! And I can usually get a some broccoli and carrot into them along with it.

  about 1 year ago