Do you have a picky preschooler who will only eat chicken nuggets, French fries and the occasional grilled cheese sandwich?
If you answered yes, you are not alone. Millions of young children get stuck in a food rut and refuse to eat anything but the same items day in and day out.
To help broaden your preschooler’s palate, experts suggest inviting your kids into the kitchen and letting them become active participants in meal preparation. By allowing your kids to have ownership in their meals you may be able to convince them that there’s life beyond peanut butter and jelly.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Instead of peanut butter or the same old grilled cheese, try:
*Cashew or almond butter and honey on 12-grain bread.
*Grilled vegetables with goat cheese on toasted whole-grain bread.
*Melted Swiss cheese, avocado and honey mustard on a toasted bagel.
*Use lettuce leaves and fill them with ham, turkey or chicken.
*Put slices of fruits between thin slices of banana bread slathered with cream cheese.
PLAIN NUTS
If you are worried that your preschooler is not getting enough protein in his diet, then give him a handful of almonds, walnuts, pecans, or peanuts at lunch. Studies show nuts provide fiber, vitamin E and magnesium, in addition to protein. What’s more, specific kinds of nuts have their own nutritional benefits. For example, walnuts have omega-3 fatty acids, almonds provide calcium, and Brazil nuts contain selenium.
If your child doesn’t enjoy nuts on their own consider adding them to a trail mix with seeds, dried fruit or dried coconut. Or better yet, purchase a variety of items and let your child make their own snack mix each evening for their lunch the next day. Dry cereal, yogurt almonds, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, dried apricots, raisins, dried cranberries, toasted soy nuts, mini pretzels, mini rice cakes, almonds, peanuts and chocolate-covered pretzels are great ingredients for a nutritious and delicious snack mix.
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