Foods to Prepare For a Picky Eater

Picky eaters come in all ages. You may be dealing with a fussy two year old or a spouse who cannot tolerate green vegetables. Either way, you can choose to hide vegetables in your meals or you can increase their nutrition levels by tweaking what they eat in many different ways, with or without their knowledge.

Many parents opt to hide vegetables in other meals. They may add shredded zucchini in the spaghetti or make pink pancakes using beet juice. Others may choose fortified breads or pastas or choose whole wheat options. While some experts believe that hiding vegetables in foods is wrong, it has long been used by parents as a way to sneak better nutrition into their kids' dinners. It also works with many adults who will happily eat a meal if they do not know what is in it.

Some studies are now suggesting that it is a normal part of development for children to go through a picky eating phase. Pediatricians may now tell parents not to worry so much about balancing each meal; they suggest that over the course of a week, a child's diet will tend to balance out. As long as a child is full of energy, growing properly and happy, their diet will adapt as they get older.

New studies are revealing that picky eating may be genetic, at least in part. They also suggest that it is perfectly normal for a person of any age to be reticent about eating something new. Repeated exposure to the new food is the key. It may take between five to fourteen days for a new food to be accepted, even when the new food is provided on a daily basis.

Adult picky eaters can be just as obstinate when it comes to eating a balanced diet. Finding additional ways to flavor a salad, for instance, may help make the food more palatable. Small steps may be required to make diet changes work rather than making a huge, radical change all at once. If they are not averse to adding vegetables to recipes where they will not be noticed, it may work very well.

Recipe for BBQ Pulled Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Added zucchini and oat bran boost the nutritional value of this fun meal.

What You Need

1-1/2 cups BBQ sauce
1 cup raw grated zucchini (peel before grating)
1/4 cup broth (vegetable or chicken)
2 Tablespoons oat bran
4 skinless chicken breasts on the bone
6 hamburger buns (whole grain if possible)
How to Make It

Mix the BBQ sauce, oat bran, broth and grated zucchini in your slow cooker. Add the chicken breasts and toss to coat them in the sauce.

Cover the cooker and cook for 5 hours on the low setting or 2-1/2 hours on the high setting. Do not remove the cover while cooking.

When finished, remove the chicken and shred the chicken from the bone using two forks. Toss the meat with the remaining BBQ sauce. Serve the shredded chicken on toasted hamburger buns.