How do you feed picky eaters?

I'm going to tell you all a secret that I don't want you to tell my husband. . .  If you let this secret out, it could literally change the flow of our relationship. . .I mean this is so big that I'm scared to admit it myself. But, here goes. . . (deep breath). I like to cook. Now I know that this may shock some of you who have known me for a while, but I actually like to be in my kitchen. Baking is my favorite because I'm a sweets fanatic and a "set it and forget it" type of girl. What I don't like is cooking for picky eaters, hence the fact that my husband does most of the cooking. I believe in wholesome, balanced meals but it's hard to feed kids vegetables who will almost scream at the sight of anything green on their plates.

Being the only foodie in the house is hard.  I thought that I could convert my daughter, but the daddy's girl seems to be following in her dad and brother's footsteps. I love to experiment and try new things, but they seem to be satisfied with the rotation of chicken-turkey- pork chops- more chicken. But, the one thing that I've realized with the kids is that presentation is everything. I can't just slap some peanut butter and jelly on some bread and expect them to eat it. I have to cut off the edges and cut it into triangles before they will even consider taking a bite. My husband gave them one without the crust cut or cut in half and they looked down at the plate then at each other, then back down at the plate. It was hilarious.

So here are just a few tips that have helped me deal with my picky eaters.
- We love making sliders, so we tell the kids that they are Krabby Patties. All those hours of Sponge Bob have to come in handy at some point.
- Cans of Chef Boyardee are convenient and have a full serving of vegetables. Plus, they like the different shapes so I have no complaints.

- Kids love to dip. Whether it's ketchup, barbecue sauce or syrup, kids like to dip food. It can get kind of messy, but that's what handy wipes are for.

- Lead by example. I always cook veggies with our meals and place them on both mine and the kids plates in hopes that if they see me eating them, they will eat them too.

- Like I said, presentation is everything and sometimes you just have to make it fun. I made some Mickey Mouse pancakes for my kids for a little change of pace. The coney island restaurant don't have nothing on me.



Sorry, I couldn't rotate the pic.

How do you deal with picky eaters?

I also found some cute kids recipes on the Betty Crocker website. I might try a few and post the results. But for now good luck and Happy Parenting.