Feeding fussy adults

Feeding fussy adults

Last time we discussed how to deal with fussy children. In this email, we will look at how to deal with fussy adults.

Make Small Changes

Our food tastes, habits and appetites develop when we are young. Some of us eat like birds. Others have a hearty appetite, but for all the wrong foods. Men are commonly associated with meat and potatoes, for example. They also love their barbecue. There was a popular book in the 1980s called “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” which referred to masculine stereotypes and food trends. A real man would eat a “bacon and egg” or “ham and egg” pie, but not quiche.

So a lot of food preferences can be what you call what you are serving. Sweet potato casserole versus pie might appeal to one preference or another.

It’s also a question of presentation. Most men love pasta. Put in some peas and carrots for color, and use a cream sauce for pasta primavera. Chances are it will taste so good he won’t even try to pick out the veggies.

Make their restaurant favorites but add different sides. Studies have shown it takes at least seven to ten attempts to introduce a new food to a child, so try the same approach with an adult.

Visual Appeal

Food that looks good will also tempt the appetite and get even the most reluctant eater to try something different. So too will things that look familiar. See what their family eats and try to duplicate, with healthier versions if what they eat is a real diet buster. For example, if they love fried chicken, make your own baked version in the oven. If they love biscuits, serve a healthy chicken casserole made with lots of vegetables and skim milk on a split biscuit so they won’t keep reaching for the bread basket.

Avoid Waste

A lot of people worry about wasting food by trying new things, but there’s really no need. If you have a freezer, just make up your own TV dinners with the leftovers. Label everything for you, or for them, and they can help themselves when you’re not there.

A lot of people also say it is too much hassle to make only one biscuit at a time per person. The secret is to cook in bulk. Make a dozen or two, wait until they cool, and put in the freezer in a zippered storage bag. Take out a couple at a time and reheat in a low oven until they are warmed through.

In the next email, we will be discussing another way to deal with fussy eaters: tasty one-pot meals.

Until next time!

Feeding fussy children

Feeding fussy children

In the last post in this ecourse on the joy of food, we discussed a number of ways to successfully introduce a new meal to the family. This time we are going to focus on how to cope with feeding fussy children.

Eating habits can become ingrained from a very young age, and food refusal can become a real nightmare for parents, especially if your child goes the route of many kids: the white route. This means bread, pasta, potatoes, and often means weight gain as well. More than 33% of children in the US are now overweight or obese, and type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure have been diagnosed in children as young as two years old. The only way to combat this trend is with healthy, balanced, home-cooked meals.

Eating Together

The first way to deal with fussiness is to eat at the table together, not let them graze. Regular meals and not too many snacks will mean they will be hungry for real food. 

Don’t make the dinner table a battleground. Start introducing new foods when they are young, in a structured way. Plan to serve each new food every day for about a week. Be sure it is well cooked and in small pieces so no one will have any trouble chewing and swallowing it. One good example of this is broccoli.

Put the food on their plate on the first night and say they can eat as much of it as they like. Do the same every night for the rest of the week. Don’t fight or argue with them; just put it on the plate and see what they eat. Studies have shown that this method actually works better than the "reward" method of letting them be excused from the table, or getting dessert, once they’ve finished their broccoli.

Also, allowing children to help with dinner, allows them to go through the cooking process. A great example is adding the cheese to the salad, adding the spices on the chicken, etc. Make it fun to be in the kitchen and let them smell, taste, and provide with support in the kitchen. 

Other Tips

If they have lunch at school at their meal program, get a menu for the week if you can and ask your child what they enjoyed each day. Then start to make it yourself.

If you’re at a community potluck or picnic, put together one plate. Taste the food yourself and put together a plate for them of easy things to eat. Again, pay attention to what they like. 

Most kids love sweet things. Skip the candy and stick to fresh and dried fruit. For dessert, aim for recipes with fruit in them, such as apple crumble.

All kids love fun food presented nicely. You can create "cupcakes" for lunch or dinner - that is, a complete meal in a muffin cup. Use pretty papers to make the meal even more interesting. Ham and cheese, chicken and vegetables and more can all become fun meals your kids will devour. 

But what if you have to feed fussy adults? More on this next time.

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Tips on how to introduce a new meal to the family

Tips on how to introduce a new meal to the family

In the last post we discussed mobile apps for foodies that can help you find recipes, learn cooking techniques, create grocery lists, and more. At this point, you’re probably really inspired to start cooking up a storm. If you only had to worry about yourself, trying out new recipes wouldn’t be such a big deal. 

But what if you’re cooking for others?

In this post we are going to talk about how to introduce new dishes to the family as you expand your range of recipes.

Make Small Changes

The first thing to keep in mind is their tastes. Remember the movie Julie and Julia, where Amy Adams decides to cook her way through famous French chef Julia Child’s classic cookbook? If you have a young family and/or are overweight, chances are this would not be the best book to start with. 

Instead, think about what they like to eat and mix it up a little. Change the chicken, perk up the potatoes, vary the veggies. 

Restaurants Can Help

When going to restaurants, order strategically. Try dishes you’ve never had before. Get everyone in the family to order something different and taste each other’s. Rotate the plates clockwise around the table so everyone gets a taste, and let each person keep either their favorite, or their own.

Make notes on what you have that the kids really like, and then discover how to make it yourself. When serving the dishes, you can say, “Remember when we went to X restaurant and had Y dish? I’ve learned how to make it myself so we can enjoy it any time.”

Make It Attractive

Another way to get them excited to try your new experiments is to make them as pretty as possible. Studies have shown that we eat with our eyes long before we put a forkful in our mouths. Brown lentil stew is delicious, for example, but unfortunately looks like a pile of cow poo. 

One suggestion for getting our daily allowance of fruits and vegetables is to “eat a rainbow” - that is, one food for each of the seven colors of the rainbow. Lay out a pretty fruit platter with cheese, or vegetable platter with dip, or roasted vegetables, and you’re more than likely to see the food disappear.

But what can you do if you have to feed a picky child? We will discuss this headache in the next post.

Until next time!

 

Organic farmers understand these principles ...

Organic farmers understand these principles

In a recent debate on social media, I was surprised at how many people were convinced that organics is not sustainable, and that it is even harmful to the environment. After much trawling through comments and eliminating one or two 'bogus' social media profiles, it became evident that many of these organic farming critics have a lack of understanding around what organic means, and the principles behind it.

Let's address some of the common statements that were made:

"Only about 30% of organic food is actually even organic"

First of all, we're not sure where this person derived the number of 30% from. However, what they may be referring to is that there are foods which have the word 'organic' in their name, but are not actually certified. This is likely where the notion that 'organic food is not actually organic' has come from. A food producer may genuinely believe their product is organic and that the ingredients in it have been organically grown. Or they may have just used the word because they can (marketing purposes). However, the best way to ensure that what you are eating really is organic, is by choosing products that are certified. If you choose certified organic, you can rest assured that the product has met strict organic criteria and standards.

"Organic pesticides are worse for the environment"

This statement shows a lack of understanding of organic principles. Organic systems use principles such as manure to feed the soil, crop rotation, ecology and biodiversity, and companion planting to grow strong, healthy crops. Organic farmers understand these principles and follow them so that there is little need for pesticides. Many organic farmers will choose to remove weeds manually rather than apply a natural pesticide. Yes, there are pesticides that are allowed to be used in organic farming but they are naturally derived and are biodegradable. If they are used, the focus is on control, rather than annihilation of pests because organic farmers understand the importance of a fully functioning eco system.

This statement prompted me into an email discussion with Philippa Jamieson, editor of Organic NZ. Philippa explains: "Organic growers are allowed under certification rules to use a certain quantity of copper sprays in orchards for fungal disease, but it's limited. Copper is a heavy metal and can build up in the soil. Apart from that I haven't heard of any organic pesticide that anyone in the organic sector (or outside of it) has expressed any concern about whatsoever!"

"The organic system is un-regulated"

I suspect that the worry here is similar to the concern behind the first statement ("Only about 30% of organic food is actually even organic"). The problem here may be more related to the consumers' perception that something is organic, by the way it is marketed. Remember to choose certified organic so you can rest assured that the product you are choosing has been regulated. In NZ, the organic certification bodies are Bio Gro NZ, Asurequality and OFNZ.

I am far more concerned about the regulation of non-organic pesticides because so many harmful pesticides have been regulated for use.

"Organic farming is not sustainable"

The argument here is that yields from organic farming are lower so we need more land to get the same amount and balance of food and would have to destroy forest to do so.

To respond to the critics on this one: We could go organic if we all ate less meat and more vegetables, pulses and grains as it takes far less land to produce these foods than it does for meat. A surplus of food and environmental problems exist with the traditional system.

Additionally, studies are now noting comparable yields in organic farming - the gap is closing.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Elly_McGuinness/1256243

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9518171