Find a Way To Like A Food You Hate

This is article is part of an ongoing series for the Recovering Picky Eater Challenge. If you're just tuning in, read more about the challenge here and let me know, is it possible to learn to like a food you hate? If you're up for it, join in the Food Revolution, and sign the petition.

Last week I posted about changing your thoughts as step one to helping you like a food you think you hate. This week it's all about food preparation. Food science is fascinating, but I'm not a chemist so I don't really understand all the details. I faithfully watch Good Eats and enjoy all of Alton's demonstrations of what's going on in a batter or ingredient as it's being cooked, but I would fail a food science test miserably.

Texture Matters
I do have a tongue though so I know that a raw carrot and a cooked carrot are two remarkably different tastes. Not only do they taste different, but they also have a very different texture when they are raw, cooked, shredded or pureed. Often it is texture rather than taste that makes some of us abhor a food. Dry crumbly stuff in my mouth used to give me the heebeejeebies. Nuts and raw carrots were both on the um-no-thanks list for me for three decades. I ate carrots cooked well before I tolerated them raw and found that small grated pieces of raw carrot were ok, but a big bite from a carrot would invoke the gag reflex. Who wants to gag while eating, ick. Think about the foods that set you off. Do they have a common texture? Squishy like raw tomatoes? Slimy like onions and okra? Mushy liked boiled veggies?

Usually I've found that when I begin to like a food in a way that doesn't also have an offensive texture, I can usually end up liking the food with the texture that used to bother me. While you'll never find me eating my body weight in raw carrots on a veggie tray, I can nibble a couple with a yummy dip without having any negative thoughts. I no longer power through one just to try it and be a good role model, I just don't mind a mouthful of carrot crumbles any more.

I made a lot of progress with my picky palate just by trying out different cooking methods and flavor pairings until I found ways I could eat some of the things I didn't really care for stand alone and plain. I still don't want to sit and eat a handful of almonds, but if you give me a small pile of almonds, raisins and some chocolate chips, I can go to town. The crumbly nut mixes with the chewy fruit bits and creamy melty chocolate and the texture is no longer an issue for me.

So what do you say when your kid says,

"but mom, I don't like carrots?"

I usually respond with,

"you don't like carrots yet. Carrots have a lot of tastes and textures. We can mix carrots with other flavors like salad dressing, fruit, a savory broth or butter and experiment with other ways to try them. You might like them a different way better."

Different Preparation Different Taste
Go on an expedition and explore the world's cuisine to see if you can find a way to like that food you hate. Here are some ideas:

• Spy it on a Menu - Chefs have a way of bringing out the best of raw ingredients, being masters of flavor pairings, use of spices and cooking methods. Let the expert give you some ideas. Look for your hated food on the menu next time you eat out, and make a commitment to order a dish containing it. Look for it in with ingredients you've never had it with before. If you're learning to like broccoli, don't get the broccoli side veggie, but go for it in a pasta dish, soup or salad. It's the weekend and most of you will be eating out at least once, so no copping out on this challenge!
  
• Troll the Web for Recipes - Do an online search for recipes containing your despised food. Make notes of which spices they are paired with, what other ingredients are paired with it and different cooking methods. Pick one or two to try and get cooking - or ask your home's cook to fix it for you. Be sure to try the ingredient in a way you've never had it prepared before so that you really are giving your mouth an new experience. It's easier to be open minded about something you don't have preconceived notions about. I like the following sites for recipe searches, but a google search works too. Allrecipes.com FoodNetwork
  
• Dial a Friend - Ask your friends and family what their favorite way to eat your hated food is. Ask them if there's ways they don't like that food item. Sometimes it's other flavors in the dish that offend us and not an ingredient. If you've only had cabbage prepared one way and didn't like it, it's very possible that you do indeed like cabbage when raw, or in a stir fry instead of sauerkraut.
• Make a Short List & Schedule - Jot down 1-2 ways you want to try your item, and give yourself a deadline. Try both before the end of the week, or a new way every day for a week. If you don't practice eating the food, you can't learn to like it!
  

Status Update
I have 22 days left to find 929 people to take the challenge. Honestly I've been feeling pessimistic about making significant progress toward the goal. Until last night. Big Boo checked out First to Fly from the school library and I read a chapter to him. After a crash during a practice run at Kitty Hawk of one of the early gliders, Orville and Wilbur Wright returned to their workshop, built a wind tunnel and tested out 200 different wing shapes! I see now that if I try out 200 different promotion efforts I can get this challenge to fly.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Tonight is the season finale. Be looking for videos from citizens about what they're doing to participate in the food revolution. I look forward to the inspiration tonight. Will you be watching?

This post is participating in Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade and Food Revolution Friday hosted by Notes from the Cookie Jar.

Top 10 Refused Fruits & Veggies by Kids

Ever wonder if you're the only mom with a kiddo who refuses sweet potatoes, chicken, green beans, peaches or peas? You aren't! During the transition to table food, most kids will start refusing many of the foods they happily slurped from the spoon. As I wrote in the review of the cookbook, The Toddler Cafe, these food refusals are a normal and temporary phase when kids starts eating meals with the family.

What Food Is Most Likely To Be Found Under The Highchair and Not in the Tummy?

In order to qualify for a chance to win the cookbook, I asked you all to tell me one food your baby ate happily but now won't touch with a 10 foot pole. Out of 319 comments, the list of top contenders were all too familiar to me. Most of the same foods your kids are tossing off the plate are the same ones I had to teach my kids to eat. Here's the round up of most refused vegetables, fruit and some surprises in the kid food category!

Most Refused Vegetables
Peas
Green Beans
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
Broccoli

Most Refused Fruits
Avocado
Peaches
Bananas
Applesauce
Blueberries

Most Refused Kid Food
Chicken
Pizza
Peanut Butter
Mac-N-Cheese
Yogurt

Toddler Cafe Cookbook Winner
I used Random.org to draw a winner. Congratulations to Keli kelcoled@! You are the winner. Check your email inbox for instructions on how to claim your prize. Thank you to all who entered, I enjoyed reading your responses! Thanks again to author Jennifer Carden who is the host of this giveaway.

Kid Appeal Tip While you're waiting for rational thinking to set in with your young charges one thing you can do to take the edge off your frustration over the mess on the floor and all the food waste is to tell your kids stories. When my kids turn their nose up to something they've eaten before. I ask at dinner time "Who wants to hear a story?" Then I tell a story like this:

Once upon a time, when you were a baby. I fed you a special mush with a special spoon. You only had six teeth in your mouth. You weren't even as big as your cousin is now. You couldn't walk yet. And you didn't really talk, but you made squeaks. When I would feed you the green mush you liked it a little. You almost never wanted to finish the green mush. But then I would feed you some orange mush. Once you saw it you wouldn't eat any more of that green mush. If I brought a spoonful of green mush to your mouth, you would turn your head. When I put the spoon down, you'd wave your arms, look at the orange mush and squeak. So I picked up the spoon. Then I put some orange mush on it. And do you know what you did? You started wiggling your legs. And your eyes lit up. You couldn't use your words to tell me you were excited, but I could tell because you were making happy squeaks and kicking your legs. I asked you if you wanted more orange mush. But you couldn't say yes, so you kept looking at me with your big happy eyes. Then I put a bite of orange mush on the spoon and brought it over to your mouth. But you know what you did? You leaned your head forward and got to the spoon faster than I could put in your mouth! You loved the orange mush!! You always ate all the orange mush. I would scrape the bowl to get every last lick out of it for you. Do you know what that orange mush was? Sweet Potatoes. And that's the story of how much you loved sweet potatoes when you were just a little baby. I bet you'll learn to like sweet potatoes again.

My kids love hearing stories, especially about themselves. It may not get them to eat up the first time, but over time they'll associate themselves as a sweet potato loving kid. One night they'll just take the plunge and take a bite.

1000 Recovering Picky Eater Challenge Update
Well, it's Wednesday and my phone hasn't rang all week. I'm guessing that the video I sent in about the Recovering Picky Eater Challenge didn't make the cut for the finale show of Food Revolution (which is Friday at 8p CST). Boo! I have to fix the sound in the YouTube version I uploaded and then I'll post it for you guys to see.

I have 24 days left to find 934 people to sign the petition and learn to like a food they hate. Yikes! You can still help spread the word. Do you know someone who wants to change they way they eat, and is stuck because they don't like the way healthy food tastes. Send them this link in an email! This is a fun, non-confrontational way to encourage your friends and family to embrace more healthy food. It's more fun to do something with a buddy. Send it as a bet, see which one of you can learn to like onions, brown rice, chicken-on-the-bone or leafy greens first.

Publish Post

It takes 3 minutes to sign the petition, so if you haven't signed it yet Go now. Sign it! Come on! You know you want to get over your aversion to sweet potatoes, or raw tomatoes.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly The Kitchen Kop.

How I Taught My Kids To Eat Visible Onion Pieces

Check out my guest post this week on Good & Cheap Eats on how I got my kids to eat visible onions pieces. One strategy was to include large onion pieces that were unmistakably onion to give the boys practice tasting the onion texture and flavor.

Caramelized onions have such a unique flavor. The onions get really soft and sweet and lose their crunch. I served a lot of caramelized onion n green veggie dishes like these kicked up a notch green peas. Another quick and yummy side dish is one caramelized onion with left over brown rice. Toss the rice in the pan to reheat it, remove to a serving dish and season with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Subbing broccoli florets or green beans would work well if your family just isn't to peas. I thought I hated peas, but turns out I like frozen peas just barely heated. So sweet and a little crunch. Their little green orbiness is hard to resist. When big boo spies a bag in the freezer he wants them for a snack.

Frugal Side Dish
One way I save money on organic veggies is to supplement what I get fresh, local, sustainable with frozen veggies from Costco. If you're not buying organic, frozen veggies are an even bigger steal. Frozen veggies also help me round out meal plans. I only shop once a week. Most fresh veg doesn't last that long in the frig so using frozen veggies toward the end of the week helps me avoid wasting money on rotting veg in the crisper I couldn't get to because an unplanned doctor appointment or school event derailed dinner.

Recovering Picky Eater Challenge Update
We are 2.5 days into the challenge and have 36 participants so far! If you missed my posts earlier this week about the video I sent to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution or my pledge to find 1000 people who are willing to change their thoughts about a food they hate, and find a way to like it, go check them out.

I'd love to have your support in this food revolution event! Still need to find 964 people. Will you be one of them? When you sign the petition, you send a letter to Jamie letting him know you're joining the revolution by learning to like a new food that supports optimal health!

This post is participating in Pennywise Platter, hosted by The Nourishing Gourmet, and LifeAsMom's URS, this week's theme is root vegetables.

Is it possible to learn to like a food you hate? What's your secret?

Bend Your Mind, Like a New Food : Take Action in the Food Revolution

Will you eat food you don't like the taste of? Didn't think so. Do you think it's possible to use your thoughts to help you like a new food? I do. I don't think it. I know it! Hi. I'm Jenna, and I'm a recovering picky eater. I've been eating onions for 2 years and 17 days.

I'm looking for:

• people who want better access to health through real food.
  
• people who are committed to eating better but are stuck because some of that healthy food doesn't taste good like that other stuff you prefer to eat.
• people who want to change their mind-set about food.

Sound like you? How many times have you tried to like spinach, only to put a bite in your mouth and think, nope, still don't like it. You may toss it in your smoothie or puree it on a soup, but eating a side of spinach is still a culinary feat you're incapable of.

Change Your Thoughts - It's All About Mindset
You create your thoughts. They don't just magically appear in your head without any effort. Sometimes our concerns get entrenched in our thoughts, and before we know it "onions gross me out" is cemented in our brain.

"I really hope I can't taste the spinach too much in here, I hope it's not slimy or chewy."

Thoughts like this are going to derail you. It's not very likely that you'll make headway on your love of spinach with those thoughts. Try this instead.

"Ooh. Look at the color. Such a bright green. Food that green has to taste good. Can't wait to get all that anti-inflammatory activity in my bloodstream to help prevent migraines, naturally."

Fodder For New ThoughtsWhat are positive or neutral thoughts anyway? If you're trying to avoid negative thoughts about food that don't really assist in acceptance of a new concept what should you think? Here are some thought creation concepts to help you out. Try writing down your new thoughts and saying them out loud. It will take time for new thoughts to cement.

• Physical Appearance - A food's physical appearance (as opposed to it's smell or taste) can be much more neutral. I think Kale is awesome. It's all curly and green. To the touch it has a lot going for it. Have your mind make statements about the physical attributes about the food, instead of fixating on the way it tastes or smells.
  
• Super Powers - If you don't know what a food does for you body, go find out. WHFoods.Org is a great source for understanding the goodness of a food. Think you know all there is to know about the healing powers of food XYZ. Doubtful. Dig around online and find something new that piques your interest. Create thoughts of having access to the healing powers of the despised food.
  
• Super Power - Life Connection - "Cancer protection" is an abstract benefit. So you prevented cancer, now what? What does that do for you? What do you get out of avoiding cancer? You can live longer to be active with your grandkids. You can have energy to work longer, rack up more retirement funds and provide for more exciting travel plans. Maybe finally, when you're 65 you'll get to go see the Pyramids. You can live long enough to see whether or not this country gets it's act together and starts offering less toxic food to consumers. Have your mind repeat the actual benefit that improved health will give you.
  

Take Action
I want three minutes of your time and a commitment to bend your mind and learn to like new food. I want you to sign my petition and become a Recovering Picky Eater. I have 29 days left to find 975 people willing to learn to like a new food and build a lifelong learning skill that will give them the health they're seeking! (Full Disclosure : you will have to provide email/mailing address in order to sign the petition. All the personal data is maintained by change.org, not me, and they do not disclose deets.)

Check out the Become a Recovering Picky Eater challenge here. Think about it. Sign it if you're up for a challenge! Stay tuned to my recovering picky eater series for more tips on how develop a new taste for food.

For the down low on how Jamie Oliver inspired me to find 1000 people who would learn to like a food they hate, check out my post from Monday.

Public Relations/ Marketing Advice
Any PR mavens out there? Any savvy viral marketers reading? Some how I need to get 975 more people to take the recovering picky eater challenge. If you know how to pitch a news story, get local media coverage, or have a suggestion for like-minded bloggers who may want to share my petition with their audience, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance for helping me empower people to expand their food portfolio to include more food that bring them health and wellness.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Thanks to my regular readers who will be tolerate all the prattling on about the RPEC, progress reports and such. I promise in a few weeks I'll have the eBook and this campaign behind me and I can get back to recipes and tips. In the meantime, I hope you have fun trying out new foods, and bending your mind!

1000 Recovering Picky Eaters Needed

Dear Readers,
1000 Recovering Picky Eaters Needed. If you're an eater, you qualify! If there's a food out there you don't like, you qualify! Keep reading to find out how three minutes of your time ( plus some food experimentation and mind bending) can help me do my part in the Food Revolution.

I've been working on a video to send to Jamie Oliver's food revolution all weekend. One of the 4 questions I have to answer in the video is "How has Jamie's work inspired you?"

In episode 4 Jamie bet the local radio DJ that he could get 1000 people in his Kitchen to take a cooking class over the next 5 days. If Jamie won, the DJ would agree to start supporting Jamie in the Food Revolution. He said it wasn't really about hitting the number, but if you don't think big, you can't accomplish big things.

That got me thinking. What is the biggest obstacle in the way of people choosing healthy food? Taste preference. I don't know anyone that doesn't want better health through food. But do you eat food you don't like? Didn't think so. So how do you develop a taste for food you don't like?

What really big lofty goal could I set? Long time followers will remember my Recovering Picky Eater Challenge from last year. At the time I got 9 people to join the challenge (and bribed them with a chance to win a basket full of goodies). This time I'm setting my sights higher and there's no bribe. The reward for taking the challenge will come in the form of better health, and in the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from inspiring someone you care about to eat more healthy food.

How Has Jamie's Work Inspired Me?
I pledge to find 1,000 people who are willing to take the Recovering Picky Eater Challenge in the next 30 days. I know. It's a daunting task. That's 991 more people than I got to enter the challenge last time. No. Big. Sweat. This blog is such a tiny tiny spot in the blogosphere and I'm no celebrity. But I do have the a couple advantages: 25 more days and the world's english speaking population with web access. Jamie was limited to local participants and 5 days. I'm scared. I hate putting myself out there. What if I post this and promote it, and no one signs up? Or what if I do get a wide audience for this challenge, but few are moved to action because I'm not the best writer? That's how Jamie inspired me. He's inspired me to think big, and act big even when I feel small and imperfect. There's no reason why I should succeed in this challenge. I know I have a good idea, and can help people improve their health, but I'm less confident I can spread the word outside of my blog audience!

What is a Recovering Picky Eater?
A Recovering Picky Eater is someone who has a defined list of things they don't like to eat and is in the process of whittling that list down. The list doesn't necessarily have to be a long list, in fact those folks who like every vegetable except raw tomatoes can take this challenge too (yes, I'm talking to YOU). The idea of the challenge is to break down the mindset that there are foods out there you won't eat because you don't like them. During the challenge you'll be experimenting with new recipes, cooking methods and flavor combinations that allow you to tolerate (and maybe even like!) a food you've avoided all your life. You don't have to be a cook to take this challenge. You just have to be an eater. You are an eater, aren't you?

What If I do Learn to Like Tomatoes? Why Does it Matter?
It matters because it changes your whole mindset about food. Food becomes something you can learn to like, versus something you inherently like or don't like. Once you know that "learning to like a new food" is a skill you possess, better health is available to you. All the sudden you're not limited by focusing your meals around foods you love. You have the capability to enjoy the veggie tray before indulging in the chip bowl. You have the capability to enjoy vegetable soup before cutting into your steak. Once you can balance the foods you love with the healthy food your body needs to prevent disease, maintain organ and brain function and maintain weight, your energy level rises and you just start feeling better about accomplishing whatever is on your plate.

It matters because you'll be making the life of your home's cook easier, by eating up and complaining less. It becomes easier to stay home and eat, versus give in and head to a restaurant. You save money. You get healthy.

It matters because you'll be leading the way for your loved ones to follow suit. They'll see the power you had over that formerly icky food and want in on the new mind-set. Not only will you be improving your health and wellness, you'll become an active participant in the food revolution. If you have kids, one of the best gifts you can give them is the skill to eat wholesome food.

We all need to do our part to change the sad state the standard american diet is in. This is your chance. Your chance to do your part. Learn to like a new food. Improve your health. Inspire others. Teach a kid a life skill they need.

How Do I Sign Up For the Recovering Picky Eater Challenge?
See the "Take Action" box on the right hand navigation button? You want to head over there and click on it, but not so fast! I want to set you up for mindset change success. (You won't be able to edit your letter if you sign the petition from the widget. You can edit it when you leave my site and sign the petition with this link. Either way, through the widget or through the link to change.org, please take 3 minutes to sign!)

1. Change Your Mind. You create your thoughts. Stop thinking, "I don't like X" and start thinking "I will find a way to like X." Pick one food you're going to learn to like.
   
2. Link it to your Life. Find it on this list of healthy foods, and read about what it does for your body. If you can't find your food on that list, google "your hated food" and "health benefits." When you taste it, picture it benefiting your body. Visualize it converting food into energy, neutralizing free radicals, increasing your bone density, adding fiber to your colon, helping you sleep, relieving inflammation, lowering your blood sugar, blood pressure or weight, etc. Don't fixate on what it tastes like or qualities about it that make you want to gag.
3. Practice. Think of a couple ways you could sample that new food. Think of different methods: roasted, boiled, pan-fried, raw. Not a cook? Look for it on menus, and order it in a dish. Try it paired with other strong flavors on ingredients. I was not a fan of nuts until I tried them with dried fruit and a wee bit of chocolate.
   
4. Commit. Now, click here to sign the petition. You'll be one more towards my goal and signing up will trigger a letter to Jamie Oliver letting him know you're improving your health by becoming a recovering picky eater. Edit your letter and fill in what food you'll be learning to like. Look for the {food item} brackets and modify your text. I don't get credit for your participation if you don't sign the petition!
   
5. Stick Around. Leave a comment here on this post, or send me an email, jenna@foodwithkidappeal.com In the next 30 days I'll be posting articles every Monday to see how challengers are doing. Sign up for email subscriptions so you don't miss a post. It helps to be with like-minded souls when creating new habits.
   

Are you a blogger? Do you want to share your pledge to become a recovering picky eater with your readers? I'll be starting a Recovering Picky Eater Mr Linky post so you can link you up your stories and inspire your readers to join the Food Revolution. Stay tuned.

Want to help? Send the URL for this blog post to 5 friends via email, or post a link on your Facebook page. Many thanks, happy eating and good health!

The Toddler Cafe Cookbook Review

This is a review and giveaway of the cook book The Toddler Cafe. See the instructions following the review for a chance to win the book.

The topic of feeding toddlers deserves it's own stand alone book. Toddlers eating habits have been confounding parents for ages. Chef and author Jennifer Carden addresses this in her book The Toddler Cafe. She conveys specific insight, hacks and recipes for feeding tiny capricious humans that lack a sophisticated vocabulary, are not capable of being reasoned with, excel at gathering data from the use of busy fingers, and are entirely too busy exploring their world to stop at a table and eat a meal. I follow a cooking thread on a popular parenting site and at least 3x a month a frustrated mother writes in with a statement like this. The age of the child is almost always just before kids turn two.

"Ack! My baby ate everything I fed her off the spoon, then happily stuffed all kinds of veggies, meat, beans etc, in her mouth with her fingers when she was one. Suddenly at 22 months she's hardly eats a thing. She even rejects favorites she used to eat with gusto. She's turning into a picky eater! What do I do?"

This sudden disinterest in food is a curve ball most parents have to field. Many toddlers will form bad habits during this period, and others, with the right guidance from an enthusiastic parent determined not to let a life time picky eating habit set in will emerge as the good eaters they were before the fickle feeding behavior started. If the reluctant eater ball is heading right at you, this is a book you want to check out.

I've been ogling over the photography in The Toddler Cafe cookbook for weeks. It's a beautiful book. I brought it to the table a couple nights and the boys and I flipped through it together. Second to all the sage counsel on feeding toddlers, what I like most about the book is the authenticity of the photos. The boys picked up on it too. The toddlers in the book are actually eating the food, and in most cases their clothes and faces are a complete mess, which is what you'd expect when a toddler self feeds. Jennifer counsels readers:

"Yes, feeding toddlers is messy business, so be prepared, roll up your sleeves, and jump in! You have spent the last year spoon-feeding them and now it is time to hand over the spoon and stand back - way back. They're discovering a world of new tastes, and you have the pleasure of walking down the road with them, toting a sponge."

She encourages parents to let kids experience food intimately with their hands. I followed the same let-kids-self-feed-and-hose-them-down-later philosophy with my little ones, but mostly it was so that I could scarf down some grub too. My best shot at getting a meal was eating with the kids, so I handed over the spoon and kept an industrial sized bottle of shout in the laundry room. I never really thought about how self feeding and condoning finger feeding of soup aligned well with a young child's instinct to touch everything, exploring all with busy fingers. Jennifer says:

"Let them get to know how food feels, smells and tastes. Yes, I said, feels! Some children are more comfortable using their sense of touch in addition to smell and sight, so just go with it. "

I know some of you neat and tidy moms are cringing right now at the thought of your little one soiling her clothes for the sake of getting a bowl of soup down the hatch. If you're nervous about wrecking clothes, keep an old t-shirt near the table and cover up the kid before a meal. Often at dinner my toddler boys ate shirtless as they were headed up for bath shortly anyway. It's a short phase in life. My guys are 6 and (almost) 4 now. We all come to the table with clothes on, and they are both adept at napkin use. I do still keep a bottle of shout in the laundry room!

In her introduction Jennifer shares that creativity is confidence.

"...be as silly as you can, and your child will focus on you and probably eat the food without a struggle. Occasionally when all else fails, you might have to resort to the DSM (Distract and Shovel Method), but hopefully you won't have to go there too often."

If your brain hurts just thinking about ways you can be creative with your toddler at the table you'll be relieved that a good portion of Jennifer's recipes include a "toddler tip." The tip is a fun presentation suggestion appropriate for the dish. Once you have a few of these tips under your belt you can try them out with meals you're already making.

Even if you consider yourself an accomplished toddler feeder (like I do) you're sure to find a plethora of new and effective feeding techniques your "picky" toddler can't resist. And if you're like most parents who hang their head every time they think of feeding their too-busy-to-bother-with-food-unless-it's-fruit-or-a-packaged-snack toddler this book will give you fresh new recipes to try and confidence that you might actually survive the toddler food years and have some fun along the way. Take heart. For most toddlers, being a picky eater is a temporary phase.

While a lot of the tips and strategies are perfect for toddlers, they are also appropriate for older kids, and the recipes are ageless. I think I enjoyed the Let Us Wraps as much as big boo did.

Recipes
Some of the recipes that caught our eye were, popcorn soup, rainbow rice balls, pumpkin pockets, toddler truffles, chickadee chickpea cakes, lord of the apple rings, and "let us" roll-ups (stay tuned for more on that yumilicious meal later).

For more of Jennifer's recipes and feeding toddler strategies, check out her blog.

Jennifer is giving away one copy of her book The Toddler Cafe to a Food with Kid Appeal reader! The contest closes at midnight Tuesday April 20th. Winner will be drawn April 21st, and contacted via email. Each entry requires a separate comment. I'll draw a winner using random.org and the # of the comment corresponding to the number drawn will be the winner. If you only leave one comment with all entries in it, that's only one chance to win.

1. For a chance to win leave your email address and a comment with the answer to this question: "Name one thing kiddo ate as a baby and won't touch with a 10 foot pole now."
   
2. For a second chance to win sign up for email or reader subscription or become a follower of this blog. Leave another comment telling me you subscribed. If you're already a subscriber, let me know.
   
3. For a third chance to win, become a fan on Facebook. Leave another comment telling me you subscribed. If you're already a fan, let me know.
4. For a 4th chance to win, invite your friends to join us on Facebook. Look under my photo on the fan page and click the "suggest to friends button" and invite all your friends. Leave a separate comment telling me how many friends you invited. Many thanks in advance for helping me reach more families that need inspiration, ideas and encouragement to keep feeding kids wholesome food.

Good Luck!

Oregano Pesto

My sister harvested her herb garden and gave me a big bag of birthday oregano, rosemary and cilantro. I love free herbs, but sometimes I can't use them all up fresh in whatever my regular meal plans are, so I need something really herb dense to put them to good use. When I noticed the oregano was starting to look a little wimpy, I knew it was time to stop garnishing with it and whip it into, um, something. But what? I still have a couple containers of meats and greens spaghetti sauce in the freezer, no need for a batch of red sauce. A pesto uses lots of herbs right? Oregano pesto? Why not. I'm not even sure if this qualifies as a pesto. It lacks cheese (only because of a parm run-out) and nuts (mostly because I was too lazy to dig some out of the freezer).

Apologies, I didn't measure the amounts. Don't be afraid to try this because I didn't give you exact amounts. You can't really go wrong with oil, herbs, garlic, salt, pepper. Those ingredients in any ratio will most certainly be good eats!

Oregano "Pesto"
Large bunch of oregano, washed, dried and stemmed.
Olive Oil (1-4 TBSP)
1-3 cloves fresh garlic, sliced
Salt and Pepper to taste

Add oregano, garlic, salt and pepper to a food processor or mini chop. Drizzle in oil (amount will depend on how much oregano you have) a TBSP at a time until you have desired consistency. Whiz until combined. Without nuts and cheese mine was more like a herby oil vs a pesto paste. Store in airtight container in the fridge or freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen remove pesto cubes to a plastic zip top bag and remove from the freezer when needed.

So far, I've used this "pesto" in the following ways:

• mixed it with butter and smeared it on bread for an herby garlic bread
• added a TBSP to dried bread cubes, butter and mushrooms for a quick "unstuffed" mushroom melange
• added two half ice cubes to a pantry pasta sauce (anchovy paste, sun-dried tomatoes, olives)
• tossed toasted bread cubes in it for some uber salty croutons to top soup
• tossed toasted pita wedges in it for some uber salty pita wedges to dip in soup
  

Those meals all happened over Easter or during my ebook writing frenzy (T- 12 days to deadline!), so there are no pictures, sorry! I did go shoot a photo of the remaining ice cubes, but that's all that remains of these quick little flavor burst.

I've got four small frozen ice cubes of it left to use up on pasta or to make more home-made croutons. I bet it would dress up a pasta salad very nicely.

With the cilantro, in addition to a few taco nights, I added some to my smoothie today. I actually liked the herby fruity mix. And I blanched the rest of it, laid it flat on a sheet pan and tossed it in the freezer. I've never flash frozen herbs plain before and haven't used them yet, so not sure how it will work out, but if they go all limp and gross they'll just get added to my veggie scrap bag for our next pot o' soup.

Frugal Fresh Herbs
Herbs can be quite pricey when you buy them specifically for a recipe. Especially if you then forget to use the rest of the batch and they spoil in the fridge. If you're guilty of letting fresh herbs go to waste, stop doing that! When you get the herbs out for your recipe, wash and dry all the fresh herbs you have on hand and do something with the herbs you don't need. Whiz them with some oil and toss in the freezer and you'll have added flavor to a different entree without spending an extra dime. Of course an herb garden is the way to go for the most frugal herb usage, but for gals like me with no dirt and a black thumb, I resort to the charity of my herb growing family and nabbing some at the market when the price is right.

Did you miss my guest post on OneHungryMama sharing all goodness of herbs? Check that out for plenty of reasons to add green herbs to everything you make some of which are antiviral, antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties.

This recipe is participating in LifeAsMom's ultimate recipe swap and Pennywise Platter.

I've been adding the rosemary to soups, stews and sauces. I still have plenty of it, and not sure how to use it up. Any suggestions?

My Food Revolution (Kid Appeal)

Last week I got an email letting me know Jamie Oliver was looking for Americans to send in videos sharing what we're doing to start a Food Revolution. I really wanted to shoot a video, but sick kid, major holiday, spring break, hubby working late, yada yada yada got in the way. I can't chase all the bunnies I want to, boo. Lacking a video but not wanting to miss an opportunity to send something to Jamie, I sent him my script. He didn't get the pleasure of looking at my mug as a moving picture, but I hope he'll read my words. Thought I'd share my script here with readers.

My Food Revolution

I've been serving revolutionary rations to my boys for six years now, however my true call to apron came when my oldest son was just a year old. I was at birthday party and discovered that many of the other moms were surprised my toddler loved carrots and tomatoes. When they asked how I got him to eat them, I responded, “I gave them to him.” I was perplexed by the notion that some kids won’t eat vegetables. Mine did, and at the time, I hadn’t learned many of the techniques I use now, so I didn’t think it was that hard. Give kids real food in absence of junk and they will choose to eat some of it. When the questions kept coming, I got to thinking that feeding kids must not be intuitive for all parents. I can certainly relate because I pretty much suck at getting my kids to tidy up (I too loathe the chore), yet I saw other kids willing to clean up without a fuss. My friends' kids lacked an enthusiastic guide to eating the same way my kids lack an enthusiastic guide to tidying toys.

After helping (read: nagging) my friends for a couple years, I decided to start teaching Kids’ Nutrition classes in my community. I didn’t want my class to be a food science class of the “EAT THIS. IT'S GOOD FOR YOU.” nature, but rather a guide to help parents over the many hurdles they face getting a wholesome meal, not just onto tables, but into tummies. I’m not an educator. I’m not a dietitian. I’m not an MD. I’m not a chef. I’m just a parent who thinks kids deserve to eat food untainted by toxins, lovingly prepared in their own home. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to quit trying to squeeze a few dollars out of helping America eat better. Ironically, I must generate some income or my family will not have the luxury of affording real food. After I eat at school with my son, I leave the elementary school campus with a heavy heart. I’m just paralyzed with how many obstacles have to be overcome in order for kids to be able to make better choices. I have just a handful of hours a week to make a difference and it feels like making sand out of a mountain with a toothpick. What should I do? Where should I start? Which obstacle is the most important to knock down? I look at my toothpick, then at the mountain and feel underprepared. But then I remember that if I don’t add my voice and my passion to the fray then the kids in my community may never get what they deserve, which is a body and mind that will carry them through life, free of disease - at least until they hit their golden years. So I pick up my toothpick and do a little more work to make a difference.

A year and a half ago, a mommy blogger attended one of my classes. I’d been meaning to get a website up to promote my classes, but between running an HR consulting business, teaching in my spare time, chasing two active sons, and cooking real food, I hadn’t found the time. Within a week of picking the mommy blogger’s brain, I launched Food With Kid Appeal.

Today, raising my boys and sharing the joys of feeding my family have led me to:

• Speak at mom's club meetings, demonstrating simple recipes/food prep with fresh ingredients kids usually go for. At my last meeting 2 kids who’d never eaten green beans tried them, and liked them, huzzah!
• Volunteer at my son’s school to help kids find connections between food and their activities, so they eat more of what’s good in their lunch.
• Share recipes and feeding the family frugally strategies on my blog
• Work with the elementary school nurse to create a wellness committee to address initiatives such as better school food, lunch/recess schedule change, and more nutrition education for the kids.
• Write a book, which I am reluctantly working on now.

This is my manifesto:

• I believe that when you make real food relevant to kids they will eat it. They may not scarf it down like they do pizza and chips, but they’ll eat enough to get sustenance from it.
• Making food relevant means parents need to make a connection between the food they’re serving and the activities the kid is doing. Want to score well on a test? Eat eggs to grow a big brain. Want to heal a boo boo? Eat some protein to repair/grow new cells. Want energy to climb equipment at the playground? Eat plenty of vegetables. Want to memorize all the notes of a song to play on an instrument? Eat some walnuts for better brain function.
• Teaching kids the function of food gives them a reason to taste it.
• Once they taste it, they’re bound to like/tolerate a good lot of what they’re served.
• And when they come to the table hungry, they’ll eat it.

Thank you Jamie, for joining our revolution. I covet your much larger pick-axe you wield to turn the mountain into sand. If you have any unmanned tools in your tool box, please call a woman desperate to make a difference up and give her a job.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

What about you dear readers? What are you doing to start a Food Revolution?

Are Avocados Good For Baby?

The Why and How of Baby's Early Introduction to Avocados

This is a guest post by Joanie Whitman, a baby led feeding advocate.

Avocados are an excellent choice for baby’s first food introduction for several reasons:

• They are easy to digest and have the highest fiber content of any fruit or vegetable
• Easy to prepare. Avocados need only minimal preparation. Because of an avocado’s consistency they are easily mashed by an infant’s jaws.
• Rich in monounsaturated fat, the “good fat”, which is helpful in fattening up underweight infants. High calorie content- good choice for growing babies
• Good source of vitamin A, C and E which naturally boosts their immune system

Throughout the life of a child their taste buds are constantly changing. By introducing avocado early and often, baby will become accustomed to its flavor and learn to enjoy it.

Here are some easy tips to help your child enjoy avocados:

• Selecting a ripe avocado is imperative for flavor, texture and preparation. Choose unbruised, unscarred fruit with no wrinkles. Do not squeeze it or you'll bruise it. A trick to use when selecting an avocado is to look at the stem end; if it is ripe, the stem will pull right out.
• Let them help. My boys love to help with the preparation of dinner during which they are happily taste testing. They may eat most of their meal during this time so I make sure to leave small portions of each ingredient within their reach. I have always allowed my children to be part of mealtime preparation as soon as they could stand on a chair at the counter.
• Encourage them to have fun with their food. Avocados are a great green color with a wonderful large ball-shaped seed babies love to explore. Let your child smash and smear it around. If they learn to enjoy its texture with their hands, the love for its taste will soon follow.
• Serve it many different ways. Some of our favorites: spread on whole wheat toast, sliced into easy to handle wedge shape, with scrambled eggs or dipping our Play and Learn Spoon into guacamole.
• Go ahead and season: although we must limit baby’s salt and sugar intake, avocado is an excellent food to use when introducing seasonings to baby.

Guacamole Recipe
This is my tried and true guacamole recipe. It’s light, fresh and brings home the flavors of real food.
ingredients:
5 medium avocados
¼ cup fresh cilantro; de-stemmed, chopped
¼ small red onion- diced
1 fresh jalapeno pepper- finely minced
1 small Roma tomato- diced
Juice of 3 small limes
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp. chicken bouillon (I prefer Better Than Bouillon- Chicken Base)
Dash of hot sauce ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp black pepper

directions
Cut avocados down the center, remove seeds, scoop fleshy fruit into food processor. Add onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper. Pulse to desired consistency. I like to leave mine slightly chunky. Spoon in mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients. Leftover will hold for a day or two, if it starts to brown, just stir before serving.

About Joanie Whitman
Joanie is the voice behind the blog RealBabyRealFood. She married her best friend six years ago and is now the mother of two wonderful boys. Her success with baby led feeding has spurred her on to help others bring baby back to the kitchen table for unprocessed meals with the whole family. She has a passion for wholesome, real food and strives to instill that same love in her children. She will be sharing her journey back to the basics, finding new ways of learning about the amazing world around us, as she starts homeschooling her 5 year old this Fall. Join Joanie in the return to real food.


A Note From Jenna
This post is participating in the Nourishing Gourmet's weekly blog event, Pennywise Platter. I've been seeing lots of sale prices for avocados lately. Even at $1 each (for the large ones) remember that avocados are a good fat. Keeping a pantry stocked on healthy oils can be pricey, so it's a bonus when produce is on sale and it counts towards healthy fat!