How to Grow a Good Eater

Dear readers, this is a revision of my Food Tips 101 page.  I have added about 15 new links since the last revision, so there may be some new content you haven't read.  This is supposed to be a "welcome" page for new readers.  Let me know if you think I hit the mark with this round up and intro to Food with Kid Appeal.  In theory, it's a landing page for a new reader to see what this blog is all about and some "getting started" details.  Stay tuned for an "about me" revision.  This page can always be found by clicking the "introduction" tab under my blog header.

If you're here you probably have a feeding transition to make. You either believe your child is capable of tossing out the picky eater label and growing into a good eater or you're trying to shift from a take-out, meal-helper meal plan to one that includes scratch made meals from wholesome real food.

Now, where to start? It's a journey, so don't think you'll need to learn everything today.  I'm still learning how to grow good eaters and balance the food budget while still serving up tasty meals.  I'm still learning how to treat my soon-to-be five and seven year old boys like thinking people who are capable of choosing to fuel their body with wholesome real food.

I'm cooking for them now, but they eat at school and at parties.  Eventually they'll fly the nest and start cooking for themselves.  When that happens I want them to choose wholesome real food to buy and cook because it's what gives them energy to study or work or parent.

I'm on a mission to help America grow a healthy generation of kids.  If you find something useful while you're here, give me a hand.  Share the articles and recipes on this blog via your Facebook page, via email, on Twitter.  You can use the "share" buttons at the end of each post.

For healthy recipes with real kid appeal, head on over to view more than 100 recipes on my recipe index.

Mindset, Thoughts, Actions Matter
I wrote a series of posts about how to learn to like a food you think you hate during my three recovering picky eater challenges.  These articles are targeted at an adult.  If you figure out how to change your own mindset about food, you'll be capable of arming your child with a new mindset as well.  The recovering picky eater challenge is still ongoing.  Join anytime by reading this post and leaving a comment on the blog post.

Mindset:  How "good eater" mindset influences results  
Thoughts:  Bend your mind, like a new food
Actions:  Find a way to like a food you hate

Tactics
Sometimes it comes down to tactics.  Parents just need some actionable steps to take to get help get food down the hatch.  I get it.  Teaching kids what to eat isn't intuitive for every parent.  Thank goodness for the internet, you can learn anything!

#1 secret weapon to getting kids to try new foods
Taste buds change as kids age - empowering kids to try new foods once thought of as hated
how to get kids to try new food
how to get kids to drink more water
Eat like a dinosaur video
What to say when kids refuse foods
How I taught my kids to eat visible onion pieces
harmony at the dinner table with toddlers
the benefits of shopping for local food with your kids
building healthy habits at the farmer's market

What to do when.....
Sometimes readers write in with questions.  These questions often turn into full blog post answers.  Here is a round up of the Help! articles I've written.

Help! My kids won't eat soup
Help! My kids don't eat enough lunch at school.
Help! My child gags when he tries new foods.
Help! My husband won't eat his vegetables.
Help! My kids don't eat well at family gatherings or restaurants
Help! What should a constipated kid eat?


Kids in the cafeteria
If you've never eaten at school with your child, I recommend you do so.  You should know what the climate is like in the school cafeteria, and what constraints are your kids might be dealing with.  Knowing how lunch goes down will help you ensure they're getting adequate nutrition during school hours.

5 things your school age kid needs for breakfast and lunch
How to get your preschooler ready for school lunch
Help! My child doesn't eat enough school lunch, (this is one of the most popular pages on the FwKA blog)
Overcoming lunch box boredom
How to get kids to drink more water

Position Pieces
From time to time, I write an article defining where I stand on certain debatable issues. You may not agree with my positions.  I didn't always think they way I think now.  As I get more experience and collect more data, my positions will continue to evolve.  I continually ask myself, do the positions I hold enable or hinder me from growing good eaters?

Is letting kid decide what and how much to eat the right thing to do?
Kids in the kitchen, Joy or No Joy?

Baby Food Basics
It's been years since the baby food days for me. These posts share a bit about my feeding baby philosophy.  I rarely opened jars.  As a meal cooker, it didn't occur to me to feed baby any different.

Transitioning baby from spoon food to table food
Starting solid food with baby




Growing a Generation of Good Eaters
Help me in my mission!  If you like what you read here, share it using the Facebook,  email and twitter buttons below the post.   

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday