Food issues, or, "Notes on Feeding a Four Year Old"

Salmon cakes – “no, thank you”

Little salmon cakes with lipstick (tiny dab of ketchup) – “more please”

Broccoli – “no, thank you”

Broccoli with makeup (small dab of melted cheddar) – “more please”

Its not WHAT you cook, is HOW you serve it, that is what i have learned in my, now, "years" of parenting. Another tip:

Squeeze a lime over ANYTHING to make it edible. (i cringe when i imagine it, but it works)

The above rules are true, unless it smells of ginger, or contains mushrooms or avocado. Apparently those items are sooooo not yummy.

Oh, avocado can be ok in really small quantities only as part of guacamole used for chip dipping. I don't even understand how that works.

Another food issue:

Somehow i had instinctively figured out that kids at this age don't like their food mixed up ( they like to see items separately), so even if we eat a stir-fry, i separate on her plate noodles, from tofu, from soy beans, from whatever. She usually eats one item totally before moving on to the next, usually in the order of preference.

And a tip:

Explaining what ingredients were used to make something helps us to like unfamiliar food: its not so scary if it contains eggs, onion, etc.

And my rule: Out of three things cooked for dinner, two must be something the kid will eat. The third item can be something that they are just expected to try. For example: rice, soy beans, maple salmon. She will eat 1, 2, and will try 3. Or bass baked in sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan and pine nuts plus mashed potatoes plus snow peas. She will eat 1, 3, and is required to try 2. Of course, there is always a salad with romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, with lime juice and salt that goes with every meal, just for the fresh vitamins.

And, conclusion: kids a stubborn, so if you make meal time into a battle, they will take you up on it, so just don't.