My kids are extremely picky at this stage in life. They were both great eaters until they turned 3 ish. Getting veggies into them and having them try out new foods is a battle of wills. I was pretty desperate and so figured maybe if they participate in cooking the food, it will make them less wary of the final resulting dish.
If your community has a program like the one we have in El Paso/Las Cruces I highly recommend you apply. We luckily have 2 programs that deliver farm fresh produce for free to our door with recipes and interactive instructions.
One is called Taster Space and this is an example of us Celery-brating this week's Taster Space box. So far, this has been amazing for my picky eaters and they've tried so many more fruits and vegetables without bribes or nagging.
The 2nd session is going to start soon and I HIGHLY recommend you get on the wait-list to try this program. Email them at [email protected]
We were also chosen to participate in the FREE virtual Family Cooking Night from La Semilla Food Center and Ngage NM.
We had a great cooking class with families and kids from all over the region from Las Cruces NM to Soccoro TX. We were delivered a food box with fresh produce (radishes, turnips, limes, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, garlic, rosemary), a cook book, and a plastic knife so even young cooks can help with chopping.
They had 2 classes (one in English, the other in Spanish) and had some delicious recipes planned using local produce. Since this was a family cooking night, they selected recipes that involve lots of tasks and hands on activities, so that all family members of all ages can participate!
The recipes were as follows:
· Vegetable Stir Fry
· Rosemary Lemon Salad
Let me tell you, my kids were so interested and asked so many questions about growing the veggies, cutting them, and then tasting them to compare flavor profiles. They started out with radishes and turnips and then moved on to a fluffy mushroom species.
The entire experience sparked their creativity, imagination, and they tried everything! It also helped us parents learn how to teach them in the kitchen and made us feel a lot more secure seeing other families cook with their littles.
It's a wonderful experience and I highly recommend you try to sign up for the wait list. It took us 6 months to hear back, but it was worth the wait.
We'll be sure to continue to use the cookbook and try new healthy recipes with our children utilizing more vegetables in our cooking.
Learn more about La Semilla Food Center:
