Easy success
What would be the ‘most likely to be successful’ broccoli version you could serve to your child?
What part of the ‘tree’ :
- Bite from a tree
- Small floret cut from a tree
- A couple of broccoli leaves within something (eg. Eggs, pancakes, muffins, stews, stirfries)
How will it be cooked?
- Fried with oil & salt
- Steamed to keep it plain and ‘clean’ to pick up
- Baked to make it drier
- Within something – mixed meal (Eg risotto, stirfry, slowcooker, pancakes, savoury baking)
- With a ‘sauce’ eg. Homemade mayonnaise, butter, dip in guacamole/hummous/other favourite dip or sauce
Magic tricks
Less is more – Slow and steady wins the race so choose the quantity you know you and your child will manage. (this might be 3 broccoli ‘leaves’!)
Decide whether to announce it – ie. If if is highly likely they’ll spot it and not cope, be honest. If you’re serving 3 leaves in a muffin mixture, it’s more about feeling successful that your child can handle it, so you might keep it to yourself
Announcing it – keep it neutral. Not over-the-top positive and not with doubt. Eg. ‘Hey there’s a small bit of broccoli for you to try on your plate tonight. I wonder how a dinosaur would munch on it? Did you know the dark green foods are SO good for you? They clean your body on the inside! Like it cleans a dinosaur’s body’.
Hints – make it fun. Pretend broccoli is something else – pair it with your child’s interests. Extend the fun to something that you could ‘test’. Eg. ‘I’ve heard if you eat broccoli, you run faster/jump higher/sing Twinkle Twinkle in a higher voice….’.
Please no shame! Keep your love and understanding as your child gets used to this food. We want to encourage them to want to try again next time, even they don’t eat it. End on a positive note where you can.
Get feedback – is there a better way to serve it next time? Or is it something to persist with? It is HIGHLY unlikely your child would be intolerant to broccoli. This means persisting ‘should’ get your child eating broccoli!
Of course this is just a ‘taster’ of how I help parents to get their little ones eating more nutritious foods. Head over to my Learning Studio and put your name down for Food Magic for Fussy Eaters, my online group coaching program. The next round starts in May 2017.
OR you can check out my one-on-one coaching – Healthy Adventurous Eaters Program to jump straight to becoming the Fussy Eater Magician of your house!