When it comes to dealing with fussy eating, the way in which you serve food can sometimes be more important than the food itself.
We often look at picky eating from a very simplistic point of view; putting foods into a “like” and “dislike” category without really exploring the difficulties that the child faces when confronted with these foods.
Taste is often the last barrier to a child eating the meal that’s in front of them. Before they even get to that point they must overcome any sensory hurdles surrounding the look, smell and feel of the food. Understanding these issues can be key to avoiding at least some meal time battles at home.
Take soup as an example. I love making soup. It’s cheap and easy to make, is great for using up an array of vegetables and other ingredients from the fridge and perfect to batch cook.
My daughter will tolerate soup. It’s not her favourite food and will generally have a little moan when it’s presented but otherwise doesn’t have any major objection to it.
My son on the other hand will not currently tolerate it and I know his issues with it are sensory. He is autistic and is sensitive to how food feels. He doesn’t like the fact that soup is difficult to eat. Soup is messy, easy to spill and requires very good spoon-to-mouth coordination. A lot of children (not just those on the spectrum) will have similar issues with soup.
To overcome this I use my homemade soup as a pasta sauce. Pasta is a “safe” food for many children; it’s familiar and easy to eat and you can use it to hide an abundance of veggies and protein (This one is Tomato & Chorizo).
So if you’ve written off foods like soup for your picky eater, maybe just try ways that you can change up how you serve it.
Looking for ways to get your fussy eater to eat a better variety of food? Try these Plates for Fussy Eaters. These round divided plates have five compartments to be filled with a wide selection of food groups and choices of ingredients. Perfect for making food fun, interesting and appealing to picky eaters.
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Marie says
This is an amazing idea! The soup to pasta sauce ❤️ I’m a 38 year old self diagnosed autistic and struggle with food and textures and never thought to add pasta to soup. I’ve never cared for soup. I like hearty “soup”. Chili (we make ours thick and I have to have crackers in every single bite), broccoli cheddar soup again with crackers in every bite, and I don’t think this is really soup but chicken and dumplings mine is closer to gravy thick enough to eat with a fork lol I need a bit of crunch or texture in my food. I refused milk, formula, and even baby food. My mom had to feed me her food cut up real small with I was under a year old because I refused the normal baby stuff and I was starting to lose weight. I’m going to give this and your tomato veggie blended spaghetti sauce since I hate pretty much all veggies 😬
Marie says
Thanks for the excellent post
Caitlyn says
Really interesting and makes sense. My daughter who isn’t too bad an eater will eat most tomato based products but will absolutely not touch a tomato itself in its original form! Has definitely made me think about trying other was to serve food that she says she dislikes.
Ciara Attwell says
Definitely give it a try!