Turning a Preferred Food into a New Food
Introducing new foods to our kids who are selective eaters can be tough. Sometimes our kids already decide they don’t like a food before even trying it, which is frustrating. When we present a food that already has some similarities to a preferred food, our kiddos might see it as familiar enough to at least give it a shot. This is where adding new flavors to a preferred food can come in real handy!
I like to use seasons or holidays as an excuse for this. “It’s fall now, so we’re in pumpkin spice mode and need to try our pancakes with a dash of pumpkin spice!” 😁 Hee hee. I like to use these opportunities to talk about how the flavor of the new pumpkin spice pancakes might taste different compared to their original preferred pancakes.
“Smell the pumpkin pie spice! There’s cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice…all warm, cozy spices that make me think of fall!” This way your kiddo can already start imagining what the new pancakes might taste like.
If they already have an aversion just to the smell of the pumpkin pie spice, you can say something like, “Sometimes the smell can be strong, but let’s see how it tastes in the pancakes!” This way you acknowledge that they didn’t really like the smell of the spices but encourage them to still give tasting it a try.
And if they refuse to even try the new pancakes, you can thank them for keeping an open mind and let them know they can try them another day. Then have them kiss it goodbye and place it in a “goodbye bowl”!
Other ideas for adding fall flavors to preferred foods:
(Click each idea for the recipe!)
Hope these ideas give you some fall inspiration! As always, Happy Tasting! 🎃
