Hello to all the mothers! Advance Happy Mother's Day!
To mothers with kids ranging from 1 to 5 years old, it is our common worry if our kids get the best nutrition they need, to grow physically and intellectually healthy. We often asked ourselves if they get enough from their milk and cookie munchies, which they usually consumed every day. We are having a hard time persuading them to eat their fruits and veggies. Good for mothers who used to let their toddlers eat fruits and veggies since the time they could eat solid food.
As a mother of four, I was into these things before. There were even times when I cried if my baby didn’t eat his food. But after decades of having taken care of my children, I found some hacks on how to let my kids finish their veggies. Although it was time-consuming, energy-draining sometimes, the thing was that those were somehow effective, depending on their age range. You cannot play airplane airplane just to let your child open her mouth, when she’s already three or four. She already knew that you were fooling her.
Here’s one hack that was effective for my 3 to 5-year-old preschoolers for them to eat their broccoli and carrots. I was using the art of food presentation, these age ranges are interested in colors, forms, and shapes. Thus, let me share with you my Octopus in the Jungle food plating.
Hot dogs are one of the preschoolers' favorites. They can eat hot dogs for breakfast every day throughout the week. So we will use a hot dog as the main bait for this hack. Simply cross-cut your hot dogs in half and create longitudinal cuts, making 8 strip-like cuts without cutting the one end of the hot dog. It will serve as the octopus' head.
Blanch your carrots and broccoli. Make sure you thoroughly wash and clean the veggies before the blanching process. You can cut the carrots or blanch them whole, remove the peel, and make sure that the broccoli is in tree-like shapes.
Blanching is done by dipping the veggies in boiling water and letting them sit for around two to three minutes, then putting the veggies back in ice-cold water to retain their freshness, texture, and crispness.
Cook your hot dogs as usual in a pan with hot cooking oil. As the hot dogs are exposed to the hot temperature of the oil, they also split (the cuts), making them into an octopus-shaped hot dog.
Grab a plate, arrange the octopus hotdogs together with carrots and broccoli, forming a jungle landscape. While preparing this, get ready in your mind a good story about the octopus in the jungle. Hahahaha, this is how a mother should be, be creative in making an adventurous story.
You can simply start with, “Once upon a time, five octopuses woke up and found themselves trapped in a jungle. They need a hero to set them free. Baby, today, you are that hero they’re looking for. (Make sure your face shows emotions too) You need to remove the trees(broccoli) and logs(carrots) by having a bite. Once you finish a tree and a log, the octopus will be free and they can enter into the cave (point his mouth) to hide and blah blah blah….”
Then present the plate to your preschooler or toddler. I know he will love it. The color, the texture, the octopus, plus the story, will make him bite into his veggies or even finish everything on the plate.
I am using this until today. And it is still effective for my 5-year-old son.
Being a mother does not limit you to feeding your kids, cleaning the house, and washing the clothes. It is also an opportunity to become resourceful, creative, and wise.
I do hope this could help mothers with picky eaters.
Thanks for reading this article. This is @jeanieviv84 saying, Advance Happy Mother's Day to all mothers in the world.
