Help your Picky Eater Start and End the Day Right

Life with a picky eater can get a bit interesting. Finding a way to get kids to eat a healthy variety of foods can be challenging enough without throwing food aversions into the mix.

Most of my kids are awesome eaters but I have one who would live off nothing but macaroni and cheese and scrambled eggs if given the choice. Most meals with him involve him eyeing his food suspiciously and asking me if there are any onions in it.

I have to get a bit creative to find ways to get any real nutrition into his diet.

Enter the smoothie bowl.

Smoothie bowls are pretty much the perfect food for picky eaters. You can blend just about anything into the smoothie portion and top it with a few toppings that you know your kids will eat. It’s way better than cereal because you can limit the refined sugar and fill it with fresh ingredients.

We use DairyPure brand milk in our smoothie bowls because is the only brand of milk backed by the exclusive 5-Point Purity Promise. I love that they don’t include any artificial growth hormones* and that all milk is tested for antibiotics so I feel good giving it to my family.

*No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from cows treated with the artificial growth hormone rbST and non-rbST-treated cows.

Blueberry Banana Smoothie Bowl

You can adapt this recipe to fit your family’s (and your picky eater’s) taste preferences. It’s basically an extra thick smoothie. For my preschooler I’ll even call it breakfast ice cream and she’s all over that.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Dairy Pure Milk
• 1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 banana
• 1/4 cup chia seeds

Toppings:

• Sliced bananas
• Sliced strawberries
• Slivered almonds
• Chia seeds
• Chocolate chips
• Anything else that sounds good!

Directions

Blend your smoothie mixture together. It should be nice and thick. Pour it into a small bowl and top with whatever toppings you like.

I topped ours with sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, slivered almonds, chia seeds, and just a few chocolate chips.

I honestly never used to think my picky eater would eat chia seeds but they add a nice little crunch and don’t change the flavor so he loves them.

You have to pick your battles with a picky eater so I do let some things slide with him. He eats mac and cheese WAY more often than I would like and picks most of the things out of the meals I serve but I focus on making small changes and keep my fingers crossed some of them will stick.

Since his diet is often limited during the day, I try to make sure that we start and end the day with something nutritious.

A smoothie bowl for breakfast gives him a great start to the day. We end the day with a favorite treat.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

This chocolate chia pudding is so simple and it is loaded with nutritious ingredients like TruMoo chocolate milk and chia seeds.

TruMoo has NO artificial growth hormones*, NO high fructose corn syrup and a delicious taste kids love. Even my picky eater never turns it down!

*No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from cows treated with the artificial growth hormone rbST and non-rbST-treated cows.

Ingredients

• 1 cup TruMoo chocolate milk
• 1/4 cup chia seeds

Preparation

Chia seeds turn into a soft gel when exposed to liquid so they are perfect for making a thickened pudding. Pour your milk and chia seeds into a glass and let it sit for at least 15 minutes.

Sometimes I’ll make this in a mason jar in the morning and just leave it in the fridge until later that night. This makes a fantastic bedtime snack or dessert and even my picky eater loves it.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my son branches out a bit and loses his picky habits as he gets older. In the meantime, I’m so glad I have some great options to get some good nutrition into him now.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.