Why diversifying your kids palate is a good idea

My first kid started as a picky eater and I've tried very hard to change that. My take has always been to encourage kids to be adventurous in eating. And there's many ways of doing so.

1/ Keep diversifying their tastebuds and introduce them to something new each week (sushi / indian food / chinese) It's one thing to blend their vegetables and hide it in the food but I think they should be exposed to eating different textures.

2/ Always keep the attitude positive. For example, on spicy food, never panic and say "Oh No its spicy!" instead, try a challenge "this is big people's food, when you are ready, you can try it." or you can use some imagination "It makes the mouth hot like a dragon! Too bad it only stays for awhile"

3/ Encourage wonderful food experiences in restaurants. growing up as a Singaporean kid, eating was our culture and we were exposed to a lot of different styles of eating: Dim Sum, South Indian food, Seafood, etc.

If your kids move from picky to adventurous eaters, you will be able to enjoy food adventures together as a family and not have to say "I can't go to xxx restaurant, Johnny can't eat xxx. It will also open the kids to different cultures and a wealth of life experiences.

Diversity won't hurt you, in fact I am a firm believer that it would benefit and sustain you.  

Natural Indian Snacks for School Lunchbox

My friend brought me to Madras Supermarket in Sunnyvale, California. I was impressed at the diversity of grains and spices in this supermarket. In the Western diet, we have grown so used to eating wheat that we forget that there is such a diversity of ingredients out there. Take flour for example...most Westerners are familiar with wheat flour and maybe they may have two or three other different flours in their pantry. The Indian diet incorporates so much different varieties of flour: sorghum, moong dal, chick pea, rice, soya bean, buckwheat, millet and the list goes on...

It has added oomph into my kid's snack box. Here are some ingredients that you can buy from your local Indian supermarket:

Pani Puri (Left of lunchbox)
Made of semolina, flour, salt, oil and water, this crisp puffy snack is perfect for schoolkids. Apart from a little salt, there's no other preservatives. I  serve it with a little tub of yoghurt of cream cheese on the side. This is my little one's favourite. (he can't get enough of it)

Namak Para (bottom right of lunch box)
Primarily made of wheat flour, this makes a great nibble for the kids

Boondi (top right of lunch box)
These salted fried chickpea flour puffs are nice to pick and snack on (the version I bought contains a little peanut but I'm sure if you try hard enough, you can find non-peanut versions)

Sesame Chikki (centre of lunch box)
It comes in a slab. It's like sesame brittle. Break it up with your fingers. It goes well with coffee (or in your child's snack box) Nice crunchy sticky texture and it's a good substitute to all those snacks with artificial colors.

Incidentally, my kids loved the box of Indian snacks I put together for them. The older one loved Boondi and the younger one loved Pani Puri.

Keep trying.