Have you ever tried batch cooking for a fussy eater? It could help more than you think.
When one or more of your children is a fussy eater it can be really distressing for the whole family. It tends to overshadow every single mealtime and can often take the joy away from the experience for other members of the family.
If you are turning a blind eye to it you are panicking on the inside, and it really and truly can take a huge toll on your stress levels.
One of the worst things about having a fussy eating child is the amount of stress it brings to the whole family during daily life. You want your child to enjoy an array of foods so that they can enjoy all that food has to offer us in life and in simpler terms, you just want them to have a nutritious diet so that their health does not suffer.
By now you have probably tried so many different recipes, gadgets and theories to try to help your fussy eating child. But have you considered batch cooking? There are so many reasons why batch cooking could actually reduce the stress levels of the situation and help to improve your fussy eater’s habits.
Does your child have a favourite food? Is it something you find yourself making every second day even if you are making another dinner for the other members of the family? You are not alone as this is the reality for so many other parents. Your child may repeatedly request spaghetti bolognese and the mere sight of it probably fills you with frustration. It’s burger night for the family and you are making another pot of spaghetti bolognese.
In the midst of Sunday Roast prep, you are browning mince and boiling pasta. Wouldn’t it make life easier to have a little stash of batch cooked dinners in the freezer ready to be taken out that morning and left to defrost until dinner? It could really make a big difference. On those two or three nights a week where your child will not eat what you are making for the rest of the family, you can take control of the situation, save yourself making two dinners and avoid the fuss and stress that comes with highlighting the issue. The family will be happy and your fussy eater will eat a full dinner.
Chances are there are a couple of meals that your child will eat. Once a month you could do a “fussy eating batch cook” and make a couple of different recipes. You can then pick up some cheap Tupperware in Dealz or Mr Price and freeze the portions individually by marking the date and what they are using a marker or label sticker.
Is hidden vegetable pasta sauce the only way you can get some vegetables into your child? Why not batch cook a huge vat of it some weekend day when you have a spare hour? You can throw it all into the slow cooker, forget about it, blitz and store in small portions. How handy would it be to simply defrost portions of this sauce? That way you simply have to add it to the pasta, rice, chicken etc without all the fuss of chopping and preparing it from scratch. It will make for a much happier parent and child and in the midst of it all, the vegetables are being eaten.
This principle works really well for homemade soups, stews and sauces. It is a great feeling to know that you have a stockpile of nutritious food that your child will actually eat.
Your child will love the fact that they have a selection of meals to choose from and you never know, they may request a new one be added to the menu when they start to look at food and meal times in a more positive way now that a lot of the fuss and stress has been removed.
You might be concerned that this is only “feeding” the issue of a fussy eater. Would you not be better off constantly encouraging them to try new foods and eat what the family is eating? In theory, yes, but is it currently working? If the stress levels are through the roof on a daily basis and your child is doing less eating then you might just be better off taking control and offering them the foods they will eat.
