My DD isn't really a picky eater per say... but I do have fun trying to get her to actually eat.
I have noticed, however, that she will eat ANYTHING as long as she has some kind of dip. Like the other night, we had spaghetti. Already slathered in sauce, but she didn't want anything to do with it. She had finished her salad though, so I gave her a bit more of that (My rule is that the only food she can have seconds on before finishing her first serving is veggies...) but the ranch slipped and went on the side of her plate instead of her salad... She started dipping her spaghetti into her ranch, and she ate it all!
I experimented a bit since then, and discovered that I can give her any dip, and she will eat anything in it. (She even enjoyed eating carrot sticks dipped in mustard... uh, ick.)
Usually... I don't give in on her 'power plays'... but I really am not interested in fighting her at every meal. I figure that letting her dip her food isn't really that much of a 'cave', especially if I make it 'Mommy's idea'. I'm not planning on letting her have it every meal, but hey, if it gets her eating more I'm happy!
Sooo... anyone have any HEALTHY, easy to make dips for my DD? :)
Hummos! I buy it pre-made, but have made it at home and it is easy,
Also try using tuna or salmon salad as dip... my daughter still wont touch a tuna sanwhich, but if she can dip a cracker or a pretzel chip in it and scoop some out she loves it!
We do hummus and "salsa" (without peppers) for my 3yr old when she feels like "dipping" things (also works great for snacks!). Also, you can add a lot of different things to greek yogurt to make different dips....
Have fun!
My son is a dipper! His favorite is ranch, but he will dip just about anything in applesauce...fries, chips, hotdogs. Looks and sounds gross to me, but he loves it. And I figure as long as he's eating healthy and not making a huge mess, why not let him dip?
Peanut butter, cream cheese whipped, ranch made with yogurt, apple sauce, spaghetti sauce, yogurt, mashed avocados
Hummus would be good and healthy.
I second the hummus! All my kids love it...I just have to work on getting my 1 year old to NOT eat it by the spoonful. My kids also like dipping cucumber slices in tuna salad...dipping graham crackers in unsweetened applesauce...crackers in smooshed avocados with a little bit of garlic or seasoning salt...and if you're wanting to make the ranch dressing a bit healthier...we sometimes get the powdered ranch dressing mix and mix it with plain greek yogurt :). I made a homemade mango salsa the other day (pretty mild)...they LOVED it. A lot more labor intensive tho' than anything I'd make on a regular basis :p. My 1 year old is the same way. We went out to eat the other day for my birthday and he wouldn't eat his chicken strip until he started dipping it in my soup...then..you woulda thought the kid had died and gone to heaven :). (So, on that note...I suppose pureed soups might also work?)
Houmous is my all-time favorite--easy to make at home so you can adjust the taste to fit your youngster, and lots of protein. When we were trying to fatten up our 5th percentile 1 year old, I put it on everything and he loved it. It can have lots of fat if you make it that way, or you can make it lighter. Plain yogurt is great too.
Hummus, you can even get different flavors.
My daughter is 5 and will dip just about anything in any dip. Sometimes I find it gross. Like apples dipped in mustard. Yuck!
Also another big thing she likes is honey. Dipping fruit and chicken in it.
