A picky eater can not only be frustrating, but it can also be costly in terms of time and money. Just think about it: every time you toss something your child didn’t eat or you prepare a separate meal, you’re using more time and money.
For the sake of your frugal living efforts, the best case scenario would be to nip this picky eater thing in the bud as soon as possible. With that being said, you can’t rush these things and sometimes you’ve got to just let it run its course. There are, however, more frugal living friendly ways to deal with a picky eater in the meantime:
*Don’t force a child to eat something they claim to not like: you’ll only waste time and money preparing other food and tossing what they wouldn’t eat.
*Especially with small children, give small portions first so that they’re not overwhelmed and turned off by the sheer amount of food they ‘have’ to eat. Start small and then, if they eat everything on their plate, they can always have more.
*One popular mealtime solution for picky eaters is to cut prepared foods up into small, bite-sized portions. So, for example, if you’re having trouble getting your child to eat their lunch at school, try cutting a variety of healthful foods into bite-sized pieces for a more snack-like lunch. Small pieces of meat and cheese, crackers or squares of bread or pita, cut up fruit and veggies and dip all work well.
When you find a way to fill your picky eater’s belly with nutritious foods—the first time--you will watch as your food cost declines and you suddenly have more time to do other things than fight with a three-year-old over broccoli.
*Photo from Flickr, courtesy of CarbonNYC
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