So, you want to take your family on a risk-free culinary adventure - how do you begin?

Well, it’s no different than taking an actual trip … you don’t just find yourself at the destination. Before you go, you determine where you want to go, what sights you want to see, how you’re going to spend your time and money there, and more. Introducing new foods to your family - whether it is chimichurri or cauliflower - should be planned as well.

First, let’s review the tips from yesterday’s post:

How to introduce new foods to children
(and maybe that picky adult too):

• Introduce a new food in a neutral manner. Talk about the food’s color, shape, size, aroma and texture - but not about whether it tastes good.
• Make it fun. I always try to equate a new food to something the kids are familiar with, for example “Asian BBQ Pork Wraps,” I would introduce as “Asian Tacos” as my kids will eat just about anything called a “taco.”
• Be patient with your child’s investigative habits. Young children often touch or smell new foods, and may even put tiny bits in their mouths and then take them back out again. Children often need at least 10 exposures to a new food before they accept it, so be persistent.
• Include something on the plate that you know they’ll like. If I am trying a new flavor profile on chicken for example, I will make sure that the vegetable is something I know they will eat and will get the nutrition they need for that meal. One new thing at a time can sometimes be enough.

Now, for Chapter 2 in the guidebook:

• Involve your child. At the grocery store, let your child help select new fruits, vegetables, whole grain items and yogurt flavors for the whole family to try. At home, involve your child in food preparation. And, we are going to provide you with lots more of great ways to involve the kids this month (fess up…everybody loves a game, especially one about food!).
• Be creative. Sometimes children will try a new food if it’s interesting, creative and fun to eat. For example, serve broccoli with a favorite dip or sauce. Cut foods with solid textures into various shapes with cookie cutters.
• Start small. Begin by placing a small portion of the new food on your child’s plate next to the familiar foods. And remember - new foods will seem more appealing at meals if your child hasn’t just finished a snack (no snacks, even drinks except for water an hour before dinner is the rule in our house.)
• Be a good example. Children often mimic their parents. The more frequently you eat a particular food, the more likely your child will be to eventually try it. Also tell your child when you are trying something new. Do it together. My kids love the story of when I tried garlic ice cream for the first time. They roll over laughing and gobbling up whatever is on their plates as I talk about it. (For the record, although it was interesting, I haven’t rushed to try it again.)

Yes, this really does take some planning - and we’re here to help you!

Watch Food for Thought all month - or better yet, subscribe to receive guidance all month from the Let’s Dish! team in the mid-Atlantic. We’ll bring you more helpful hints on how you can expand your nightly dinner routine. It’s fun to read and learn about food - and we hope you’ll be inspired to try just a little something new this month.

And, we’ll take a moment to remind you of the easy way out: Let’s Dish!. Simply sign up for a session to put together (or pick up / have delivered) meals from our March menu. These meals have been tested - we promise! - by families just like yours (or thousands of them for our top-rated meals), and they truly are international favorites that everyone at home will enjoy. Healthy, super convenient, economical and delicious - that’s not an adventure, that’s a sure thing!

RELATED LINKS:
> Check out Q & A with Valerie Harding, Our New Chef
> Read “Let’s stop calling our kids picky eaters,” one of our most popular blog posts

Food for Thought, a Let’s Dish! blog, and this month’s “culinary adventures” are brought to you by the Let’s Dish! team in Maryland and Northern VA. Participating store locations include Baltimore, Bel Air, Columbia, Gaithersburg and Rockville, MD, and Alexandria, Ashburn, Fairfax and Leesburg, VA.