Fun Food for Fussy Little Eaters E-Book

Smita Srivastava

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Mealtimes can be a battleground if your child is a fussy eater and many parents worry that their kids aren't eating enough of the healthy things they need to grow. Worrying about her own little picky eater, Smita Srivastava found a way to make mealtimes fun and persuade her daughter to eat what was put in front of her. Smita's fun and quirky food designs worked so well that she started her blog, Little Food Junction, which has received an overwhelming response from mums around the world. Since most children need a little more inspiration to try new things, the ideas and recipes in this book aim to make food more visually appealing. Featuring easy to make breakfasts, snacks and lunchboxes comprised of healthy ingredients including fresh fruit and vegetables, these fun food presentations not only encourage kids to try new things, but also drive home the message that healthy meals don't have to be boring. Armed with a Friendly Lion, Three Little Pigs, or an Exotic Christmas Tree, mealtime battles at the dinner table will be history.

Leseprobe

fun food for fussy little eaters

fun food for fussy little eaters

how to get your kids to eat fruit & veg

Smita SrivastavaofLittle Food Junction

photography by William Reavell

Dedication

To my daughter Nandika, thanks to whom I am an author today!

Author’s acknowledgments

Heartfelt thanks to my hubby Siddhartha who is “always my better half“, who has motivated and encouraged me at every step and spent long sleepless nights lending the most patient ear to my wacky dreams and ideas. To my mother, who has been my inspiration, who prepared some cute salads for me to munch on almost 2 decades back (Mom, I still remember your tomato baskets and potato snowman)! To my father, who taught me to listen to my heart. To all my dear readers of Little Food Junction (www.littlefoodjunction.com) who viewed, liked and commented on my foodie creations. I owe this book to all of you.

Big thanks to my agent Sallyanne Sweeney and the staff of RPS for your guidance at every step, for the untiring efforts all of you have put in. Thanks for making my dream come true!

Words fall short to convey all the blessings the Almighty has bestowed upon me; I have felt His divine presence whenever I needed Him.

Senior Designer Iona Hoyle

Commissioning Editor Céline Hughes

Senior Production Controller Toby Marshall

Editorial Director Julia Charles

Art Director Leslie Harrington

Prop Stylist Lisa Harrison

Food Stylist Maud Eden

Food Stylist’s Assistant Natalie Costaras

Indexer Hilary Bird

First published in the UK in 2013

by Ryland Peters & Small

20–21 Jockey’s Fields

London WC1R 4BW

and

519 Broadway, 5th Floor

New York, NY 10012

www.rylandpeters.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text © Smita Srivastava 2013

Design and photographs

© Ryland Peters & Small 2013

eISBN: 978-1-84975-681-5

ISBN: 978-1-84975-454-5

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

This is book is intended to provide inspiration for fun children’s mealtimes. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any claim arising out of the information in this book. Always consult a health advisor or nutritionist if you have any concerns about your child’s health or nutrition.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

A CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Printed in China

contents

feed their imaginations

fun at the zoo

fairy tales

happy holidays

nature all around

party time

index

feed their imaginations

It all started on a bright, sunny day. As usual my little one returned from school with her lunchbox untouched. That evening, her dinner plate met the same fate. Every morsel of food led to endless coaxing and a daily mealtime war. I became so fed up that I tried to think of new ways to get her to eat. Eventually, I shaped the food on her plate into a pair of eyes and a mouth. Soon the room was filled with peals of laughter, and the meal that used to remain on the table for hours vanished in minutes!

The subsequent change in my daughter’s eating habits was like magic. These new, creative experiments led me to cleverly disguise regular foods and my fussy little eater was soon trying new fruits and vegetables. Lunchtime turned into fun-time and my daughter was enjoying food again. Her classmates even stood around her desk and applauded as she opened her lunchbox!

My experiment was so rewarding that I decided to share it with other despairing parents in my very own blog: Little Food Junction. In a very short time not only had the ideas won the hearts of families around the world, but news of their success was making its way into national newspapers. Parents were writing in to say that these entertaining recipes had added sparkle to boring mealtimes.

This easy book shows you how to add a little excitement to your child’s meals and amaze them with stories on their plates! With an emphasis on fruit and vegetables, the ideas are not only health-giving and visually appealing, but also quick to assemble, so you will end up spending more quality time with your child as well as having fun with them.

The creations that can be carefully wrapped in clingfilm/plastic wrap and taken to school in a box are clearly marked with this lunchbox symbol: Having said that, use your imagination and adapt ideas to make them more portable if you like.

The ingredients are endlessly adaptable. If your child doesn’t like olives, swap them for black grapes. Use radishes instead of carrots, or kiwi instead of cucumber. I would always recommend wholemeal/whole-wheat bread and good cheese, plus seasonal produce when possible.

You don’t need fancy gadgets for anything here; you will be well on your way with a knife, some basic cookie cutters and a drinking straw. If you don’t have a cookie cutter, use an upturned glass. A cocktail stick/toothpick or skewer is brilliant for cutting shapes out of thin slices of cheese.

Don’t throw away any leftovers or off-cuts: use vegetables in salads, soups and stews; fruits for smoothies; and bread for croutons or breadcrumbs.

Use your imagination and get your child to help – and get used to seeing big smiles and empty plates!

fun at the zoo

elephant fruitwich