If there’s one thing a chef doesn’t like, it’s a picky eater. It seems like a battle that just can’t be won and many moms have already tried. Having picky children can leave you a bit worried about your kid’s health, but studies have shown that the diets of picky children weren’t too different from healthy-eating children – besides the fact that the picky eaters didn’t consume as much fiber and calcium.

For the moms who have a picky eater at home, there are some things you can do to ensure your kid eats. First off, when doing business with children, you need to learn some psychology. Make them feel like they’re getting their way when in reality you’re getting yours. A great example is serving them dessert for breakfast. The idea is to make them feel like they’re getting something yummy – this can be from fresh fruits, cottage cheese or even eggs and plain yogurt.

Then you can try sneaking in some healthy foods. For protein, you can serve peanut butter, nuts, egg salad, boiled eggs, rice pudding or chicken salad. Then for veggies you can give your kid a V8 Splash fruit juice, veggie lasagna or some carrots and cheese in tortilla bread. Other ideas include granola and yogurt (like the parfait) or veggies with ranch dip. If you have a blender, fruit smoothies are fun to make and drink. You can even get creative and let them create their own pizza.

Recipe for fruit smoothie (get creative with the fruits!):

1 banana, cut into chunks
4 strawberries, stemmed and cut into chunks
8 oz. milk
1 TBSP almond butter
2 tsp. maple syrup

Pour the fruits into the blender, pour in the milk, then add the almond butter and syrup. Turn on the blender until the contents are smooth.

Speaking of blenders, you can also try the smother attack; this is when you puree all types of foods with a food processor (the idea is to place veggies, fruits and other healthy foods into nonsuspecting items). You could blend veggies in foods like brownies and cakes or grind up broccoli and zucchinis in pasta or pizza. Get creative with your cooking skills!