Monster Burgers

Are your kids picky eaters? Mine are, to put it mildly. I've been working with Lauren, S's SEIT (special ed itinerant teacher), to figure out ways to get the kids to eat more types of foods. We've started a weekly "cooking club" where the kids take turns picking out a fun dinner recipe that we all cook together. The emphasis is not so much on making sure that the food is super healthy (though that would be nice), but just trying to get them to eat something besides the usual pasta, pizza, and chicken nuggets. Lauren recommended I get a visually appealing cookbook for the kids (read: not too many pictures of veggies) so I chose this Pillsbury Kids Cookbook: Food Fun for Boys and Girls. The kids love leafing through it. R. picked the "Monster Burger" recipe first. As you can see from the photo above, she made some substitutions (like replacing the pickle "eyes" with sliced Babybell cheese), but I was so thrilled that she ate the entire burger, which was a first. Considering how little protein she'd been eating before, I am quite happy that a (lean) burger is now an option for her. As for S., he refused to touch it, though he did find it quite amusing and called it "Monster Booger."

If you've got really (and I mean really) picky eaters, you might want to check out this book too. It sells at Amazon for $13.57.