TODAY Food Club

While dating I knew that my husband was a picky eater. He wouldn't touch anything with cream cheese, sour cream, onions, or most any vegetable in it, plus many more. Being in culinary school and being an adventurous eater this made cooking for him a little difficult. Fast forward 4 years and now married I needed to make him a dinner every night that we both could enjoy. This took some practice but a few things helped dinner go a lot smoother.

• Make it small. I learned to cut everything he didn't like that needed to be added to a recipe very small. This way he barely noticed it as long as I didn't mention it.
• Not telling him until after he eats, what all was in a dish. Now this one did backfire once or twice. But for the most part, if he enjoyed the meal he was more willing to try more things later. Telling him there was cauliflower as the base of a soup he loved, did not work because he still refuses to eat it. So use this tip with caution.
• Compromising is always important in a relationship, even at dinner. Often I would alter a recipe so that he would be able to enjoy it. This was usually simple switching out veggies he wasn't a fan off and adding in mushrooms or green beans. Sometimes though it would include switching out spices and altering the flavor profile a bit. This made for fun adventures in the kitchen.
• Letting him decide some dinners. We meal plan a week at a time. I always try and let him pick two or three nights so that he knows he will have the foods he likes.
• Slowly asking him to try new things. As we get older our taste buds change, so trying things again every few years is important. He has become more willing to taste something before writing it off and now enjoys onions as long as they are cooked and pasta sauce can even have a few chunks of tomatoes.

These simple tips have helped us have less struggles in our relationship at the dinner table. It is not always easy to work with a picky eater but it can be done. Just make it delicious along the way.