Simple Picky Eater Solutions & A Family Finest Pizza Review

Malone turned five in June and with it came the sudden urge for him to dislike JUST about every food he’s ever loved. He’s asked for spaghetti without the sauce and pizza with broccoli and pepperoni, but WITHOUT cheese. Our general philosophy about food is that we don’t fight about it with our kids. If you’re hungry, I’ll feed you. If you’re not, I won’t force you. But, we don’t indulge pickiness for the sake of pickiness either. I’ve been on the hunt for simple picky eater solutions. And if I have, chances are likely that maybe you have been too!

5 Simple Picky Eater Solutions

1. Have them help you make the grocery list. This is a great way to reinforce handwriting if you’re child is a bit older. Or, if your child isn’t writing yet, have them look in the kitchen and call out things.
2. Take them with you to the grocery store. Sure, it would be a lot easier (and faster) to shop on your own, but giving your child a chance to explore the grocery store with you will create a connection to the food your buying (and preparing at home).
3. Involve your child in making your meal plan for the week.
4. Give them a choice as often as you can. We do this a lot with snacks. I usually present three choices to Malone and let him pick the one he’s in the mood for.
5. Invite them to help you prepare the meal. Toddlers can mix, dump, pour and stir. Preschoolers can retrieve ingredients, measure, and chop along side you with a butter knife (supervised, of course). And older kids can make supervised meals on their own.

Now that Malone is 5, we’re shifting from preschool kitchen skills to having him make a few meals on his own. One of the first meals he made for us was a Family Finest Make and Bake Pepperoni Pizza.

Disclosure: Malone and I received product vouchers for Family Finest Make and Bake products so we could provide you with this review. All opinions are our own

We loved the individual packaging. We made all four for lunch one cool and rainy afternoon, but the option to make one at a time really is genius. The box came with four crusts, four packets of pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

Malone really enjoyed “decorating” each of the pizzas. I loved the conversation we had while he did it. I was able to sneak in a really great lesson about sequencing and why it is important to follow the directions on the packaging as well as a small health lesson about why we have to wash our hands before we prepare foods for others. If you follow me on Instagram, you know how much I love me some #sneakyhomeschool.

Because the crust comes pre-baked, the cook time is not very long. These would be great to have stashed in your refrigerator for the nights when you have just a few minutes to grab a bite to eat before you’ve got to shuttle kids off to practice or to serve at play date when the troops get hungry.

Malone declared the pizza to be the best he’s ever eaten and has asked that I put them on my grocery list again. From a grown up point of view, they were very tasty pizzas. The sauce was very flavorful and the cheese melted perfectly. Family Finest Make and Bake Pepperoni Pizza gets a two thumbs up from my picky eater! And these days, that is worth more than gold!

In addition to pepperoni, Family Finest Make and Bake products also include cheese pizza and cookies. These products are available at your local Walmart.