Are you tired of handling the tantrums of picky eaters in your family? Have you been struggling with deciding on the perfect meal options for fussy eaters at your home? Do you want to know about meal plans for picky eaters that cannot go wrong in any situation?
If yes, then cheer up, as today is your lucky day! We have shared some amazing meal plans that every picky eater will love.
Food is necessary for the survival of living beings. You need to consume two or three meals a day to stay energized and prevent diseases. Vegetarians can opt for meals that contain vegetables, whereas meat eaters can opt for meals that contain different types of meat products.
While it may seem simple, choosing meals involves a lot of thinking and deliberation. Vegetarian food, vegan food, meat, and fish are a few broad options that people have when it comes to deciding what to eat. Knowledge regarding their preferences is necessary in order to choose an exact option for every category of eaters. Some people eat everything except for a few items. On the other hand, others eat only a few items and create a fuss about many food items. These people are known as picky eaters or fussy eaters.
When you have meal plans for picky eaters, you can satisfy their hunger. However, you should ensure that the meal plans you use have foods that provide the required nutrition as per the age and specific dietary requirements of the people eating those foods. Making such meal plans can turn out to be a tough and time-consuming task.
Therefore, we have shown brilliant meal plans in this blog post. Let’s have a look at them.
Which are Some Healthy Meal Plans for Picky Eaters?
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Contrary to popular belief, not just children but adults and seniors can also be quite selective of what they eat. The term ‘fussy eater’ or ‘picky eater’ has a negative impression attached to it. But in reality, being choosy in terms of what you put inside your body is not a bad habit at all. People become picky eaters because of different reasons.
Before we start discussing the list, it’s important to clarify here that the meal plans mentioned below don’t appeal to every fussy eater, as not all fussy eaters are the same. You can try different foods and combinations to please the picky eaters in your family, neighborhood, and workplace.
We have listed down meal plans for seven days of the week.
Monday:
- Breakfast: Vegetable or Chicken Soup
- Lunch: Mac and Cheese
- Dinner: Baked Fish with Garlic
Depending on whether the person for whom you are preparing food consumes chicken or not, you can choose between chicken soup and vegetable soup. If the person eats chicken, you can make a chicken-vegetable soup as well. There is nothing better than starting your morning with a bowl of hot soup as a breakfast in the cold winter months. Mac and Cheese is an all-time favorite food of countless number of people. This humble and nutritious dish can keep anyone filled till dinner. Fish can help people cover many nutritional deficiencies.
Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Chicken or Vegetable Sandwich
- Lunch: Chickpeas, Sprouts, or Mixed Beans Salad
- Dinner: Veggie or Beef Tacos
The meal plan for day 2 is also one of the interesting meal plans for picky eaters. You can prepare a chicken sandwich or a vegetable sandwich. After a filling breakfast, the lunch includes a light salad. You can choose between chickpeas, sprouts, and mixed beans to make a salad. For dinner, you can prepare veggie or beef tacos. You can use bread and taco shells made from whole wheat to keep the dishes healthy.
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Sweet Banana Oatmeal or Savory Oatmeal
- Lunch: Pizza – Vegetable or Chicken Pizza
- Dinner: Spaghetti with Hot Dogs
Dishes made from oatmeal are generally sweet, but you can prepare savory oatmeal as well, depending on whether the person going to eat oatmeal has a sweet tooth or not. You can make savory oatmeal using eggs and vegetables. You can also make vegan oatmeal using beans or chickpeas. A pizza gives you a lot of scope to please picky eaters.
You can choose the toppings according to the preferences of the person for whom you are preparing the pizza. No picky eater can say no to spaghetti with hot dogs.
Thursday:
- Breakfast: Fried Eggs and Baked Beans with Tea or Coffee
- Lunch: Bacon or Vegetable Quiche
- Dinner: Mushroom Penne Pasta
A traditional English breakfast can satisfy the hunger and taste buds of most picky eaters. Fried eggs and baked beans are a part of English breakfast. Beans are a great source of protein. You can serve tea or coffee along with these foods.
Friday:
- Breakfast: French Toast and a Bowl of Fruits
- Lunch: Mexican Rice, Risotto, Pilaf, or Quinoa
- Dinner: Sushi and Ramen Noodles
The meal plan for day 4 is one of those meal plans for picky eaters that contain dishes from different cuisines around the world. You can make French toast for breakfast. Since it is a heavy food item, you can balance it by including a bowl of fruits in the breakfast menu.
If the person for whom you are preparing food loves to eat rice, you can make a delicious rice-based dish for lunch. You can choose between Mexican rice, risotto, and pilaf. You can opt for brown rice instead of white rice if your picky eater wants to make a healthier choice. You can prepare a quinoa dish if they want to avoid rice. For dinner, you can make Japanese dishes, sushi, and Ramen noodles.
Saturday:
- Breakfast: Crepes, Pancakes, or Dosas
- Lunch: Lentil Soup and Quesadillas
- Dinner: Chicken Wings and Onion Rings
Who does not like a tasty pancake for breakfast? A variety of pancakes can be made using different ingredients and toppings, But if your fussy eater does not like to eat pancakes, you can make crepes, which are similar to pancakes. You can even experiment by making a dosa, which is a nutritious dish belonging to Indian cuisine. Dosas are also similar to pancakes and crepes. You can use the quesadilla recipe of your choice.
Sunday:
- Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Mashed Potatoes
- Lunch: Meatballs with Marinara Sauce and Caesar Salad
- Dinner: Vegetarian Chili with Cornbread
Scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes are classic dishes that make anyone crave them. While eggs are a good source of protein, potatoes can provide you with carbohydrates. Meatballs are another classic dish that most people enjoy. You can make marinara sauce or any other type of sauce. Caesar salad helps you to make your picky eater consume lettuce. Since some people can find meatballs to be a heavy food item, you can make vegetarian chili with cornbread, which is a light dish, for dinner.
Along with meal plans for picky eaters, we have also shared some ideas for evening snacks and desserts. Some of the food items that you can make for evening snacks include bread and chips with hummus dip, Greek yogurt and mixed berries, popcorn, whole wheat bread with peanut butter and jam, and smoothies.
Cupcakes, muffins, chia pudding, strawberry almond pie, banana bread, frozen yogurt, dry fruits with honey, mixed berry pie, blackberry tart, and chocolate cake are some of the dishes that you make for desserts. You can select the ingredients consciously to make sure that the items you prepare are healthy. For example, you can use olive oil instead of unhealthy oil. You can use rock salt and jaggery (or dates) instead of table salt and sugar, respectively.
Final Thoughts
Having a plate full of delicacies that you like eating in front of you gives you a feeling of happiness. You can enable others to experience this feeling by preparing foods they would love to eat.