"Susie said my soup looked like worms," reported my otherwise enthusiastic eater who brought home her lunch less than half eaten. And so, the innocent comment of an all-knowing Kindergarten student had dashed my hopes of having a healthy lunchbox rapport with my child. In one lunch period, yummy noodle soup happily eaten at home had turned repulsive at a table of peers. This felt especially frustrating because we'd spent the earlier years at home learning to love real foods, especially fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I would be challenged to step up my lunchbox game to both impress my daughter and empower her to ignore critics.
Struggling with picky eaters is one of the top complaints by well-meaning parents anytime we gather and chat. Many feel especially frustrated over whether their children are eating enough vegetables. I was happy to see this Picky Eaters Guide provided by Dr. Sears. He addresses picky eating and healthy alternatives for the toddler stage, when first food encounters can help build healthy eating habits for life. I recommend it for all of us, whether our babies are still small or we just need to remind ourselves that it's worth the effort to keep trying.
Our efforts to keep food nutritious, fun and convenient regularly include yogurt at our house. Some of our young friends recently helped us sample the new flavors in Stonyfield's YoToddler collection. Made with six live active cultures and organic whole milk for growing bodies, the yogurt now comes with either banana and pumpkin or raspberry and pear at the bottom. The yogurt has vitamin D and DHA added. While the banana and pumpkin flavor was mild and partially eaten, toddlers and preschoolers couldn't get enough of the raspberry pear!
Raspberry was also the favorite flavor of some picky adults who tried several new versions of Stonyfield Oikos Organic Greek yogurt. Picking from several tasty low-fat and zero fat varieties, the adults and an older child thought raspberry, caramel, chocolate and strawberry were the tastiest. If you like lemon, pineapple or plain Greek yogurt, those are available too. Greek yogurt offers a food with twice the protein of regular yogurt, less lactose and fewer carbohydrates. One skeptic dropped some of her preconceived notions after tasting Stonyfield's raspberry Oikos, sharing "I like this better than any other Greek yogurt I've had by far." Many thanks to Stonyfield for sending those scrumptious yogurt samples to our house! 
I'm also learning more ways to incorporate plain Greek yogurt into recipes for a lower-fat alternative to other dairy products. We'll be baking with yogurt later this month at East Tennessee's Biggest Bake Sale. That's where I'll be able to share coupons for FREE Stonyfield Oikos Greek Yogurt with the first 100 people I see. The Stonyfield website is the perfect place to start "clean couponing" by seeking discounts on foods with ingredients you can feel good about. Here's to meeting the picky eating challenge with good taste and the occasional sweet treat!