I love coming up with fun ways to introduce new foods to Emery! This particular week we were talking about colors and I thought it would be fun if each day for lunch, we focused on one of the colors we had been learning about. For Monday, we did all things red – red bow, colored with all the red shades of crayons, went on a walk and spotted anything red, and had our red themed lunch, so the color was getting reinforced in fun ways throughout the day. 

I had fun browsing Pinterest and then the grocery store for new ideas. I made sure to offer something familiar each day and a few new foods to try. I played around with roasting, steaming, baking, etc based on what I thought she might enjoy. It was a big hit and I found she was much more willing to try new flavors and textures because it was on her color themed plate!

Here are some ideas for colorful plates:

Red: red apples, radish, red bell peppers beet hummus, tomatoes, raspberries, plum, strawberries, kidney beans, goji berries (age appropriate)

Orange: oranges/mandarins, orange bell pepper, apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato, pumpkin muffins, tumeric added to hummus, orange cheeses

Yellow: bananas, mango yogurt, mango, yellow cheeses, garlic hummus, yellow apple, yellow kiwi, corn, roasted acorn squash with parmesan (so delicious), pineapple, mung beans, yellow squash, spaghetti squash

Green: peas, snap peas with hummus, green grapes, green apple, roasted broccoli, kale chips, and this apple spinach muffin or these pea fritters, avocado, green bell pepper, edamame, green lentils, honeydew melon, green beans (lightly breaded and baked have been a big hit over here), brussels sprouts sauteed with a little bacon-mmmmm. 

Purple: Plum, purple grapes, figs, dates, blackberries, sauteed red cabbage, purple carrots, purple potatoes, purple cauliflower

Do you think your child would enjoy rainbow themed lunch week? You might even try a few new things too! Let me know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂

Love, 

Mama M