Picky Eaters {Book Review}

When I first saw Rakhee on ‘Living Foodz’ baking a Red Velvet Cake, Lil’M, who was playing nearby, joined me to watch. We both loved how effortlessly she prepared and assembled the cake, and her easy-to-make yet extaordinary recipes captivated us. From that moment on, I rarely missed any of her cooking episodes. Last week, when I received her book to review, I was instantly hooked. The book is divided into two sections: the first focuses on managing picky eaters, offering tips, tricks, and techniques, while the second is packed with beautifully curated everyday recipes.

About The Book

The book revolves around the topic of picky eaters and begins with kitchen basics, covering essential utensils, gadgets, and cooking staples like stocks and pastes. Celebrity chef Rakhee explains on how by following few key rules and planning ahead, you can minimize your time in the kitchen each morning. The next section includes a detailed questionnaire designed to help you determine if your child is a picky eater. Rakhee then emphasizes the importance of establishing a healthy food culture at home—something I believe is crucial and strive to practice in my own household.

Key Concepts

Some key concepts of the book include going grocery shopping with your child. Growing small herbs and plants at home, eating together as a family, and reducing temptations. The next chapter offers tips on how to make healthy eating more appealing, showing that healthy can be tasty, and how to present everyday foods in a more appetizing way. It also covers choosing good food over bad in a smart way to keep the family nutritious and healthy. “I’m not a kid, Mummy!”—a common complaint we hear from our children—gets addressed with Rakhee’s clever solutions. She also stresses the importance of establishing a family routine, warning that without one, you could end up spending all day in the kitchen while the kids sit in front of the TV. A point that I wholeheartedly agree with.

Picky Eaters

Rakhee explains that once you make the effort and your kids settle into a routine, picky eating will no longer be a concern. This chapter offers helpful tips for establishing that routine. The key mantra with picky eaters, she emphasizes, is to stay calm. The tips and tricks in this book are designed to help transform picky eaters into healthy eaters.

Moving on to the recipes, this section is thoughtfully organized into categories. You can find breakfast, lunch, dinner, party planning, and cooking together sections in this book. I tried the Manchow Soup and Chicken Satay, and both were a big hit.

I’ve also bookmarked several other recipes to try, including Parmesan Herb Mini Muffins, Teriyaki Chicken with Veggie Noodles, Chicken in Red Curry, Missi Roti, Muffin Pizza, Ferrolicious Cupcakes, and Paneer Shashlik with BBQ Sauce, among many others.

My Review

Before I wrap up, let me take you on a quick book rewind, Rakhee-style! I recommend this book if you’re looking for creative ideas to establish a food routine, encourage healthy eating habits in children, or manage a picky eater at home. It offers valuable insights on how to handle these challenges. However, I did hope for more recipes, especially quick and easy ones for busy moms, which I found lacking. As mentioned earlier, this isn’t purely a recipe book. Picky Eaters focuses on tips for organizing and planning everyday meals while maintaining a balance of health and nutrition.

About The Author

Celebrity chef Rakhee Vaswani is a culinary expert and Cordon Bleu-trained chef. She successfully runs Palate Culinary Studio, a pioneering initiative with a state-of-the-art kitchen. She currently hosts her own TV show, Rewind with Rakhee, on Living Foodz, India’s first “foodtainment” channel. Passionate about food, Rakhee believes it’s the ultimate remedy for all of life’s challenges. This is her debut book.

You can order it online through Amazon or Flipkart.