By guest blogger Sarah Ollenburger, Juggling in Heels.

Hi!  My name is Sarah and I am the writer behind the blog, Juggling in Heels.  I am the mother of three, two boys and a girl, laughing my way through motherhood, one triumph and challenge at a time.  One thing that has become a major problem in our household is picky eating.  It is terrible!   My two boys eat hardly ANYTHING and it is extremely frustrating when I spent the evening making dinner, only to be told they do not like something.  My goal now is to introduce healthy items that I know they will love, but will also deliver the nutrients they need.  That is where PBS SoCaL comes in.

PBS SoCaL challenged my two picky eaters to review their list of recipes from Food for Thought: Eating Well on A Budget and pick something that they would like to make.

They were responsible for selecting the item, grocery shopping for the ingredients and then doing all the cooking themselves (with adult supervision of course).  They decided they wanted to try the “Healthy Banana Bran Muffin”.  I was not surprised by this choice at all (it is a cake to them!) but what they did not realize is that it was a healthy alternative to a traditional muffin.

They did a great job picking out the bananas and cereal (another plus is that we had all the other ingredients) and we went right home to begin cooking.  The boys had a blast pouring, mixing, mashing and stirring until their muffin mix was in the pan and ready to bake.  Twenty minutes later, we were pulling out the muffins and this was the true test.  Will they like the high fiber, low fat selection they made?

The results?  They LOVED them!  In fact, within 24 hours, all the muffins were gone and they asked if we could make more.  It was a perfect way to “sneak” a healthy alternative into their picky palette without them even realizing it.  My next step is going to be to select one of the items from the dinner selections, but it is baby steps over here.  One battle at a time!

Thank you PBS SoCaL and Sesame Street for challenging my boys with your incredible selection of recipes and for teaching my children that there are ways to enjoy healthy food without sacrificing taste!

Sarah writes Juggling in Heels and is a 33 year old mother to three and wife of one, trying to stay sane in Orange County.