And then the dinner bell rings, again.

by Andrea

One of the things I find tiresome is the daily preparation of dinner.

My first problem is that I lack ideas. It’s hard to cook for four people who have different tastes. My husband dislikes some basic foods that I enjoy and that many recipes call for, namely onions, peppers and mushrooms. My older daughter appears to take after him. She doesn’t like a whole bunch of foods, and doesn’t like anything mixed together. So forget about a nice casserole. The younger one is a never-ending source of surprises for me. She eats almost everything, and that includes sharp cheeses (goat cheese, feta, aged cheddars, parmasan). She begs for broccoli (!) and the other day she ate some of the pickled ginger from my sushi. And she’s not even three.

Some of the foods I’m most thankful for… the no-fail foods that both kids will eat: hummus and pita, yogurt, all kinds of fruit, carrots, sliced red peppers, green salad (but it has to have French dressing), and coleslaw (but it has to have creamy coleslaw dressing). Each girl dutifully drinks her milk. (“It will make me grow bigger and bigger and bigger… up to the sky!” exclaims my youngest, finger stretched out and pointing towards the ceiling.)

The last thing I want to do is create a lifelong phobia related to eating.

We don’t prepare separate dinners, but try to ensure that at least one thing on their plates is to their liking. And if there isn’t anything, well, after everyone has finished dinner I will make a piece of wholegrain toast for the non-eater, along with a slice of cheese or piece of fruit.

All that being said, anyone have any healthy kiddy recipes they want to share? :)

Comments

[CinnamonGirl]

Pickled ginger, that's something! I have an unusual 5 yr old eater too. Recently, she actually enjoyed several bites of my sushi w/ salmon, tuna, crab & the seaweed, then asked for more! She & her daddy eat cooked spinach in vinegar (blech!). She loves broccoli & asparagus, but strangely, doesn't like corn or carrots. And she's never met a cheese she didn't like, including family favorite, Kaseri (close to Parmesan or Romano--very stinky!).

[Marcia Lynx Qualey]

My husband was raised in a home where the dad did the cooking. Since I don't have to cook most days (I get praise when I do--good Marcia, good Marcia), I'm pretty grateful and unpicky for whatever's there.

I think picky husbands should be whapped upside the head.

Oh, and mashing up carrots and potatoes together (and adding some butter and milk and salt) is one of the best ways I've seen of getting kids to eat carrots, which are supposed to be the ideal food.

[Shelley]

One of my kids is extremely picky, the others less so, but they never agree on what they don't like. The only no-fail food here is carrot sticks.

What we've done is allowed them to own their pickiness. We try to provide a variety of choices, like you, and will even go so far as to, for example, leave a serving of pasta without sauce, etc. But if there's nothing on the table that she'll touch, or not enough of what she likes to fill her up, she's welcome to fix herself something else, be it a peanut butter sandwich, or soup, or whatever. We won't do it for her.

She's 11, but she's been getting up and making her own peanut butter sandwich since she was five.

[Emily]

I have five people to cooko for with all different taste,while trying to cook low carb for the hubby.Ugh!I feel your pain!