Published on April 4, 2008 By Texas Wahine In Cooking

I'm planning the 3,565th menu of my life, and looking for cheap, yummy recipes.  Luckily the internet is brimming with neat, new tastes with inexpensive ingredients and I have lots of fun ideas for things to cook.


Unfortunately, my children are stuck on "boring" foods and trying to get them to eat anything remotely adventurous is an absolute chore and generally and unpleasant experience.  Last night I sauteed some left over angel hair pasta and added some spices and fresh tomato and grated carrots (low on groceries, and the kids hate onions, so no mushrooms or fresh spinach or garlic or anything really yummy).  Grated carrots were for just for the sake of veggies, so no one tell me how carrots shouldn't go in with it, haha.


The boys picked at their food, and Orian acted as if I had tried to feed him dog food.  Retching and tears and all that.  Xavier will try new things, but his tastes are still pretty basic.  Orian is paranoid about food and will watch me cook just to point out the things he doesn't like that I'm putting in.  I don't like to lie to him, but usually if he asks what's in something I will ONLY tell him the ingredients he likes.

One of the recipes I found that I'd like to make is Parippu Red Lentil Dhal.  It has red beans, onion, tomato, coconut milk, fresh green chilies, turmeric, cumin, corriander, black mustard seeds, cumin, and cilantro.  Tell me that doesn't sound absolutely yummy!  There's no way. NO WAY the kids will eat that.  I can make them something else and reserve the Parippu Red Lentil Dhal for me and Adrian, but that's not fair to me, or I can try to get them to eat it and the tears and corner standing and going to bed early can commence. 

I am getting tired of being so limited on what I can fix.


Unfortunately, it also looks like Adrian will be gone for about a month starting in the near future, so I can either make real food and have them poo-poo it and fall back on pasta with cheese and no sauce and hot dogs and mac and cheese or I can just stick with those things to begin with.  My enforcer will be gone...and my person who attests to the worthiness of what I cooked.


Sigh.


I just want to cook something new and yummy.  I'm tired of my children (mostly Orian!) acting like I'm trying to poison them!


Comments (Page 2)
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on Apr 05, 2008

Sounds like you all have some pretty good ideas going.  I remember my boys going thru fussy times.  I remember wrapping up their plates and later when they got hungry these same plates got warmed up.  Nothing else would be offered until they ate their meal.  It was usually just dinner we had trouble with.  It did help alot to have dessert tho.  Even if it was only jello and whipped cream.  When they would see the first one eating that dessert it gave extra incentive to finish quickly to get theirs as well. 

Then when they were about 10 I gave them each one thing they absolutely did not have to eat.  They could each pick out thier most hated food and I would never make them eat it.  The rest, they may not like that much but could get by with a small portion.

The first picked fish.  He never had to eat fish when I made fish.  Even fishsticks he hated.  My second picked squash.  So any type of squash he never had to eat.  My third....and I couldn't believe this....picked lettuce.  He said he hated lettuce.  Although he never ate watermelon either.  What's up with that?  Anyhow when I made a salad, I just put some cut up cukes and tomatoes on a side plate for him...so no biggie. 

By the time they were teens they were really good eaters and other than their only picked hated food they ate everything I put in front of them. 

I had a friend who used to blend green veggies into tomato sauce but I never had to do that although I used to make Chocolate Zucchini Cake and the only time my middle son would eat zucchini. 

on Apr 05, 2008

I don't know what it is, but I used to be able to feed Kole absolutely anything, and she wouldn't balk.  Now, suddenly she doesn't like tomato sauces, cooked vegetables (except peas) or pretty much any type of meat.  For awhile there, I was just serving everything plain. White rice. Bare pasta. Toast. Sliced, cold meat like chicken or turkey. It was boring for me until I started my dinner meal with fresh mushrooms, red, green and yellow peppers, onions, brocolli, cauliflower, and celery, all sliced finely.  At that point, I gave her the option of having her portion of vegetables cooked up with mine, or hers cold with a yogurt or non-fat sour cream dip. she could have a portion of cooked rice or pasta, or her meat on the side, but generally, that was a meal that could be modified to both her taste and mine quite easily. I'd get to make a nice spicy sauce for my stir-fry and she could have a meal that looked quite proper with cocktails. Both are pretty healthy, though, so I felt it was all right. I didn't really go out of my way to make her meals at all.

Like Karma, if she doesn't want to eat what I cook, she's more than welcome to have a bowl of cereal, a sandwich or whatever she make on her own.

on Apr 06, 2008

Brandie, HW already commented about the Ratatouille method of getting kids to eat.  Another thing we do here is they have to take one "good" taste test.   That means one decent sized bite of everything on their plate.  No faces, no gagging, no complaining.  Then if they don't like it they have to tell me EXACTLY why.  The reasoning being I can adjust to accomodate them the next time. (They love that reason and work with me on it.)  They can't describe the food as gross or yucky.  They have to give a reason like, it's too spicy, too salty.  The noodles feel weird in my mouth (I have had that one!)  If they can't give a good reason....they take another bite.

 

If they don't have a good reason (in my book) and are unwilling to eat anything I prepared.  They go hungry.  Period.  No complaining, No yelling.  That's their choice.  I won't FORCE them to eat anything.  If they try it and don't want dinner.  That is fine.  I stay calm and dismiss them.  Dinner stays on the table till bedtime just in case they change their mind.


But if they have a good reason, or I'm feeling nice (I try not to make it a habit...I dont' want to be a short order cook) I will give them peanunt butter sandwiches. 

That being said, sometimes I know they won't want what I'm planning and I'll give them something simple and inform them that they are "too little" to have what the adults are having.  (usually they want to try it!) and I make what I want. 

When HW was gone, I would make a nice lunch for my friend and I, leftovers were for dinner and the kids got kid food.  It was easier on me and I was able to have something nice.  (I'll have you over after you are on your own again....I love to eat and cook!)

on Apr 06, 2008

I really stressed with my first son about food.  He didn't like any vegetables but corn, and literally would throw up if I forced him to eat anything else.  He has an on-demand gag reflex.  I could just...oh, sorry, off topic.

So with Gavin I try to make veggies he likes, and if I want anything more exotic I cook it up for myself.

There are many nights in my house when I literally make four different meals.  I don't mind usually, but my kids know if they sit down and there is one thing on the table they are eating it or getting their own food because that night I didn't feel like taking orders.

I just can't get worked up over the whole eating and not eating thing.  I don't want food to be a battle ground, or something they use to rebel with, so I really do try to accommodate their tastes and make sure they take a vitamin every day.

I didn't like veggies as a kid, and my husband still won't eat most of them.  I like them now though, a lot, especially with hummus.  YUM.

So don't fret, today veggie haters may be tomorrow's veggie consumers!

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