I'm rather addicted to Jenny's genius lobotoME notepads... love. them.For every three or four meals Audrey turns her nose up at, we get an epic, lip smacking win.
She's every cook's dream that one, as when she does like what you've made for dinner, she tells you over and over and over...and says mmmm a lot. It's rather lovely.
When we do have one of these meal successes, I tuck it away into my go-to meal file. These make up roughly 75% of our weekly "meal plan", with the other 25% coming from "new" dishes for the girls to try. My goal is to expand their palettes a bit but not have an epic food battle every single night.
For the new things, the girls have to try one big bite. If they hate it, they don't have to eat the rest, and I try it again in a few weeks. If they hate everything else on their plate, they get one option for an alternative meal -- a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit. That's it. Perhaps that makes me an indulgent parent, but I can't help it, I want them to eat something, and I want them to have a healthy attitude about food, to be allowed to dislike certain things. I think that's part of the evolution of our taste buds -- it just is what it is.
She's every cook's dream that one, as when she does like what you've made for dinner, she tells you over and over and over...and says mmmm a lot. It's rather lovely.
When we do have one of these meal successes, I tuck it away into my go-to meal file. These make up roughly 75% of our weekly "meal plan", with the other 25% coming from "new" dishes for the girls to try. My goal is to expand their palettes a bit but not have an epic food battle every single night.
For the new things, the girls have to try one big bite. If they hate it, they don't have to eat the rest, and I try it again in a few weeks. If they hate everything else on their plate, they get one option for an alternative meal -- a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit. That's it. Perhaps that makes me an indulgent parent, but I can't help it, I want them to eat something, and I want them to have a healthy attitude about food, to be allowed to dislike certain things. I think that's part of the evolution of our taste buds -- it just is what it is.
So do you have a "system"?? What are the go-to meals in your house?
Hi Josyln - Glad you like the Feed ME notepad! ;)
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you saw this article but it is great & I wanted to pass it along to you ~
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/14/AR2009071400669.html
Cheers,
Jenny
no system, just what I've planned for the meal that day and HOPE that they will eat it. one is a big meat eater, I'm gluten free, my husband can't eat dairy, another wants cheese puffs for every meal....it is rather tricky. I agree. can't let them go hungry though. cereal or salami seems to do the trick. am I awful???
ReplyDeleteLittle crumb is going through an egg, cheese, rice cake, and blueberry phase! So we are having lots of quiches and blueberry dishes! I guess it could be worse!
ReplyDeleteThis is no Gulag - the kids don't go to bed hungry - but I don't prepare a second "kids" meal either. Like you, Bryan and I require one big bite and then offer limited healthy alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you had another blog. I found it via lobotoME. It's so great!
ReplyDeleteOur system (if you want to call it that) is to make a weekly meal plan. I try to arrange it so that we are all eating the same meal. If it's something that I know the kids won't eat, like tortilla soup, I'll fix theirs separated out: tomatoes/chicken/corn/beans, all not touching one another. I usually do one kid-indulgent meal per week on the night my hubby is out biking.
And now I'll be checking over here too. Thanks!
My policy is, If you eat everything on your plate, you get dessert. Bribery? Perhaps. But it works.
ReplyDeleteThought you might be interested in this fantastic article from Cookie magazine about a mother who prepared 30 different dinners in 30 days for her two girls, and chronicled both the recipes and the results:
http://www.cookiemag.com/food/2008/03/30recipes
Kate