The Rock, with her favorite meal.
THIS WEEK, THE (PRETTY EXCELLENT) parenting site Babble released its list of the top 50 Mommy Food Bloggers. Or is that Food Mommy Bloggers? You all know I care deeply for my blogging sisters, and for my kids, but the list made me confront a dark secret: When it comes to cooking (and blogging) about food for kids, I could not care less.
The Rock and the River, those shining, pulsing beacons of my heart, are good eaters, if by “good” one intends “high volume.” They are the kids who go to others’ houses for dinner and necessitate the ordering of an extra pizza. But I’m about quality, not quantity, and on that rubric, my kids leave something to be desired.
Their favorite foods? Without any doubt, Doritos and ice cream. Their preferred dinner entrée? Pizza, pasta or a cheeseburger. Mind you, the pasta is organic, generally served with good olive oil, excellent parmesan, and a squeeze of lemon. I make homemade pizza (sauce and crust) and all the beef they eat at home is grass fed, raised down the road. I try, I really do. But they eat vegetables under protest, and at present, the list of acceptable ones reads: salads, raw carrots, broccoli (as long as the latter is served with ketchup, for the Rock, or mustard for her brother). Are you feeling my pain yet?
My mother, horrified at my kids’ standoffish approach to the gourmet fare I generally prepare for the rest of the family (i.e., the three adults who live here) decided a few months back that the answer lay in books. (I thought the answer might lay in martinis, but she disapproved.) Specifically, she presented me with two cookbooks: The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious. Both advocate hiding vegetables in kid-friendly foods: spinach in the brownies, cauliflower in the fried cheese sticks.
Reader, I can’t make myself do it. My pediatrician, when I lamented my kids’ woeful ways, asked, “Do they eat fruit?”
“Yes, tons of it.”
“Do you eat vegetables?”
Absolutely. Then, she sagely (I hope) replied: “Don’t worry.”
Her message? With access, education and good role models, they’ll come around. And there are occasional flashes of hope: I put veggies (zucchini, carrots and onion) in my turkey meatloaf, and the kids eat it anyway. They will happily eat a quesadilla with tomatillo salsa, and the Rock recently discovered that a piece of lettuce wrapped around a bite of steak makes a tasty treat. In the meantime, these books are gathering dust on my shelves, so if any of you desperate mommies want to try their techniques, leave a comment here, and I’ll choose a winner for each book at random. Meanwhile, I’m off to the market to stock up on pears, blueberries–and vodka.
No related posts.
First time here? Here's the idea:
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Uh oh. You mean the answer doesn’t lie in martinis?
I don’t want the cookbooks – but I am one of those former-picky-eater success stories! So yeah, there is definitely hope!
It’s funny you post this today. I just put up a post on my site yesterday about my frustrations with my kids total lack of interest (and perhaps fear?) of the foods I prepare for the family. Mine are stuck on pizza, quesadillas, hot dogs (*cringe*), and anything NOT vegetable in origin. It’s a challenge, but I’m taking your approach – model good eating habits, and hopefully one day it will make a lasting impression.
But they eventually turn around. Mine ate only chicken nuggets and ketchup willingly for the first 5 yrs of their lives. I’d ply them with carrot sticks, grapes, orange slices – “if you eat three of these you can have dessert”. I thought it was hopeless. They eventually came around. Broccoli became a favorite (only with home made cheese sauce,but who’s complaining?), calamari, hummus, anything with an olive oil/garlic basting. It all comes around. Be patient. Pour another martini and don’t stress.
Ditto–I don’t need the books, having given up on the idea. Two of my 3 kids think vegetables are for grownups. (the third is, like me, a vegetarian). But my pediatrician said the same thing–fruit is fine, and they do eat that (should one complain that one can’t keep grapefruit in the house, because it disappears so fast?). Frankly, I’m bored with this particular battle. I grow vegetables for myself, and the hell with the rest of the family.
I don’t have kids–so for me this is academic–but I’m mystified by the picky eaters of today. My nieces are two of them–their parents feed them separate kids meals and make toast and such when they don’t like what they’re served. I try to remember how things were when I was a kid and I feel like we didn’t have the option to be picky. There were no kids meals, no backup food if you didn’t like what was on your plate. My mom fed us vegetables and only vegetables (she was a vegetarian health food nut) and she’s an awful cook. We ate it not because we liked it but because it was dinner, and there were no other options.
I feel old and cranky when I say things like that (“When I was a kid…”), but I wonder if things have changed, or if our broadening options as a culture has created the picky eater.
Again, just an academic pondering. But I do wonder.
Though in your case, I am fairly sure that between martinis and your doctor’s advice, it will all work out :-)
Pears, blueberries and vodka? Lucky you- no matter how hard I try, I can’t get my girls to go for martinis- they’re just so picky! I must confess I’m not interested in the books either, though- I’ve looked at them both on the bookstore shelf and tried to get excited, but to no avail.
Not interested in the books either – maybe the most interesting story would be to see who actually is!!! My boys are pretty good veggie eaters… just boring… peas, string beans, broccoli, carrots. over and over and over again. Pass the martinis. Please.
Would the books work for a picky husband too? I figure if I can get him to eat veggies they will too! Kinda goes with the concept your doctor mentioned. So far I haven’t been able to sway him my direction, alas I have been able to part water yet either but I’ll keep on trying. :)
I’m interested in the Sneaky Chef (I have Deceptively Delicious already!) My daughter at the age of 8 became a vegetarian that isn’t keen on all the vegetables! Her exposure to the perils of the food industry came via the opinions of my husband (who is an organic marketgardener) and myself. Better to eat what you know (and hide the vegetables in a good homemade meal)!
I like what your ped said – my husband & I eat lots of vegetables; my 6yo kid refuses. But I guess there’s hope! We’ve been having a little success with lettuce – she’ll wrap things in it – so that’s something.
I get your pain, Paige. Daily, as it happens.
The Girl is a perfect eater. Loves broccoli, eats carrots and apples for snacks. (doesn’t care for asparagus which is on the menu tonight, but hope and persistence spring eternal)
But the Boy… oh, the Boy is my constant worry. He has been tiny since birth, although we aren’t and can’t fathom it (was born at 37 weeks and 5 pounds 13 ounces, and for the longest time, was at the 3rd percentile on the growth charts until shouting up to the 6th … we aren’t sure where he is at now, but suffice it to say he is everybody’s favourite at Montessori because he is the smallest… when he sits down, 3 little girls magically appear to help him change into slippers…).
When I tried to wean him at 6 months, he was having none of it — no cereals, no vegetables, no fruit. He refused bananas until he was 18 months old. Now, he usually drinks the fresh-squeezed orange juice we make every morning, and eats strawberries, bananas and very occasionally, kiwis. But dairy is a large part of his daily intake.
As for vegetables, nothing that is not in tomato sauce covering pasta or zucchini fritters. At 2, I discovered he liked French fries (his first visit to McDonald’s), and he surprised me at Christmas time by eating mashed potatoes at a friend’s house (won’t eat them at home).
I dearly hope he will grow out of it… I’m keeping my fingers crossed that peer-pressure will work — at school they have proper hot 3 course meals — lovely French meals with lots of vegetables, salads and soups.
But somedays, I get discouraged, and worry that his terrible eating habits will be permanent (he has a sweet tooth and thinks chocolate is a legitimate food group).