This week's Q&A was partially inspired by this post over at the City Share blog. I remember the days when formula and breast milk were all we had to provide for our little guy. These days, he's not only eating homemade purees, but he's also started eating finger foods!
Today's question:
How do you get that kid to eat whatever you're eating? My kid will only eat pizza/cheesy poofs/chicken nuggets/jolly ranchers/anything but what I make!
First off, as I've said in my posts over at The Shopping Mama, I am not a judgy mcjudgerson when it comes to parenting decisions. I don't care what other moms feed their kids. (I do care what other people try to feed my kid, but that's a whole other post just waiting to happen.) Deep down inside, it certainly pains me that there are tons of kids out there who eat nothing but junk food day in and day out, but I think those issues are more symptomatic of a greater societal issue than bad individual parenting.
Secondly, my kid doesn't eat everything we eat...because sometimes he lets me know he doesn't like it by throwing it on the floor for our dog to gobble it up. But like every single kid, his likes and dislikes are never consistent. Sometimes egg ends up on the floor, sometimes it ends up in his mouth. The same mixed fate has been met by salmon and broccoli. These days, he likes fish. People think it's weird that we feed it to him. It ain't sushi, people. It's cooked protein, just like chicken. If it makes you feel any better, I let him eat a girl scout cookie (a Trefoil, but still) at a dinner party last week.
Lastly, Charlie does eat chicken nuggets...we just happen to buy the organic ones at Whole Foods. And sometimes, he eats what we eat and we wish we hadn't fed it to him. We gave him some of our delicious grain-free shepherd's pie over the weekend, and it's been working its way through his system ever since in the form of gas that will knock your socks off. It isn't always pretty, people. But you never know until they try it and we'll keep offering him what we eat because we hope it will help him acquire a varied palette and an appreciation for home-cooked food. Either that or it will keep our dog pretty well-fed.
This week's menu
Breakfast for the week - Laura's Make and Freeze Breakfast Casserole
Monday - Pork Loin (recipe in development)
Tuesday - Coffee rubbed flat iron steak (also a recipe in the making...I'm on a roll, this week!)
Wednesday - Easy baked chicken over salads
Thursday - St. Louis braised ribs in the slow cooker over cauliflower cheese grits
Friday - Stilton burgers
This post is part of Menu Plan Monday.
I remember when our son was growing up how concerned we were with his picky food choices. But over time he would surprise us. Ex: loving hummus
ReplyDeleteI think it was around 10 or 11 yrs old that he started opening up.
Now that he's 20 yrs old he still loves trying new foods. (thanks to Food Network and farmers' markets)
Thanks for the link. We are just doing purees these day, but we need to start transitioning to finger foods. I'm stalling a bit because I'm worried that meal time will become more difficult.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with your ambitious weekday menu. I need to start making more interesting things for dinner again.
Actually, Greta, finger foods made meal time EASIER! Now, I give him a few pre-cut items to nosh on while I cook our dinner. The fact that he can feed himself frees me up to spin around the kitchen getting stuff done and then we all sit down to eat dinner together. A few more steps, but still a little easier.
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