My children, as i suspect most others, are very fussy eaters. I started with all the best intentions. Offering a variety of foods right from the start. I remember making my own organic baby food and offering lots of green vegetables to go along with the sweet potato and banana. As they got older i would use the food grinder to give them whatever tasty offering we were having for dinner.
Then they got older and impressionable. Then they had older brothers and sisters that were fussy. And now every night when i put dinner on the table i am met with a chorus of noses in the air whilst repeating their mantra "what else is there?!"
There are very few meals i can make that they will all eat; spaghetti w/meat sauce, spaghetti w/meatballs, sausages with broccoli and cheese sauce, tofu and snap peas w/rice, tacos, burgers, marinated flank steak w/salad and roast chicken w/ the trimmings. That's about it. I know it might not look that bad, but there are 365 nights in a year and we never eat out because of eliza's allergies and eight meals get old pretty fast.
Amazingly one other meal has recently entered our repertoire and this is really freaky. Freaky in a "what the hell is wrong with my children?" kind of way. They love, LOVE, mussels, clams and scallops. In a coconut, curry broth. In linguine like the kennedys make. Pan-fried. You name it, they'll eat em and even call them "ears." As in "i want more ears!"
Last night in an effort to expand our repertoire a bit i asked a friend with equally fussy kids what hers like and she suggested meat balls with cheesy tomato rice. Sounds a little too Kraft casserole for me, but i decided i'd try it. Because the cooking is killing me. I love to cook really good food, full of fresh aromatic ingredients. I'm a good cook. I can't keep cooking the same things.
So, i called the kids for dinner, brought out a dish of meatballs (turkey tonight) and was met with a chorus of "meatballs! yum!" Then i went and got the casserole with rice, tomato sauce and cheese. I placed it on the table and lifted the lid. Toby burst into hysterical tears. No words or complaints just huge heaving tears because i had done the ultimate sacrilige, the mixing of the foods. Without permission or warning. I had mixed flavours and food groups. Horror.
Eliza tried some, burst into tears and barfed ONTO her plate. Tristan ran from the room gagging and screaming. And parker. The boy of spring loaded gag reflex. He vomited upon seeing the vomiting.
fussy
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Oh…my…gosh…I can’t believe the vomiting! I’m sorry.
My kid is picky and likes her food on the blandy-bland side. Rather than cooking two separate meals each and every night, I’ve found a few recipes or ways to modify recipes that make her happy.
My husband and I like spicey food, daughter does not. When I made chicken curry last night, it would’ve been way too spicey for her. I set aside some chicken to make for her (sprinkled with Lawry’s seasoned salt – 5 minutes in the microwave, voila!) and cooked the rest as a curry stir fry. The other way is to roast it in the oven (20-25 minutes at 350 degrees; again the seasoned salt is perfect) and pasta to go with that’s got butter, salt, and sesame seeds on top. Also, a few raw carrots to round it out.
I like to cook fresh, healthy foods using easy recipes. The simpler they are, the more likely it is Miss Pickypants will eat it. If it were up to her, she’d eat nothing but plain pasta, bread, and cereal. It’s challenging, to say the least.
I’d love to share recipes with you, btw…if you wanted.
Oh. My. God.
Jess, seriously, I don’t know whether to laugh or um, offer you hugs.
So I think I’ll do both.
LOL. LOL. ((hugs))
Theya is a determined meat hater (except for weiners -in our attempts to steer her away from the horror that IS a weiner we only keep turkey ones in the house) but last week I made breaded chicken strips and she actually ate whole one! If’n you’d like to try it (what kids don’t like chicken strips?!) lemme know.
Sorry about the barfing. I think it sounds delicious.
Umm…. the FOOD sounds delicious, not the barf.
Have you tried fish? They like ‘ears’ so they may go for a milder flavoured white fish like cod or tilapia? My kids won’t eat anything that isn’t coated in ketchup but they don’t mind the fish. I have a great recipe if you need it.
Sorry about the barf. Must have been a fun night.
Oh crap, I cannot see the screen through the laugh-tears. Oh man..
Jesus, that’s hilarious. You had a barf fest.
Sorry.
Hilarious in retrospect though?
Mine won’t eat anything that causes a mess. This is very much like myself – which is why hard shell tacos will still bring vomit to my mouth.
Such is the life of Mothers.
Barf
Barf
and more Barf
So sorry, Jess, but I’m laughing my ass off over here.
Wow, and all we had was green chili stew, and neither of us vomited. How dull.
er, chile, not chili
Thank you Thank you THANK YOU!!! I don’t feel so alone now. My 9 year old has been known to scream and cry at the sight of food he does not approve of (stuffing to name one). He will also gag and vomit onto his plate if he smells, is presented with, or is sitting near someone who is eating an offending food. Last weekend we had to position books and papers all around his poor brother who was eating tomatoe soup because he didn’t want to see it.
I feel your pain. Totally.
Oh god, I’m sorry, this is so hilarious. I remember the years of ‘no food may touch any other food.’ I even had a job once, cooking for a woman who had four kids of her own and was running a group home for troubled women and between the lot of them, she just lost her marbles and couldn’t do it any more.
My own wouldn’t vomit, he was actually not too bad, but he’d spit! He’d take a bite and then spit it halfway across the room, like in a reflex action.
i’m really sorry, but i’m laughing SO HARD about the barfing. i just can’t imagine that happening in real life…
for recipes, i do pasta with whatever’s around; it uses up small amounts of veggies not big enough for anything else, and it makes catering to different tastes a snap. and you don’t need to use sauce; just some butter or olive oil or whatever no one’s allergic to is fine. you can stir in your “sauce” (i call it pasta lube because i hate bottled sauce and use olive oil or a can of diced unsalted tomatoes instead), and then do the rest buffet style. no mixing of foods, and easy allergy control.
my favorite mixture is some olive oil, garlic, raw spinach, black olives, and a can of petite diced (unsalted) tomatoes on rigatoni. yum. anything can go on bite-sized pasta.
taco salad? there’s mixing, but if you set it up buffet style, everything can be kept separate… i don’t know what kind of allergies you’re working with, so i can’t think of anything else.
oh! try the free fly lady recipes; those menus even have shopping lists, and they’re simple so they shouldn’t be too hard to tailor…
and sorry about the barf.
I cannot wait to have kids. I snorted out loud – thanks for the laugh! Bursting into immediate tears? Barfing and on-sight barfing reflex? LOL
Have you tried soft shell turkey tacos? I throw a can of black beans and a small can of corn to the turkey mixture for an extra shot of veggies, slice up some tomato, lettuce and avocado, serve on soft shell tacos with cheese and sour cream.
I think we all believe we have fussy eaters in our homes.
And now?
I think we all may believe that yours? win the prize.
Good golly, what a bunch of drama queens you’re raising! Said the kettle to the pot! Hee, hee.