Friday, August 12, 2011

No way my child will be a picky eater!....oh ok.


Am I the only parent that is over the creative ideas to get your kids to eat? I read so many articles about “Kid Friendly Meals” and my son more so than my daughter is not eating ANY of these things. It's either too "adult like" or too cutesy cutesy and I am not up for doing it. Do we really want our kids to only want to eat food that is cut into stars and hearts? A smiley face pancake is one thing but sometimes it’s so over the top.

My friends and I have all types of eaters, the ones that eat veggies but no meat, the ones that eat fruit but no veggies, the ones that love to dip everything in something and those that want it all super plain. One thing we all have in common is that we all have made the speech that we are no ones short order cook or that no child of mine will get their own meal different from the rest of the family or we will also eat every meal together and NEVER in front of the TV! Clearly we don’t seem to have as much control as we thought we would. Add it to the list of parenting things not going our way. Of course I also know some kids that eat everything. Their parents usually claim that it's because they eat what the parents eat and offer no options. The key is not to waiver. What's for dinner is what's for dinner. And to those parents- WHATEVER! You lucked out, trust me you don’t hold the key to getting your kids to eat everything so stop judging the rest of us! …yes I am a little bitter.

The best advice I ever heard is to keep offering it. So I put a little of my tomato salad next to his mac and cheese, or a new fruit with his pb and j in the hopes that sooner rather than later my children will eat everything. And instead of dreading mealtime I will love every minute of sharing recipes, planning the week’s menu and preparing our meals with my little ones. Until then- let the battle continue and the non stop screaming, "PLEASE take one more bite!!" This week however we did have a little breakthrough of sorts. A turkey and cheese sandwich, strawberries and celery sticks!! He used to eat these things when he was younger but stopped and wanted nothing to do with them. It was like Christmas morning for me. We are practicing lunches for kindergarten. Yes kindergarten!

Here is an article that I did think wasn’t bad. Some healthy ideas that my kids may actually go for.





 

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad - From Alice at Savory Sweet Life

This is my go-to summer salad. Fresh, full of flavor and easy peasy. Think of this the next time you need to bring a salad to a BBQ. My favorite food blogger- Alice from Savory Sweet Life posted it and her pictures blew me away so I included one. Thanks Alice!

http://www.savorysweetlife.com/






Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad
 

 Recipe Type: Side Dish
 
Author: Savory Sweet Life
 
Serves: 4-6
 
A simple but flavorful recipe for Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad.
Ingredients
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 8 ounces fresh “mini” mozzerella pearls
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 18 basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
  1. Add the cherry tomatoes and mozzerella cheese to a medium bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes and mozzerella. Add the basil, salt, and pepper, and gently toss all the ingredients.
 Enjoy!!