The Food Police

In case you hadn't noticed, I love food! I enjoy the planning, shopping, cooking, and of course, the EATING part! Trying out new recipes on my family is always fun. They love food too. My super picky husband is quite a challenge at times, but he can always have pizza or a burger if he wants. I have worked extremely hard to encourage the children to eat a variety of foods and to teach them about nutrition. I used to make them count the food groups they ate everyday. Yep, I know...kind of sad. My daughter thinks of me as the "food police." I also absolutely refuse to let them order chicken strips in an Italian restaurant. If the specialty is Italian, then order it! Get your chicken strips from the Colonel's!
My daughter would always eat almost anything, including lima beans. What a blessing! She is not particularly fond of seafood which makes this momma sad. On the other hand, my son struggled for years with a dislike of fruits and vegetables. Hmm, one guess where that came from. Joy, oh joy, in the last two years he has become more open-minded. Love it! The future wife can thank me later.
I learned a few tricks during the years of practically begging and bribing that boy to eat broccoli! The first one is to get them to take a bite. I read somewhere that in order for a child to "like" something new, they have to try it seven to ten times. I found that some foods immediately became favorites while others we are STILL working on. My son fell in love with Spaghetti Carbonara, decided that squash was pretty good after several attempts, but still only eats broccoli chopped finely with cheese in soup. I can live with that. Another way I got him to try a new food was to involve him in the prep and cooking. Children seem to always want to try what they had a hand in making. Luckily, my little buddy loves kitchen patrol. Several times we went from "yuck," to "huh, that smells good," in the midst of adding spices to a simmering pot. Finally, desperate times can call for desperate measures. At this point, break out the ketchup, ranch dressing, caramel, or chocolate sauce. These dippers work well for foods such as fried okra, carrots, apples, and strawberries. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Don't forget, there are always gummi vitamins and V-8 juices. Hopefully these suggestions will help some discouraged parent...hang in there!
Tomorrow's menu is football food. Boy, do I love to cook for the games! It gives me a good excuse to make fun foods. We will be trying out a new calzone recipe! I am thawing the bread dough as I type and will let you all know if they are good. Spinach/artichoke dip, Sissy's (favorite) stuffed mushrooms, and a few caramel apples ought to keep them cheering on those Hogs. Maybe it will even inspire someone to bag up all of those leaves during half-time. Well, a girl can dream anyway.