Recently I realized that I had fallen into a food routine with my kids. We have pretty much the same foods week to week and I find it pretty boring. Most of these foods were everyday kid-friendly dinner foods like pasta, roast chicken, mac & cheese, ravioli, pizza, and pot roast. Even our fruits and vegetables were always the same: green beans, peas, carrots, bananas, pears, apples, grapes, and oranges. I think it was winter that was bringing me down . . . that and having two kids under three who weren't far from the baby food scene.So, I decided to start expanding their palates. Every couple of days or so, I replace one of our ho-hum foods with something more exciting. Since the opening of the Riverfront Market, I have picked whatever is local and looks good. Admittedly, I have had limited success. But I am determined NOT to raise picky eaters. I believe that if you are open to trying new foods (no one says you have to like new foods, just try them), then you are much more likely to be open to new ideas, people, or experiences in general.
This being said, my kids do have some odd food preferences. My son hates bananas. He has never liked them, even as a baby food. He also isn't really fond of grapes, even if I cut them in half. My daughter doesn't like oranges and acts as if her life is ending if I put them on her plate. They are both good vegetable eaters, if you only count green beans, peas, and carrots as vegetables. They are both extremely fond of meat.
But here's the weird part. Neither one of them will eat cheese, with the exception of Kraft Mac & Cheese and McDonald's Cheeseburgers (which I don't think really count as cheese.) No cheese, ever. Not string cheese, not American cheese, not cheddar cheese, not colby. I thought maybe the problem was they didn't like cheap cheese. (This is not so weird, both of them prefer the soy chicken nuggets to real chicken nuggets.) So, I bought havarti, gouda, swiss, and fresh mozzarella. Nope. They just don't like cheese. Weird.
Anyway, in the last few months, we have tried kiwi, grape tomatoes, mango, fresh pineapple, cucumber, honeydew, real strawberries (farmer's market, not store-bought), necatrines, avocado, fresh corn-on-the-cob, lima beans, radishes, bell peppers, asparagus, kohlrabi, jicama, and yams. Some were successful - we are big fans of most fruits, bell peppers, grilled asparagus, jicama, and corn-on-the-cob. Some were not so great - no one would touch lima beans (my personal favorite vegetable) or radishes (that was a little too much, I admit).
I think I was a little over-zealous last night, though. Along with our favorite ravioli, I served Asian pears and swiss chard. The Asian pears were a little too woody, so I don't blame them for not finishing them. The swiss chard was very yummy but too much for an 18 month old and an almost-three-year old.
My daughter did actually eat some of it, however, mostly because the rule is that, if you want dessert, you must eat some of everything on your plate. Her facial expressions were priceless, but . . . she swallowed it and got her marshmallows for dessert. I think I won't punish them further tonight . . . just green beans and pears and mac & cheese.
4 comments:
One of my husband's Great Aunts makes this wonderful roasted tomato and swiss chard dish - it's an Italian thing - and soooo good! It's pretty cool that your kids will try all that stuff. My youngest used to be a great eater, now he's in a picky phase.
I was never a picky eater when I was young. The only things I couldn't stomach were beets and mushrooms that were in cream of mushroom soup. Just to torture me, my mother used to make everything with cream of mushroom soup!
I can tolerate mushroom soup now as long as the 'schrooms aren't rubbery, but still can't eat a beet.
The cheese thing-that's just weird! I wish I didn't like cheese, I would probably weigh about 15 lbs less!
It's funny how texture can come into play, too, in determining whether we like the taste of something. My son loves raw spinach, won't touch cooked. I love banana flavored things, but something about the texture of raw bananas is off and makes me gag...
I think it's great that you are having them try so many new things. In the long run it pays off, even if they have picky phases. (which, similar to Rix, wasn't so much when they were toddlers, but early teens, when I thought they would have been well past such things.) Now that my kids are older I really just make whatever I want, try lots of new recipes, etc, and if they don't like it (still have the "gotta taste it" rule) then they are welcome to make themselves a pb&j.
It's interesting to hear you talk about this since I, too, can't stand what I call "cold" cheese. I don't want it on my sandwiches or to eat slices or anything. I can manage string cheese, but that's it. My cheese has to be melted, cooked, or baked. However, when I was a kid, I used to eat cheese slices by the pound.
Same thing with croutons on salads. I used to love them so much I would order extra. Now? Nope, can't stand them.
Just plain interesting how things develop.
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