The Sound of Happy Tummies

Last night's dinner was a home run.  This is not always the case and sometimes that gets really frustrating.  I get tired of hearing that they don't like it before they've even put it in their mouths.  I also get tired of having to dumb down my own dinner if I don't want to listen to complaints.  I happen to like grown up food and I am not willing to make 2 meals.  Who has time (or energy) for that?  

Last night's meal was not a kiddie meal.  It did not include pizza, or mac and cheese, hot dogs or breaded chicken.  It did include things like broccoli, spinach, tilapia and fresh cranberries (I maybe shouldn't include that in the list because they didn't like that part), but it was a grown up meal.  They all ate it.  All but the oldest had seconds of something.  You may wonder, what was this miracle meal?  I will tell you, but first I need to tell you something else.  This is not food my kids ate the first time they saw it.  This is food they said they didn't like before they tried it on different occasions.  So, as you read this and see what my kids are eating, remember--if you want your kids to be adventurous eaters, it takes hearing the complaints and putting things they "don't like" in front of them over and over and over.  It really works.  Keep at it!  They won't like everything and they won't like the same stuff every time, but just keep trying.  

Ok, so here's what we had...

Tilapia fillets defrosted (my husband did mention that we needed to go fishing so we could get some better fish) broiled in the oven (4 min per side).  Before I put them in the oven, I made a sauce/paste to melt over it.  1/4 cup butter, with some Tastefully Simple Spinach Dip Mix (a tablespoon, maybe), some chopped garlic and some powdered Parmesan cheese all mashed together.  

Then I stirred in about 1/4 cup plain yogurt.  I spread a blob over the top side of each filet, sprinkled a little salt a pepper and broiled it.  Then I flipped it over and did the same but only broiled for 3 minutes.  Then I added a little sprinkle of grated Parmesan and broiled for 1 more minute.  

 I thought it looked great, but it was fish, with a whitish sauce that had green stuff in it.  My kids ate it right up.  The 5- and 2-year-olds asked for seconds and the 7-year-old had thirds and lamented that there wasn't more when he was done.  I was afraid no one would touch it with the green stuff... apparently they've gotten used to that in/on things--at least for one night.

We also had broccoli cheese soup.  It's green, it's pureed, it's mostly broccoli and broth (I do make my own and store it in Ziploc bags in the freezer... when I forget to thaw ahead, I just throw the frozen broth in and let it melt) and also contains onion.  Also, FYI, I'm pretty sure the writer of this recipe serves this soup as the whole meal.  That would never fly in my house, but I have eaten only this for lunch before.

My oldest started out with a bigger serving than the others and he finished it.  The 7-year-old was so full of fish, he ran out of room for seconds, but he had said he was going to have more.  The 5-year-old had seconds and asked me today at lunch if we ate it all last night (I had made a double batch and put the leftovers in the freezer for another meal, so I couldn't give him any for lunch.).  The 2-year-old started with just a little bit and finished it saying, "Dis good oup!"  So, we gave her more, which she also finished.  Previously, she wouldn't even put soup (of any kind) in her mouth.

I had also taken a loaf of Orange Cranberry Bread out of the freezer.  I did not follow this recipe exactly because I always try to make stuff like this a little healthier.  I only used half of the total sugar, but still both kinds and half of the flour was whole wheat.  Typically with stuff like this I only use 1/4 of the oil (a lot of times coconut oil) and use plain yogurt to replace the rest, but this recipe only calls for 3 tablespoons, so I just left that alone.  

This was the thing my kids wouldn't eat... they don't like chunks in their bread unless it's chocolate chips.  They won't eat blueberry muffins, strawberry breads, apple pancakes... fruit should not be cooked into breads, in their minds.  (Banana, pumpkin and zucchini are all fine, as long as there are no chunks.)  They all tasted it.  I don't know how they could say they didn't like it after one bite.  I love this bread!  It's got so much flavor, and with the orange in there, it's not just a fall/winter bread.  It would totally go with a bright spring or summer meal.  Anyway... it wasn't a big deal that they didn't eat it because it was probably the least nutritional of the three things and they had plenty with the other stuff.  But, they all tasted it, and that's what we ask of them.  Just to taste it.  

I won't attempt to say we've got it all figured out--far from it.  But, since I had a success, I thought I'd share in case it might help someone.  Our dinner rules are as follows:

1.  You have to taste everything.  We start out as soon as they're eating table food trying to get them to taste things, but not forcing it. Once they're old enough to understand, we do ask them to have one bite of each thing (our youngest just got old enough for this).  As they get a bit older we might have them take the number of bites to match their age (like the 5-year-old would take 5 bites, unless it's something completely new and/or not really that nutritional, like the bread).  You will stay at the table until you have tried everything (or it's time for bed, or mom and dad get tired of waiting for you to finish, or you have convinced us you might actually be full and/or we are tired of listening to you say you are full off of the 2 bites you ate total) and you will not get something else without trying your food.

2.  It's fine if you're full.  They don't have to eat everything on their plates, but they won't get something else.  If they get too full to finish, they are also too full for dessert, if there is dessert.  (This does not apply to the one thing they may have eaten the required number of bites and still didn't "like.")  I don't want them to have an obsession with a clean plate.  If they're full, they're full.  They shouldn't overeat just to make me happy.  It's just as wasteful to eat it when you're full as it is to throw it away.  This way they can learn to listen to their tummies, instead of watch for visual cues.  (I do think each of them has probably gone to bed hungry on more than one occasion, but it seems like that gets them to be a little more willing to eat new foods the next time.)

These were not always our rules, although we've always had some variation of them for the most part.  Our oldest is still the one who has the most foods he won't eat... eggs, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, kiwi, blueberries, any kind of berries... really, any fruit that's not watermelon, apples, grapes, and pineapple.  I think this has something to do with the fact that we had to figure things out on him.  But, he is also the kid who will eat the most other stuff and complain the least, so I'm a little more willing to let him have his particularities.  He doesn't complain about new foods before trying them and he willingly eats the tastes required in order to move on to the next thing.  Our second complains about everything, frequently ends up liking stuff he said was gross before he tried it and rarely gets to have a food he doesn't eat because we just have a hard time believing him. The 5-year-old is a combination of the older two.  He complains, but will eat what he needs to when he decides he wants to be done.  The two-year-old is actually probably the most adventurous of any of my kids at that age.  She'll put it in her mouth (most of the time) and will try it once. This has gotten her eating things the others still won't touch, like raw sweet pepper strips.

Tonight we are having pizza with homemade crust.  I don't put veggies on theirs, but since I'm making 3 pizzas anyway, I don't mind making one a little more kid-friendly.

Now, if only someone could tell me how to get them eating salad!

P.S. In case you're tempted to think I'm super impressive cooking all this for one night or to think I might actually be super-mom... my kitchen did not get cleaned up last night... all of the dishes sat in the sink and on the counter.  My daughter screamed at me for 15 minutes because she didn't want to go to the bathroom (it had been at least 4 hours) and I haven't vacuumed in well over a month. :)