Don't Feed the Trash Can

I've been guilty of it, and I'm sure some of you have too. Cooking a specific meal for the whole family when you know half won't be touched. The possible solutions can take more time and some can even save time, either way, you're less likely to feed the trash can. You can cook separate meals, and try to get the kids to eat what they claim they hate only every once in a while. Or you can even change dishes slightly, and that will make all the difference between a battle you can't win, and a full little tummy.

There are a number of routes I had to go through with mine. Sometimes I wanted something different, and cooked just enough for me, and made them what they liked. And some things just grew on them. In the toddler years, they loved hot dogs and cheese burgers, sans the bun. (They still like them, but now they eat them with the buns, and complain if on regular bread.) And actually, when I did it this way, they ate more, and got full. At three and five-years-old my son and daughter could inhale 3 or 4 dogs no prob, it's a surprise they're not overweight.

I made cheese burgers, no bun, and they both scarfed down two, sometimes three each, when I could barley handle one on bun. I also found out that they liked salisbury steaks just as much. But things like onions, my son grew to like, and for years, neither would touch any type of beans except green beans. It's taken eight years for my daughter to appreciate the goodness of baked beans, eight whole years! Veggies and side dishes in general depended on who really liked them, thus the other automatically decided they didn't, except for macaroni. So, I gave them double servings of what they do like.

Also, I use the power cheese has over them to mine and their benefit. Eating broccoli, cauliflower, even brussel sprouts became non-issues once I added cheese. I can even manage to get them to eat raw broccoli, cauliflower and carrots with ranch dressing, a little fattening, but they burn it off quickly and get the vitamins which would normally get cooked out. Also, when they were little, some foods ended up mostly on the floor, then into the trash. So I got a little creative.

I started making communal meals. I would pretend to make something just for me, and not feed them. And naturally, they looked at me like, "So, where's mine?" Call it child psychology. Naturally, as all kids do, they think whatever you have is much better than anything you give them, even if it's the exact same thing. So, they two, would hover around my plate or bowl like little birdies begging mom for the worm. And in fact, much more food went into their stomachs this way.

Eventually, the bowls got bigger and bigger, until they reached a point where they wanted to eat on their own. I usually did this with one dish meals like spaghetti (saves a lot of cleaning time), cream of wheat (everybody got their own toast) and even oatmeal. Yes, oatmeal. It seems that around half the population hates it. I never understood why, until I found out how most is prepared.

Many serve it plain and or cook it until it's mushy and resembles something from a horror movie.--Ew. I, as most in my family do, cook it just enough to absorb water, maybe the consistency of cooked rice, but with a little more water. Then, add a bit of brown sugar and butter, the kids like a little milk added after it's prepared too, as I did when I was a kid.

As I like to say, don't make life more difficult then you have to, for most of us, life is hard enough by itself. Make it easier, don't sweat it, they'll come around eventually, and you can save in the meantime. And if you still feel like it's not enough, there are always vitamins to fill in the holes.



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