will your kids eat their dinner tonight?

[Kim in Appalachia]

This is a bit of a spin off of all the food/weight threads.

 

We have a decent size garden. The garden is my dh's hobby. I try to use as much as I can. We've been eatting a lot of zucchinni lately.:001_smile: But tonight I decided to use the cabbage, red cabbage. My dh was feeling bad about planting it. He had meant to have more green cabbage, but somehow we ended up with red. I decided to make up my own cassorole with beef, rice, tomatos and brown sugar. It looks good, at least to me. I don't think 4 out of 5 of my children will eat it, at least not with some force. ;) I going to serve it with fried green tomatoes and homemade bread.

 

Anyway, what has the hive been serving that their children won't eat?

[Mrs Mungo]

Last night we had salmon and spinach-strawberry salad. My son will not eat fish, he has a strong aversion to it. My eldest dd won't eat spinach. DS had a PB&J sandwich and spinach salad. Eldest ate salmon and strawberries.

 

Tonight, we're having meatloaf, twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. Everyone likes everything in that case.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[Danestress]

The probably wouldn't choose red cabbage as a snack, but they would eat at a meal. I think what you made sounds delicious!

 

I am trying to think what my kids won't eat. The spinach casserole was not a big hit last night, though they ate it. I have one who won't eat raw onions, and one who won't eat pork (my adult son, and I notice he DOES eat bacon on burgers, so I am not sure what the deal is there). I have one who says orange juice is too acidic, and the same one who won't eat onions also dislikes melted cheese.

[patchfire]

We're having beef stew, and the older two kids will eat it... except the beef. Dd because she has texture issues, and ds because he does everything that dd does!

 

Little dd will be happy to eat her beef and theirs too. :)

[jenL]

It's been so hot here, that no one feels like eating, so I think we're just having cereal tonight. The kids will definitely eat that! :D

[Parrothead]

What dd won't eat tonight: potato chips, olives stuffed with feta

 

What she might eat: celery and peanut butter, sliced cucumber

 

What we are having: Tuna salad on field greens in a sandwich roll, chips, veggies and dip. The veggies she will eat are broccoli and carrots

[Kim in Appalachia]

What dd won't eat tonight: potato chips, olives stuffed with feta

 

What she might eat: celery and peanut butter, sliced cucumber

 

What we are having: Tuna salad on field greens in a sandwich roll, chips, veggies and dip. The veggies she will eat are broccoli and carrots

 

:lol:

 

All my kids eat broccoli and carrots too. Right now they hate green beans.

[Kim in Appalachia]

The probably wouldn't choose red cabbage as a snack, but they would eat at a meal. I think what you made sounds delicious!

 

I am trying to think what my kids won't eat. The spinach casserole was not a big hit last night, though they ate it. I have one who won't eat raw onions, and one who won't eat pork (my adult son, and I notice he DOES eat bacon on burgers, so I am not sure what the deal is there). I have one who says orange juice is too acidic, and the same one who won't eat onions also dislikes melted cheese.

 

If you were close by, I'd invite you to dinner!

[simka2]

WOW! I am so mean...tonight they're haveing something they have never tried before...chicken in mole sauce. How do I know they will eat it? Because we will sit down to dinner and they won't get up till they eat it!

 

They know they could miss anything from the special baseball batting practice...too getting to try the new show halter on dd's horse, if they don't eat it. I've led way to many groups of teenagers to foreign countries only to have picky eaters insult and hurt well meaning and poverty stricken people, who generously provided their food!

 

Granted I won't give huge portions to start, but my kids will eat anything set before them. Yes, they have tested me on this...they have gone to be hungry (their choice), but now it's just not an issue.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

My daughter probably won't eat anything tonight for dinner... she has hand, foot, and mouth disease and her mouth is hurting her. :sad:

 

But generally, anything I serve DD will at least try without a big deal. She knows that if she takes two bites of something new and still doesn't like it, I'll let her get up without finishing it.

She won't eat onions, but probably would if they were unrecognizable and mixed into something. (But since I won't eat onions either... :tongue_smilie:) She won't eat carrots alone, but loves them in her salad.

 

Considering how picky I am, I am glad she eats what she does. I've taken special care to hide from her how picky I am... :D

[Kim in Appalachia]

WOW! I am so mean...tonight they're haveing something they have never tried before...chicken in mole sauce. How do I know they will eat it? Because we will sit down to dinner and they won't get up till they eat it!

 

They know they could miss anything from the special baseball batting practice...too getting to try the new show halter on dd's horse, if they don't eat it. I've led way to many groups of teenagers to foreign countries only to have picky eaters insult and hurt well meaning and poverty stricken people, who generously provided their food!

 

Granted I won't give huge portions to start, but my kids will eat anything set before them. Yes, they have tested me on this...they have gone to be hungry (their choice), but now it's just not an issue.

 

My kids will eat, a little. But they will not stuff themselves full with this meal.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Kim in Appalachia
word wrong

[Belacqua]

Stir-fry tonight, tofu for me and prawns for my husband. We both like meat, but he just bought some prawns, which I don't eat, and he doesn't care for tofu, so separate proteins it is.

 

The kid is at summer camp, so I don't have to hear him grouse about this meal. I don't know what he'll be eating, but he says the dorm food isn't bad at all (what does that say about my cooking?).

[scmama]

Oh I'm just stuck on fried green tomatoes!! YUMMY! :)

My kids aren't that picky. I make a variety of things, and the rule is they have to eat at least 1 TBS of everything and anything I make. Like it or not. I'm not a short order cook, and they will at least try some. This is the same rule my parents raised me on, and the same I raise mine on. But I don't expect them to "like" everything after trying it.

[newlifemom]

Giving them chef salad and bread. Will probably have fruit as well. They will eat it b/c I have given it to them. I too have had my kids make life difficult b/c he won't eat this and she won't eat that. I also give small amount of things they don't like, but do truly believe that it takes time to realize you really don't like something. Isn't it the rule that they have to try it for at least 30 times before they may like it?

 

Since I laid down the law last Jan, my picky eaters have become rather open to all sorts of food. They like it too. :tongue_smilie:

[Karen in CO]

Tonight we're going out for pizza. You'd think that would be easy for kids. One of my dd's won't eat pizza - she's having a slice of foccia bread, feta cheese, and garbonzo beans. I'm allergic to wheat so I'll have a big salad with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and hummus. DS and older dd can't agree on crust or toppings, so they'll each have a slice - ds with meat and dd with roasted garlic - and a salad. Dh would eat just about anything.

 

Our order is complex for Pizza Nite, but at least we agree on where to go.

[Kim in Appalachia]

Tonight we're going out for pizza. You'd think that would be easy for kids. One of my dd's won't eat pizza - she's having a slice of foccia bread, feta cheese, and garbonzo beans. I'm allergic to wheat so I'll have a big salad with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and hummus. DS and older dd can't agree on crust or toppings, so they'll each have a slice - ds with meat and dd with roasted garlic - and a salad. Dh would eat just about anything.

 

Our order is complex for Pizza Nite, but at least we agree on where to go.

 

 

Now I want pizza with roasted garlic. Maybe we'll have to make that this weekend. That salad sounds good too.

[Kim in Appalachia]

This kids didn't mind it. They didn't ask for seconds, but they ate it. My oldest son was just thankful it didn't have beans. They did not like the fried green tomatoes. My oldest dd complained that took too many tomatoes from our garden, and now we won't have enough red one. :001_smile: You would have to see how many plants we have to know that was really funny.

[Erica in OR]

Liver and onions last night. I didn't expect they would, although the oldest tried a bite when it was labeled simply as "beef". I had made noodles for them as the main option.

 

No kids wanted to try the bass my husband got from a church member, partly because they don't love fish, and probably partly because they saw it in its "real" state, fishy eyeballs and all and saw it scaled, gutted, and filleted.

 

More for my husband and me. :001_smile:

 

Erica in OR

[shusband]

Last night they ate chickpeas and beef very well, probably because dinner was an hour late and they were STARVING.

[Momma2Many66]

My kids eat everything I make every. single. night.

 

The reason: I never give choices, they just eat whatever I place in front of them and they love all types of different foods, all types of veggies and fruits. I have never heard any of them say they "hate or dislike" this food or that.

 

Growing up, my younger brother was always so picky about what he would and wouldn't eat and my parents catered to all his whims and made him "special foods". Every night was a battle and before long they caved in and let him pick what he wanted to eat and let him leave what he didn't want. He became an extremely picky eater and the frustration my parents felt dealing with his "food issues" were really disruptive to our entire family and made mealtime a dreadful experience for all.

 

Today, his own two young children (ages 7 and 4) are so very picky and refuse to eat much of anything. He constantly calls me up to ask how to get them to eat, they refuse to eat almost anything that doesn't consist of McDonalds chicken nuggets, Kraft Mac and cheese or chocolate donuts. Dont even try to put a vegetable or fruit on their plate. The cycle is repeating itself.

 

I remind my brother that kids live and become what they see around them. If he is a "picky" eater, he will create picky eaters. I tell him that change begins with him, if he stops being such a picky eater, his kids eating habits will change also. Problem is, he doesn't want to change, he doesn't want to broaden his horizons, he likes eating what he wants and when he wants it. He likes eating big steaks all the time and the only vegetables he will consume is corn and baked potatos, he hates any other kind of veggie. He has many health problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a big weight problem. Fruit is a definite "no, no" in his book, guess what his children will also not eat ?

 

My children do not know that "they don't have to eat" what is placed before them, they just know that this is how it always has been and always will be.

 

We eat from our gardens, fresh veggies daily served grilled, baked or steamed, many time raw, big salads, cut up veggie trays, homemade breads and stews, soups and casseroles. Some pasta, fish and chicken, lots of beans and brown rice with veggies. The kids eat lots of fresh fruits and berries from our orchard.

 

I have our children work in the gardens and orchards with me. They learn first-hand where "our" food comes from, the work involved in planting it, tending it, weeding it and harvesting it. They also learn the work involved in helping me to cook it or prepare it for our meals. They learn to really appreciate food. We discuss how blessed we are and that so many in other parts of the world have so little and that food is both sacred and important.

 

My oldest two children now 26 and 22 often laugh and joke with us about how they were almost 15 or 16 years old before they realized that "other kids" didn't have to eat everything on their plate or eat everything put in front of them.

 

I do the same with our homeschooling, they don't get the "choice" to do school or not, schooling like eating is not a "choice", they do it because they have to do it. They are taught that it is their job and their education is a gift and a priviledge. We school year round with some light schooling also on weekends and my kids love homeschooling. They do not know that some children do not enjoy school or that their education is a choice because in our home, it just isn't.

[LibraryLover]

They did. :) I made a big salad (lettuces & cucs from our garden, a tomato from a local green house), local corn (warm nights---and it's freaky! We never have corn this early!! The ears are small but delish!) with salmon, and burgers. (I don't like burgers, hence the salmon). We had our own strawberries , too. One of mine does not like salmon, and an unexpected visiting friend ate that portion.

Edited July 14, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Daisy]

Since you have so much purple cabbage, here is a recipe for Purple Cabbage Salad. My kids LOVE this salad. Oh, and I cut the dressing in half because it was entirely too much and skip using the chicken consomme powder. I also replace the pine nuts with walnuts (so much cheaper).

 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/PURPLE-CABBAGE-SALAD-50028771

[MomOfOneFunOne]

My kids get in on the meal planning, so there is seldom anything they won't eat.

 

Ditto. My husband and daughter help plan the menus so there isnt' much on there that they don't like.

[jenn-]

3 out of 4 have "outgrown" their picky phases. What that means, is they have reached the age that mommy feels little guilt about making them eat what is on their plate. The forth one pukes if you put something he doesn't like in his mouth. Luckily he eats most foods and the things he doesn't eat, most 4 yos probably wouldn't (like cooked greens, okra, squash). He is still expected to try a bite when I cook them differently than he has had in the past.

[Audrey]

This is a bit of a spin off of all the food/weight threads.

 

We have a decent size garden. The garden is my dh's hobby. I try to use as much as I can. We've been eatting a lot of zucchinni lately.:001_smile: But tonight I decided to use the cabbage, red cabbage. My dh was feeling bad about planting it. He had meant to have more green cabbage, but somehow we ended up with red. I decided to make up my own cassorole with beef, rice, tomatos and brown sugar. It looks good, at least to me. I don't think 4 out of 5 of my children will eat it, at least not with some force. ;) I going to serve it with fried green tomatoes and homemade bread.

 

Anyway, what has the hive been serving that their children won't eat?

 

 

From the garden: buttered new potatoes with parsley, steamed peas and baby carrots, and lots of salad. Meat was a couple of steaks split 4 ways (ds has a pal staying the night). Both kids ate everything and then most of a pail of strawberries.

 

Ds used to be a bit fussy about food. He wouldn't eat veggies cooked at all, but would eat raw, and trying to get him to eat any meat but chicken was a gamble. Now that he's a little older, he appreciates good food from the garden and isn't shy of variety, especially now that he does some of the cooking himself.

 

Since you have a lot of red cabbage, have you thought of making homemade sauerkraut? I just did that for the first time a couple of years ago. I like it best with red cabbage. I used this recipe.

Edited July 9, 2010 by Audrey

[Kim in Appalachia]

Since you have so much purple cabbage, here is a recipe for Purple Cabbage Salad. My kids LOVE this salad. Oh, and I cut the dressing in half because it was entirely too much and skip using the chicken consomme powder. I also replace the pine nuts with walnuts (so much cheaper).

 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/PURPLE-CABBAGE-SALAD-50028771

 

 

That salad looks good, thanks!

[creekland]

My kids eat almost anything and have since they were very young, so I feel fortunate. It might be genetic as both hubby and I eat almost anything as well.

 

The only thing I can come up with is my youngest won't eat doughnuts or pies or many types of sweets. That's genetic too as I was the same way when I was younger. It's certainly not bad for him, except socially once in a while.

 

Last night we had Berks hot dogs or cheese dogs with great northern beans, beets from our garden, and fresh blueberries with cream. We don't eat hot dogs often - these were left overs from a family gathering on the 4th - so it was a treat. No problems with anyone eating anything.

[Melissa in Australia]

Whenever I make something a little different, and I think the kids might be reluctant to eat it, I always make something yummy for desert. only people who eat a reasonable portion can have desert.

It works every time.

 

Though I have one boy that will look at the new recipe I have cooked, and ask "you did make desert right?"

[angela in ohio]

My dc aren't allowed to skip any of dinner (was chicken, broccoli, mixed grapes, and carrots last night,) but they have choices when it comes to desserts/ snacks when we're at home. If I make one pie or another, someone won't eat it. And none of them will eat Jello-o, especially if there is fruit in it. :D Only one dc likes raisins in food, so she makes her own cookies.

[Perry]

My kids eat everything I make every. single. night.

 

The reason: I never give choices, they just eat whatever I place in front of them and they love all types of different foods, all types of veggies and fruits. I have never heard any of them say they "hate or dislike" this food or that.

 

Growing up, my younger brother was always so picky about what he would and wouldn't eat and my parents catered to all his whims and made him "special foods".

 

My kids are good eaters and I've never had much of a problem with pickiness. While I'd like to take credit, I suspect genetics has quite a bit to do with it.

 

Picky Eaters? They Get It From You

 

But for parents who worry that their children will never eat anything but chocolate milk, Gummi vitamins and the occasional grape, a new study offers some relief. Researchers examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited.

The message to parents: It’s not your cooking, it’s your genes.

The study, led by Dr. Lucy Cooke of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August. Dr. Cooke and others in the field believe it is the first to use a standard scale to investigate the contribution of genetics and environment to childhood neophobia.

According to the report, 78 percent is genetic and the other 22 percent environmental.

“People have really dismissed this as an idea because they have been looking at the social associations between parents and their children,” Dr. Cooke said. “I came from a position of not wanting to blame parents.”

 

 

 

 

I've always given my kids choices, although the choices are healthy. I wouldn't have a problem with picky eaters as long as they're eating nutritious food.

[angela in ohio]

“I came from a position of not wanting to blame parents.â€

 

Off topic, but it's funny when scientists know the results they will get (desire) before they start the research. :D I love picking out quotes like these to discuss with dc.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Mine will eat tonight ;-) BBQ Chicken Pizza that we make here...they love it!

 

They hate all the garden veggies.....but I keep serving and requiring minimal bites! :tongue_smilie::lol:

[CalicoKat]

nope. they won't like it. and i don't care.

[Colleen]

But tonight I decided to use the cabbage, red cabbage. My dh was feeling bad about planting it. He had meant to have more green cabbage, but somehow we ended up with red. I decided to make up my own cassorole with beef, rice, tomatos and brown sugar. It looks good, at least to me. I don't think 4 out of 5 of my children will eat it, at least not with some force. ;) I going to serve it with fried green tomatoes and homemade bread.

 

Anyway, what has the hive been serving that their children won't eat?

Your meal sounds tasty and my whole family would gladly eat all of it. I can't think of a thing my guys don't eat. The concept of picky eaters is foreign here ~ except when I have to feed someone else's child.:tongue_smilie: Edited July 9, 2010 by Colleen

[jlcejb6]

One of our rules is our dc are to take at least one bite of everything on their plate and are only allowed to leave on thing(if they absolutley dont like it). My middle ds at age 1 decided to reject all food and we had to set up some boundaries, finally at 4 1/2 it is paying off (actually did about a year ago) and he has started eating, he is so nervous about trying anything new but the hardest by far is fresh vegetables. So pretty much anything that grows in our garden!:001_smile:

[abbeyej]

Yes, they'll eat it. My "picky" child may not be thrilled about everything, but she will eat. Last night I served steak, roasted asparagus, slaw (green cabbage, raw yellow squash, carrots) with Asian dressing, and sautéed onions and mushrooms to go on the steak. She loved the steak, liked the slaw pretty well, and tolerated the asparagus. I didn't offer her the onions and mushrooms, and if I had served her something with mushrooms mixed in, I would have politely ignored her while she subtly maneuvered them to the side. I think all of us are entitled to a few foods that "aren't our favorites" as long as we are polite to the chef (that means not making rude comments like "I don't like this!", making faces, wrinkling noses, pointedly shoving food to the side, demanding something else), and eat a little of all the other healthy foods on the table. ... But I had to do a lot of requiring tastes along the way. You can't really be allowed to avoid the things you don't care for when "the things you don't care for" entails every vegetable ever grown. ;) And she was miserable some of the time. But the pickiness has gotten so, so, so much better. And she'll pretty much eat whatever I make now, and actually enjoy the vast majority of it. And now that she can do that, I'll ignore the occasional mushroom pile quietly appearing on the edge of the plate.

 

Ds is at Scout Camp. He loves food and eats everything (except stuff to which he's allergic). :)