One of our great challenges has always been to get the kids to eat better and eat what we like. Fortunately we’ve graduated from the frozen pizza, Kraft Mac and Cheese phase, but it’s still a struggle to get them to try new things. We refuse to bow to that Jessica Seinfeld BS about hiding good food in other dishes — we believe that kids can learn to appreciate avocado and don’t need it buried in chocolate pudding.
In our stubborn way, we woke up yesterday determined to get them to try salmon. Last week the halibut went over well and we decided Why not, let’s roll the dice. Our inspiration was to make it Asian style — the kids have really been loving our homemade Chinese dinners ( thanks to Kylie Kwong and Jean Georges Vongerichten).
Fixed up a quick marinade of soy, lime, ginger, garlic, cilantro, green onion and a touch of sriracha. Put some panko on top to give a crust and into the oven.
We made some peanut sauce noodles and veg to go with it and had a great meal. In eating, found that it was best to remove the breading which absorbed too much marinade but gave the benefit of being like a salt crust, keeping the fish very moist. Both kids chowed down and we added another good food to their list. Of course, they ate their side noodles plain. And a dessert of Rice Krispie Treats left them very, very happy.
2 responses so far ↓
tosca // January 24, 2008 at 7:57 pm |
I’ve been known to hide some foods within foods, but mostly because my husband would never eat tofu otherwise
I think there’s something funny about age 6. Quite suddenly, Girlchild became a lot more adventurous about trying new foods. Certain foods (salmon, mashed potatoes, lettuce, avocado), even just the mention of them, used to make her gag. Now she loves them. The same thing is just starting to happen with Boychild, who just turned 6. He’s still not crazy about things that are really mixed, but he’s trying new things.
Kari // January 29, 2008 at 4:36 pm |
I never forced my kids to eat anything as my parents did to me as a child. I don’t insist the finish anything either, but we have encouraged them to at least try one bite of something new or different which has worked very well.
I went shopping with my son once when he was about 4. We were buying veggies and he shouted out can we please get broccoli Mom?
The other Mom’s stared at me in open-mouthed shock!
That still amuses me.
Don’t force the kids, don’t hide it. Let them adventure out on their own. Encouragement, and seeing Mom and Dad enjoy it is usually enough to get them wondering if they should just have a taste!