my daily challenge

One of my biggest challenges and frustrations lately is finding things that all my children will eat. All three of the kids have been good eaters...not those kids that have a repetoire of 10 things that they'll eat. What gets me is things that I made 6 months ago, that everyone loved, now isn't met with the same enthusiasm. When I did my meal planning for the week there were dishes that I could count on, ones that I knew they would be happy eating. Like homemade macaroni and cheese, even pasta with spaghetti sauce. Now Nathaniel sees the mac and cheese and declares that he doesn't like it. Both Abigail and Nathaniel now have a thing about the black specks (spices) in the spaghetti sauce. AHHH!!! Last night I wanted, needed, to try something different. I made risotto with butternut squash thinking that it was pretty bland, no specks of herbs to be seen. I made each of them do the one bite rule and neither liked it. I didn't get it. I thought it tasted great. As I warmed up the leftovers today for lunch, for myself, Nathaniel asked what I was eating. I told him it was the rice dish from yesterday. He tried to be kind and said "OH, I love that. I just didn't like the way it tasted." Thanks Nathaniel.

So, it is at these frustrating moments that I need to reflect on the things my children do eat. What many kids wouldn't even put close to their lips. I am thankful that they all love fruit (although Abigail can be particular about that one somedays), we have a huge fan club at our house for guacamole (another 3 cheers since it is so yummy and so good for you) and they always eat the tofu first out of the tofu curry that I make every few weeks. That is one thing that all three of them don't complain about.

I have always tried to expose them to different cuisines and have been thrilled that they all find something to eat when we go out for Japanese. This morning Abigail, Jesse and I (PD day for Abigail, preschool for Nathaniel) went grocery shopping. Abigail loves picking out a tray of sushi when she comes along. So, we got home and she immediately dove in. I also got a tray of brown rice california roll which Jesse was eyeing. So, here they are, my sushi lovers. Notice the piece of rice on Jesse's cheek. It wasn't until we were in the van going to get Nathaniel that I realized he had dried sushi on his face. Oh well.

And another food related issue. My boy Nathaniel is no good if he doesn't eat. Yesterday we were playing outside when he had the hardest time holding it together. It wasn't until he got some food into his system that he was back to being chipper and full of energy. I guess I figure at 4 years old he might mention that he is hungry. Nope.