Side Dishes - Arrgh!!!

Clarissa

Wed, May 28 2008, 1:26 pm

downsyndrome wrote:

Thanks everybody for your suggestions; I truly appreciate them.
I have another question now: HOW in the world do you teach kids to be more daring and creative with their palates? (and for that matter, husbands too!) I once read that if you want kids to learn to eat certain foods, just keep putting those foods on their plates, even if they leave 'em there, and with time they will dare venture a taste. Well, it hasn't worked here! Everybody is still the same stubborn with the foods they WILL eat and with the foods they WON'T eat, including darling husband!

I struggle with the same thing. My husband and I are very adventurous eaters. My older child started out that way, but is now very picky. I still serve what I serve, and he eats it or doesn't eat it. Sometimes I'll let him fix something extra for himself, but I offer the kind of foods I like to cook. This is for Shabbos. The rest of the week, I cater more to his whims and highly restrictive taste.

Mrs. XYZ

Wed, May 28 2008, 1:29 pm

you gotta start it when they're really young, as babies!

downsyndrome

Wed, May 28 2008, 2:25 pm

Mrs. XYZ wrote:

you gotta start it when they're really young, as babies!

I certainly did; then it landed on the floor. Nowadays, they're a little more civil and they just shove it to the edge of their plates in disdain. LOL

BeershevaBubby

Wed, May 28 2008, 9:41 pm

How old are your kids, downs?

A trick I used to use when my girls were younger... we'd go away for Shabbat or Chag and if they'd eat a dish or side dish at someone else's house, I'd make it at home and say "But you ate it at Soandso's house!"

Tamiri

Thu, May 29 2008, 1:30 am

downsyndrome wrote:

I have another question now: HOW in the world do you teach kids to be more daring and creative with their palates? (and for that matter, husbands too!) I once read that if you want kids to learn to eat certain foods, just keep putting those foods on their plates, even if they leave 'em there, and with time they will dare venture a taste. Well, it hasn't worked here! Everybody is still the same stubborn with the foods they WILL eat and with the foods they WON'T eat, including darling husband!

(1) Do the kids have sensory issues? From our experience I have learned that it can affect what they will/will not eat
(2) I am going to assume you fed them healthy foods as babies, from what you wrote. I did that too and then suddenly, around age 2, they became picky eaters. At least two of mine did that. From the distance of quite a few years, I think that their American diet had a lot to do with it. And BTW, the American diet has come here too. I bought into the culture of fish sticks, pasta and even stooped low enough to buy sweetened cereals here and there. I offered them baggies of food to take in the car (animal crackers, pretzels). You know how grandma (at least mine) said: don't ruin your appetite? I think that by ME making poor feeding choices, I did just that. Why did I have to shlep snacks to the park, and every outing and every movie? Can't a kid sit for 2 hours without food, so he'll be hungry when he gets home and eat something that is good?
(3) I started to remedy this while we were back in the States. I stopped with any and all sweetened cereals (our cereal consumption went way down). I stopped buying anything with corn syrup in it (I believe that can be a trigger for a lot of bad things). I got a little stricter with snacks. And then we came to Israel.
(4) I try to buy only "good food". I do stumble here and there, but basically you can eat a fruit or pretzels at our house if you are hungry between meals. I try and get them not to eat between meals. I limit pasta to one bag/week.
(5) I see an improvement in their eating habits, particularly the older ones, who are teens. We go through a lot of vegetables and fruit and even sides such as Quinoa go over decently.
(6) #5 child, who was born into the reform and is now 3.5 yo. He is an amazing eater. He will eat roasted vegetables. Cucumber/vinegar salad. Roasted eggplant salad. Quinoa. ect. I think that because we did not make the "easy" food mistakes with him, he has far more taste for real food and is willing to try anything that is put before him. It's a mechayeh.

Did this rambling answer any of your questions, Downs?

boruchhashem

Thu, May 29 2008, 7:39 am

3 layered vegetable kugel

Miriam770

Thu, May 29 2008, 12:52 pm

My kids if they want to nash they open the fridge and they take a fruit... I have cookies... but not every cooki, I buy biscuitim... To keep them healthy I just don't buy junk food... no fry I use the oven... once in a while french fries.... people where surprise when they saw my kids eating onions... in the salad. We eat home made food... is hard to find where I live places where we can go to eat or buy from them fast food with the kashrus that we use... Sad

chavaj

Wed, Jun 04 2008, 9:06 am

Did anyone mention challah kugel or apple kugel? also, I stuff the chicken, then take the stuffing out and serve it separately...

yummydd

Wed, Jun 04 2008, 9:20 am

How about this for a side dish:

Bake whole potatoes in the oven till soft

cut potatoes on half in the width, take out the potatoes leaving the peels intact and mash with spices.
Cook sweet potatoes in a pot and mash

syryinge potatoes back into the peels and then decorate with syringed sweet potatoe on top.

Bake till crispy!