I become stressed every day around 4:00 in the afternoon….what
to make for dinner that everyone will eat?
Not only is it that my children (three in total) get bored with my recipes,
but they all have likes and dislikes, which makes it difficult to cook one meal
to please everyone. There are times when
one child will opt out of dinner for cereal or a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich, which becomes more of a frustration to me.
I have been trying to battle this issue for a number of
years, and have never really solved it.
I have tried only serving the classic “kid-friendly” foods: chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, hot
dogs, grilled cheese, etc. I am no
health-buff, but these foods are so processed and we all know not the best
selection for growing bodies and brains.
I can only go a short time with these foods (which the kids gobble up,
by the way), before I eliminate them from our family’s diet for a few months.
My kids do like some healthy foods, especially any kind of
fruit and a lot of raw veggies – they eat some kind of fruit or veggie at every
meal, and sometimes they will only eat the fruit or veggie when presented with
their meal.
As I continually search for solutions to these problems, I
often end up reverting back to old habits, making the same meals and offering
the cereal.
This week my 6-year-old happened to be sitting at the table while
I was writing my grocery list. I asked
him what he would like for dinners for the week, which he actually answered and
gave me some great ideas. My 4-year-old overheard our conversation and quickly
chimed in with what he would like for dinners, which wasn’t all that different
then what my 6-year-old requested. Of
course there was the pizza request, which I squashed, stating that pizza was
for a special occasion (aka - when mommy ran out of time or energy to cook
dinner). The rest of the requests, with
a little input from mommy, were reasonable, healthy and doable!
We are only on day two of our menus this week, but so far so
good. All three have cleaned their
plate, and the cereal box has sat in the cabinet.
Three pretty cool things happened with the change in menu
planning this week.
1. My kids are proud of themselves for having
contributed to the family.
2. My kids are actually eating what they said
they would eat (and healthfully to boot).
3. I have less stress and
frustration at dinner time, which makes me a better mommy for my children!
As Liz mentioned last week in her blog, the lessons keep on
coming….
Sincerely,
From the
Stork’s Nest~
Rebecca
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