What? This doesn’t look delicious to you? Good thing you didn’t come over for lunch, then. Here’s the story behind this sandwich: I attempted to trick my child into eating a healthy meal by whipping up the grilled cheese/sweet potato sandwich in J.Sein’s cookbook, which I and every other mom on the planet was coerced into buying by Oprah.
It involves mixing sweet potato puree into some cheese and butter. Entirely too much work for a sandwich, if you ask me. Anyway, halfway into this process Miles comes into the kitchen and announces he needs his diaper changed. By the time that was taken care of, the pan was smoking on the stove, causing me to scorch myself as I wiped out the burnt pan to start over. Even so, this is what I ended up with.
And you know what? Miles loved it. Devoured it. Asked for seconds. And yet he wouldn’t touch the applesauce/carrot/cinnamon concoction I made the other night that tasted like APPLE PIE! Weird kid. But I ask you, is all this worth it just to get your child to consume a ¼ cup of vegetables? I certainly will not be making the 10-ingredient homemade ketchup. A little high-fructose corn syrup never killed anyone.
Now don’t get the idea that I make every meal from scratch. No sirree. Sometimes (oftentimes) it’s a frozen pizza night. Which brings me to my next food nemesis of the week: Kashi. The other night I made one of their new frozen pizzas. They’re supposed to be chock full o’ whole grains and nuts and berries and what have you. It was a tomato and cheese pizza. Simple enough, right? Only this one had a bit of a kick to it. I noticed this when I took a bite, but when I scanned the ingredients for cayenne pepper or jalapenos and didn’t see any, I thought, “must be just me,” and served it to my son.
Miles, who had been so excited about the pizza he could barely wait for it to cook, takes one bite and starts crying, “Tongue! Tongue!” grabbing the pained body part. Kashi, that’s just mean. If you’re going to make your cheese pizza spicy, at least say so and spare some toddlers the trauma, OK?
Sticking with the food theme, does anyone watch “Jon and Kate Plus 8”? It’s a show on TLC about the Gosselin family, which includes twins and sextuplets. Reality show or horror show? You decide. I haven’t seen it yet, but I saw an interview with the parents recently. (How cute is Kate, by the way, especially for a mom of 8?!) Apparently, they were trying for one more baby after their twins ... and ended up with SIX! Yikes. That’s gotta scare you off sex for good.
Anyway, the mom was saying that her days are basically spent preparing, serving, and cleaning up after meals. Me too!! And I only have one. The only way she can make it work, she said, is by using paper plates and offering only one choice per meal. If the kids don’t like it, they don’t eat.
Now, I’ve heard this “Mom’s not a short-order cook” philosophy before. And in theory, I agree. But, see, Miles has been sick and wasn’t eating for a few days ... and I want him to eat healthy ... and I couldn't very well force him to eat hot-pepper pizza ... and good moms make sure their kids eat vegetables, right? Which brings me back to the Jessica Seinfield grilled cheese fiasco. Next time, I’ll just slap together a PB&J and call it a day.
READ O’ THE WEEK: Even though I violated the title of this book, this is a short, funny, and inspiring read for any dedicated blogger: No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog
2/29/08
Eat This, Jessica Seinfeld
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5 comments:
That's so funny... I LOVE that cookbook! But I know what you mean about it taking extra time... but if you freeze some of the purees ahead it's not as bad.
The other thing I did was make up a batch of the Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower and then froze little packages of it for my preschooler's lunches.
You are too funny! I have that hide the healthy stuff book too but my little one is only 5 months old so I haven't tried anything out yet. Thanks for the book tip!
wow that is impressive! Im trying to ween off the fastfood drive-thrus b/c im too lazy to deal with a grocery store and a wild 2.5 year old. maybe i will succomb and get the seinfeld book...just maybe!
The whole food thing can be such a challenge sometimes. Our son eats better these days than he did in the past, but it can still be difficult. I feel guilty sometimes, but deep down I know that he's not going to eat the "interesting" stuff. The other day, I had to convince him that the chicken on his plate had a slightly "orangey" tint to it because of the cooking process, and that I hadn't actually added any spices (which of course, I had - tumeric, paprika, etc). He won't eat meat, so I'm not going to make him hamburgers or something. Lots of chicken hot dogs, frozen chicken finger-type foods (preferably in animal or airplane shapes), and pizza.
When it comes down to it, I'd rather give him the stuff I know he'll eat, then spend time making something that can go either way, but will, in any event, require at least some begging and cajoling on my side to get him to try it (which he may not do anyway).
I do a no thank you helping, they have to eat 2-3 teaspoons of what we have (approx) to have something else, like a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter sandwich. usually, they ask for more of dinner.
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