Happy Holidays! I hope you are not stressing too much.
This week before Christmas I’m keeping meals super simple. On Tuesday, it’s easy spinach lasagna in the slow cooker. And the slow cooker chicken dish I have planned for Thursday is really good and easy! Fridays have become make-your-own pizza days here usually on whole wheat tortillas or flatbread.
I’ve also been making a different soup each week to have on hand for lunches and dinners. Last week I made minestrone and this week it’s lentil in the slow cooker. I like bean soups because they are hearty and filling. And when we are feeling sick I always make chicken noodle soup. I would be lying if I said my kids eat much soup, but they like the idea of soup and occasionally nibble.
As always, check out Org Junkie for more meal plan inspiration.
What’s Cooking This Week
Monday: Have it your way Tacos (we actually make our own burritos)
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Spinach lasagna with salad, bread, and fruit
Wednesday: kids Choice
Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken, baked sweet potato fries, garlicky green beans, and fruit.
Friday: Make your own pizzas on flatbread — toppings to choose from turkey pepperoni, red onions, red peppers, and mushrooms with salad and smoothies.
How mistakes make us better feeders
“I’ve adopted your philosophy of eating although I slip sometimes,” is what one reader recently commented. I emailed her back letting her know that I slip too. And then that got me thinking about how feeding mistakes actually help parents become better feeders. It just depends on how you look at it.
Recently I had a tense moment with Big A. She has slowly gotten away from liking French toast even though she used to devour them. We have them every Tuesday and even though she protests she’ll usually eat some of it once we sit down…along with the fruit on the table. But on this particular morning, she didn’t even want to take a bite of the French toast, declaring she “hates it.”
I felt like another person came out of me when I insisted she at least take a bite. She caused a stir, kept yelling that she didn’t have to, and I still insisted. She finally took a bite and immediately said: “Can I go now?”
Not only was I disappointed in myself, but it also showed me what life would be like if I tried to control my child’s eating. So this mistake not only reinforced my feeding style, it left me grateful for it. I sat Big A down after breakfast and apologized.
So here’s what I think: feeding mistakes show us what we don’t want — and help us stay on track. This same thing happens with meal planning. All I need is one bad week to show me why it’s so important to plan meals ahead of time.
I also know the golden rule of parenting is consistency, not perfection, and this definitely applies to feeding kids. I’m consistent with providing balanced meals and keeping mealtime positive even though my patience wears thin.
How do you deal with feeding mistakes?
Announcements
Last Friday I announced the Fearless Feeding Community.
In the spirit of this new project, I’m going to be making some changes to my postings by writing somewhat “lighter” posts that open up the floor for conversation. I also plan to post more recipes, food ideas from around the web, and my personal experiences with feeding. If you have any suggestions for the site, leave a comment, or send me a message.
In other news, Ellyn Satter is hosting a free, two-part webinar on Obesity Prevention on January 12th (part 1) and 19th (part 2). I’ve interviewed Satter before and I can only tell you that nothing replaces listening to her speak live. She has so much wisdom and experience to share in 30+ years as a feeding expert. Don’t let the word obesity draw you away — this talk is all about feeding. Don’t miss it!
Brian Wansink is working with Birds’ Eye Vegetables and has his top 10 tips to encourage kids to eat their veggies. He’s always got some great ideas so check it out.
Well, that’s enough for now. Have a wonderful week and a happy holiday!
Want to create your way to meal plan in a way that works for you? Get step-by-step help in Maryann’s book The Family Dinner Solution.
We all have those moments when we say or do something related to kids and eating and we want to smack ourselves upside the head (or at least I know do!). Dina Rose, from It’s Not About Nutrition, wrote a great post recently about letting kids go “on strike” with foods. Maybe Big A could go “on strike” against French toast? 🙂
http://itsnotaboutnutrition.squarespace.com/home/2011/12/6/the-easy-way-to-solve-your-toddlers-decision-to-suddenly-ref.html
Yes, the two foods she goes in and out of liking is French toast and peanut butter. Thanks for sending the post. She is allowed her strikes but this particular morning it got to me ; )
Mistakes are certainly great teachers! I find they occur more when my patience is being tested because I’m rushed or stressed. It helps to remind myself of what I’m trying to teach my kids – to slow down and enjoy the meal.
As a reader of Dr Rose’s blog, I also found the strike idea intriguing. Maryann, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on it.
I agree with what she writes that we should never judge food preferences when kids are so young and not make a big deal about it. Ninety nine percent of the time I don’t (or at least don’t show it) but this one time I did. My main point is that we shouldn’t be hard on ourselves when we aren’t as patient as we know we should be. Instead, we can learn from the outcome of the mistake, which in this case was a tense meal. Big A doesn’t go on too many food strikes (except for french toast and peanut butter)…it just takes her a while to warm up to foods.
Okay, so I know that I am not supposed to force my kids to eat anything but I do sometimes request that they take a bite of something to try it. They will often decide that they don’t like something before they have even tried it. There have been many times where once I have convinced them to try it they decide that they like it. Is this different from what you are talking about? I do get very frustrated with my little guy something when he absolutely refuses to eat something. You don’t agree with the try it bite?
Jody — I discuss the one bite rule in this post and there’s lots of great comments http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2011/07/parents-of-picky-eaters-unite-is-the-one-bite-rule-the-answer/
Again, it depends on the child. Sometimes the one-bite rule works fine and other times it backfires.