Confessions of a Food Nazi

I am lucky. Neither of my kids have ever been terribly picky. My kids actually like brussels sprouts and brocoli. However, I know that at least part of this is because I’m a bit of a Food Nazi. It’s not that I’m even that hung up on them eating healthy food every single minute, but if I cook something they are going to eat it. Whether they like it or not. For extreme cases, such as mushrooms and tomatoes, we have the one bite rule. We have as yet never backed down. We’ve had gagging at the dinner table, but by God those mushrooms were tasted.

I am also a believer that kids join our lives, not the other way around. So if I’ve got a hankerin’ for eggplant parmesan, that’s what they’re having. This is one of the few benefits of being the family cook. I choose what we eat. That’s not to say that I don’t consider the kids’ preferences when planning meals, but only to a point.

When they were younger I used to sneak veggies into meatballs, Deceptively Delicious style. But that takes work. Now I’m lazier. I just plop it out on the plate at say EAT!

I’m not much help with the sneaky tricks, but if you’ve got picky eaters at home you can find a lot of good tips today at the Parent Bloggers Network. They’ve asked regular moms like me to share their secrets. Go check it out.

Quick and Healthy Breakfasts For Kids
Top Five Ways to Raise a Healthy Eater
Tilapia is Fish Kids Eat
Top 5 Halloween Candy Alternatives
Kid-Friendly Vegetable Recipes For Thanksgiving

Health Nut

On a day not long ago with too much homework, multiple sports practices, and a sick kid, I was not about to cook. I did what people do.

“Let’s order pizza,” I said to my daughter. And because I am such a Good Mommy, because I cook meals almost every night with multiple food groups in pretty colors, and because we rarely eat out, my daughter was confused.

“Order a pizza?” she asked. “How do you do that?”

Seriously?

What kind of six-year-old freak have I raised who doesn’t know pizza comes from a zit-faced teenager who shows up at your house in a run down Hyundai without insurance? I pride myself on teaching my kids about the real world.

In the real world, people order pizza. I had failed.

In my desire to keep my kids from becoming gluttons for junk food, I’d become a glutton for punishment and sheltered them from an important reality. Sometime we simply must dial up a meal. Is my health consciousness instilling great habits for the future, or sucking the life out of their childhood?

When my kids were about four and two we went to a Halloween party where they were offered Kool-Aid.

“What’s that?” my son asked.

“Y’all don’t know what Kool-Aid is?” my Texan friend drawled. She gave me a sideways glance. “Let’s get you some.”

It wasn’t my fault. I’m from the west coast where it’s not uncommon for children to exist on soy milk and tofu. Sesame nuggets and carob-covered raisins are considered high snackin’ for kids up and down Interstate 5.

It’s hard to be the healthy mom. Sometimes I want to be the one to dole out donuts and Hot Pockets, to say yes to shakes and nuggets. I’m sad when neighbor kids won’t eat my macaroni and cheese because I mix in ham and green beans.

My husband found me cooking dinner the other day.

“Oh you really hate those kids, don’t you?” he said.

“What do you mean,” I said as I breaded a tilapia fillet.

“Fish and Brussels sprouts?”

But they like it. Or at least, they’ve learned that they can’t beat me so they may as well join me.

I have trained them well.

My children keep Halloween candy for months.
We throw out ice cream because we forgot to eat it.
They have never, to my knowledge, consumed a PopTart.
They choose water over juice boxes.
They love broccoli.

Perfect little eaters? I’d like to think we’re creating lifelong habits here in my healthy kitchen. However, the other day I caught on of them sneak a booger.
Makes pizza and PopTarts sound downright healthy.

Super Suppers Reviews Requested

I’m a huge fan of using the freezer as much as possible to keep cooking and cleaning time to a minimum. But I’m talking homemade. There are several new franchises where you show up and put together pre-prepped, “home” cooked meals, then take them home to your freezer. I’m looking for feedback from people who have tried Super Suppers or a similar assemble and freeze service.

If you’re interested, I wrote an article on the topic: Freeze Kids’ Favorites to Cut Cooking Time in Half.

Nitpicking Nit Wit

Okay, so I’m not going to burden you with a picture because it’s too disturbing. Search for yourself if you want to see some pictures of head lice and nits. Do yourself a favor and check your child’s head once a week. It’s easy to comb through if you put plenty of conditioner on first. Comb through with a regular comb then a fine tooth metal nit comb. You’ll find out sooner than I did if your child has lice. We had itchy head syndrome for over two weeks before I figured out what it was – and I was checking her head daily! I just didn’t know what I was looking for! Those little buggers look like dandruf I swear. However, I think combing through once a week would have caught the problem much earlier and saved her a lot of suffering. Not to mention saving me about 16 loads of laundry! Talk about a lousy evening…

Sacred Heart Diet – Pizza Day!

Sacred Heart Diet – Day Four

Sacred Heart Diet – Day One

So here’s breakfast, and yes, fruit does taste better when served on my Gallery Collection Whiteware by Southern Living At HOME. Here’s the thing about eating fruit (which is not my favorite) – it cuts out sugar cravings.

The soup is decent, but I definitely know it’s “diet” soup. It’s okay. I had a bowl for lunch, then two for dinner. I also ate a little fruit here and there throughout the day. Tried the black coffee thing this morning and all I can say is that would certainly decrease my coffee intake – also a good thing. Had some tea this afternoon, but without honey it’s not my thing either!

Feeling Flabby?

Okay so I am a sucker for a healthy diet jump start and I totally need one after all that vacation food and fun, not to mention my recent attempted suicide-by-Mexican food. Yummy! I found the Sacred Heart Diet on HubPages and I’m going to give it a try. It’s healthy and lots of people report great results. Won’t you join me? It’s only seven days – c’mon! It’s a detox thing. I’m starting Monday so if you want to join me let me know! Day Five and Six you can have beef so by next weekend you could even eat out at a restaurant with all the hard work behind you. And your behind? It’ll be better off too! Read the article and let me you know you’re on board!

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