My Test(y) Kitchen

Today I will begin to write it all down. The crazy and twisted ways I attempt to feed my family.

With two severely allergic children, and all three of my kids picky eaters, we have had our fill of spaghetti and plain sauce, pancakes and chicken nuggets. We've eaten these common denominator meals so often most of us don't even like them any longer. Some of us never liked them.

My family of five consists of:

dad who eats anything

mom who eats mostly anything

11 year old daughter: allergic to soy, legumes, peanuts, tree nuts. Averse to eating almost anything but homemade bread, Tostito chips, cheeseburgers and eggs. She used to eat apples. Usually eats baby carrots. Otherwise, no fruits or vegetables in her repertoire.

5 year old daughter: no allergies and eats fruit, celery, rice pilaf and meat in the form of meatballs. Announced today that she likes snap peas.

3 year old son: allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and soy. Averse to eating any form of meat beyond a hot dog. Drinks a prescription high protein formula made up of primarily corn syrup... which we're trying to eliminate.

I have adopted various strategies over the years:

Every Man for Himself, whereby everybody has whatever s/he wants for dinner. It doesn't have to look like "dinner." Just a plate of food for everyone, constructed independently and hopefully including some protein, some fruit or veggie. This is the one method that saves my sanity and works. Sometimes we even manage to sit down together.

Puree-and-hide Method, which works in a few things (yes, cauliflower in mac and cheese!) but ultimately? Exhausting!! And too soon the kids were on to my trickery and suspicious of even their (formerly) favorite foods. Plus, cheese is the key masking ingredient, which we rarely use.

The Simple, Single Ingredient Method, whereby I abandon recipes and stick with the basics: steamed veggies, roast chicken. No one eats much of anything.

The Ultimatum Method. Try One Bite or no (insert fun activity here). Never worked. Everyone has a horrible time at dinner and there's not even any fun afterward.

The Cheerful Mom Method, whereby I ignore the sullen faces and uneaten food. That never works either.

In the meantime, I continue to read about the better choices I should be making for my family meals. Whole foods. Eliminate sugar. Increase green veggies. Hard enough for us easy-to-please omnivores but what about children who won't lick a green vegetable?

So I have set about to find things my children will eat and that my whole family will enjoy. Systematically. With an eye on everybody's health and safety. My pantry is stocked with all sorts of unusual ingredients. Agave nectar! Hemp protein powder (for the vegan 3 yr old) -- will this give him the munchies? Whole flax seeds, ground flax seeds.

Alongside it all.... a large bag of "food pantry" items to donate, such as my former non-organic ketchup, high-sugar cranberry sauce in a can and maple-brown sugar instant oatmeal. But I feel guilty passing it on. If it isn't good for me to eat, why give it to someone else? Any takers??