I was chatting to some other moms yesterday while our kids scrambled for chocolate eggs; on the subject of finicky eaters it became quickly apparent that some of you may be under the misconception that what ever I make for dinner, Willem will happily eat.
Ha. Let me relieve you of that crazy notion right now.
- He will not eat a potato in any form, unless it is a French fry. He will, however, eat falafel, and adores anything containing pesto.
- Anything else that’s green is out. Unless it’s spinach, wilted onto a pizza or whizzed into tomato sauce.
- He refuses to drink juice or even accept a Freezie. Which is not really a problem, just weird.
- Nor, going against all that is sacred to most two year olds, will he eat yogurt, or applesauce, or really anything resembling baby food. He will, however, drink a smoothie.
- He adores ketchup, so I mix it half and half with tomato paste to cut back on the sugar. He never notices. (You do have to refrigerate it though, and it doesn’t last as long.)
- He won’t eat an orange (even a Mandarin) or a carrot, unless it’s to imitate Bugs Bunny (in which case he only bites off the tip anyway) or cooked into Chicken, White Bean & Pesto Stew, which is loaded with veg and was always our saviour on days when we ate Big Salads and other things he won’t touch for dinner. However, in recent weeks it seems to be going the way of Lentil Soup - something he used to adore and now gags at.
We do, however, generally insist that he at least try a bite of things. Kids love repetition in their food as much as in their Disney movies, so it’s easy to fall into the “my kid will only eat chicken fingers and hot dogs” trap. If we let him, W would live on meat, buns, peanut butter spoons and eggs and toast, unless an all-candy and ketchup diet was an option. (What’s a peanut butter spoon? It’s a small spoon, dipped in peanut butter to then be licked off like a puppy. Hey, it has protein and good fats.)
Green Eggs and Ham has actually been quite effective in convincing him to try stuff. He spent the afternoon trying to persuade our chef neighbor to taste an avocado.
Tonight we went for dinner at Mike’s mum’s house, and she made Cornish hens (teeny tiny turkeys: one each, with Stove Top and seasoning salt) and W tore the legs and wings off all of them, and that’s all he would eat. Any onlooker might have thought we were poisoning him with the two bites of peas we managed to convince him to eat by overenthusiastically quoting Green Eggs and Ham: “you will like it, you will see - you will like it in a tree!”, and so when we got home we pulled out the tomato sauced whole wheat rotini we keep in waiting for such occasions, and his beloved (poached) eggs on toast, which has become the standard fare he asks for anytime he’s hungry.
Feel better?
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March 23 2008 | leftovers | 2 Comments »
OK, so I didn’t actually make anything for dinner tonight. But I cranked out a helluva lot of waffles over the course of the day to fuel our Easter egg hunt (I think we unplugged the waffle iron at around 2:30) and munched on leftovers and peanut butter Easter eggs enough that we didn’t particularly want dinner. I think W ate the first third of about three apples, and Mike made a berry smoothie in an attempt to offset the effects of our poor grazing.
But the waffles weren’t really that unhealthy, made with whole wheat flour, an egg and canola oil. This is my favorite recipe, and one you should have if you own a waffle iron. (In fact, having this recipe easily justifies the purchase of a waffle iron.) It’s made with yeast, and stirred up the night before (the eggs are stirred in at the last minute) so it’s ready to go when you are. The resulting waffles are light and crispy, and make the house smell phenomenal on account of the yeast in the batter. I’m glad to have the opportunity to share it; being a dinner-themed blog, I sometimes wish I could report on our morning meals instead. More than once it has crossed my mind to launch Breakfast with Julie (or Breakfast at Julie’s? Like Tiffany’s?), but then I’d be documenting everything I ate every day and driving everyone crazy. Plus there are only so many ways to make a toasted bagel & peanut butter or a bowl of oatmeal interesting.
To top the waffles, I simmered some frozen wild blueberries in maple syrup until they popped, turning the syrup indigo. And sliced up strawberries to go in between the waffles and whipped cream, of course. If there’s bacon on the table, my Mom and I both like to wrap crispy slices in a wedge of soft waffle and eat it with our fingers.
Yeast-Raised Waffles
Usually I dump some ground flaxseed in these too - for some reason it’s undetectable - but I thought better of it since there were so many toddlers present (in diapers or in training)…
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp. (or 1 pkg.) active dry yeast
2 cups warmed milk (regular or soy)
1/4 cup melted butter, non-hydrogenated margarine or canola oil
2 cups all-purpose flour (or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat - I usually use half and half, then add some ground flax seed too)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. baking soda
In a large bowl, stir together the water and yeast - let it sit for a few minutes to make sure it’s active. If it doesn’t get foamy, toss it out. Stir in the milk, butter, flour, sugar and salt and whisk to get rid of any lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight (at room temp).
Just before you make your waffles, stir in the eggs and baking soda. The batter will be quite thin. Heat up your waffle iron (spray it first) and cook your waffles the way you normally do, using as much batter as the manufacturer suggests or you deem appropriate. (I use about a ladleful per waffle.)
Makes 6-8 big Belgian-style waffles (I have a machine that makes deep, round waffles).
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March 23 2008 | bread | No Comments »
