Solving the Problem of Picky Eaters

I have raised picky eaters.  I know this.  And I know that it is primarily my fault.  Lame.  Having picky eaters means that trying new recipes is always a rather hellish experience.  You find a recipe.  You buy the ingredients.  You spend time preparing the recipe.  It arrives at the table.  And people fuss and moan.  I tend to take this personally.  And suddenly dinner becomes an obstacle, something that makes me dread the end of the day.  No good.

My dilemma:  I want my kids to try new foods, but I hate the process of researching, buying, cooking, crashing and burning.

Two weeks ago during my quiet time (yes, I pray about stuff like this) I was ranting to Jesus about how much I despise dinner time.  And He brought to mind something that a friend has been doing called Blue Apron.  They send you recipes with all the ingredients.  There are online videos you can watch.  It's a different recipe every time.  New foods.  Less work.

I figured it was way out of our budget.  My sister-in-law uses the phrase "for rich people."  Right?  Nope.  For two meals a week, it was just a little more than what I would spend at the grocery store for the same stuff.  That's about how often I feel like I can get away with introducing new stuff to the boys.  Twice a week.  So I signed up, not really knowing how all this would shake down.

We received our first Blue Apron box on Friday and tried our first meal out on Saturday.  Erik actually did all the cooking because my sinus infection continues to lay me a bit low.  Our first recipe was Chicken Parmesan with Fresh Mozzarella and Spinach-Zucchini Pasta.  We made a slight variation for the boys.  Instead of topping their chicken with the diced tomato and onion saute, we topped theirs with plain tomato sauce with a touch of brown sugar, a variation of my much-beloved meat sauce.  We plated the food and made it look shiny.  Presentation is everything, right?

We also grabbed two marbles for each boy (worth ten minutes of weekend video game time) and put them on the table.  We explained to the boys that the marbles would be earned by trying everything and only saying positive things about the meal.  And it worked.  They totally ate the food.  Yes, they were unsure.  Yes, they balked a bit.  But they both tried the chicken and ate it.  Paul ate half of his chicken breast and loads of pasta.  Luke ate all of his chicken and all of his pasta.  SUCCESS.  I'm not kidding.  I nearly wept.

Tonight was our second Blue Apron evening.  We had spent some time talking with the boys about how Blue Apron nights are always going to be something new.  And we told them that our next meal was going to be catfish.  Yes.  Catfish.

Erik and I cooked together this time.  Dukkah-Crusted Catfish with Sugar Snap Pea & Couscous Salad.  I know.  I felt like it might be asking too much of them.  But I just decided to go with it.  The kitchen smelled amazing.  We plated the food again.  We put the marbles on the table, reminded them how to earn them, and prayed over the food.  They ate it.  For real.  My kids ate catfish.  They struggled more with the couscous because it was a larger variety than they are used to and we put lemon on it.  They don't love lemon.  Guess what?  I can serve the lemon wedges on the side and folks can lemon their own couscous next time, boys.

At the end of the meal, Luke actually said something like, "I like Blue Apron."  Me, too, buddy.  For sure.

 No, I won't stop and pose.  I'm eating.  (Our first night, Paul decimated his Spinach Zucchini Pasta.)

Empty chicken plate.  Working on his pasta.  Also unwilling to stop eating and pose.  :-)

Green Belts, Sunriver, and Other Bits

We've had a full May so far.  I would love to wax eloquent about all we've been doing, but I have a sinus infection. So, I'll just post pictures and tell a few of the stories instead.

Two weeks ago the boys earned their green belts at Taekwondo.  They were so excited.  You might notice someone missing.  It's true.  I haven't been back to class since earning my orange belt (with a broken toe) in March.  That toe took awhile to heal, and my Friday mornings were often filled by an adorable three year old with a Daddy waiting for a heart transplant.  Providing childcare for my friend was more important.  Will I go back to Taekwondo?  I don't know yet.  It was fun.  But I also broke two toes in six months.  So...the jury is still out.  Here are the pics.

 Holding their green belts after testing.

Looking fierce with Master Nirangen.  I love how Luke is looking at his instructor...he thinks pretty highly of this man.  So do I.

Paul searches for bugs with our three year old guest.  By the way, his daddy got a new heart on May 1st, the day this picture was taken.  When his mom arrived to pick him up, we were among the first to hear that there was a donor heart.  After praying so hard for so long (about 100 days at OHSU) it was more than surreal to hear that the time had finally come.  The transplant was a complete success and Bob continues to do well with no signs of rejection.  We don't get to see our little man as often now, but we rejoice with him and his family. And Bob says he is going to start blogging, so look for that link soon!

Then we went for a hike.  Oy.  This post is evidence of the fact that Sudafed does weird things to me.  Sorry for the crazy, random writing.  Pictures.  Let's stick to pictures.

 I can't even remember what was upsetting Paul, but I just had to post this.  Sometimes this is what life is like.

 Later we found this cool tree and Paul was happier.

Then they switched places.

I got cute haircut.  Wanna see?

Before

After

Noel at Vanity Junkie rocks.

And most recently, the boys and I took a trip to Sunriver by ourselves.  Erik had to be in Vegas for his National Sales Meeting this past week, so we packed up the van and went on vacation.  It was such a brilliant idea.  Of course it wasn't perfect the entire time.  They are kids.  And I'm a flawed mom.  But seriously, no requirements on our time and lots of fun things to do made the week fly by.  We went to the SHARC, the totally awesome aquatic center, each day we were there.  And there were no crowds and no traffic.  Magic.

 Our first afternoon at the cabin.  Their faces say it all perfectly.

 Chess.  It's a big thing here now.  Luke is the one who loves it.  Paul plays because he loves his brother.  And I play because I love my son.  

 Our second day, a Wednesday, and they are the only kids in the pool.  Seriously folks.  In the summer this place is packed.  You can't move two feet without bumping into someone.  This is better.

 In the evenings we would clear the table together after dinner, do the dishes and then either play a game or watch a movie.  This was the night we ate mini chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joe's and I taught the boys to play Yahtzee.  Luke's quote for the night as the game progressed, "It's all just random, isn't it?"  I think chess is more his speed, but Yahtzee is more his mama's speed!  Poor child.

 So, I recently learned that coffee doesn't really stunt your growth.  At all.  And the caffeine might actually help the ADHD brain to slow down a bit.  Guess who got to try coffee on our trip?  Yep.  My kids.  To be clear, they are drinking about two tablespoons of coffee with two tablespoons of almond milk and a drop of agave.  They liked the idea of drinking coffee with mom, just like dad.  But in reality, they weren't really into it.  Oh, well.  Maybe in five more years.

The weather wasn't really all that great, but it didn't matter.  They put up their hoods and were just fine.  This is the rock climbing area outside the SHARC.  We spent time there when we arrived before it opened on Thursday.

Then we came home.  We have four weeks left of school.  We will finish later in June than the public schools, and we will start earlier in August than they do.  But having weeks in the middle of the year to do trips like this one is TOTALLY worth it.  Yes, we will still go to Sunriver in July, and yes, it will be WAY crazier. But Erik and I are already looking ahead to find some time in September or October when we can get away with the boys and enjoy the quiet of the cabin.