Sometimes it's not easy being the mom.
I'm referring to the three wonderful and much-loved, people that comprise my immediate family and their eating habits.
Let's just say they have distinct and different tastes. This makes them and food shopping a huge pain in the ass. Which makes cooking the food I shop for a huge pain in the ass, also. Take for example, the logistics of the local supermarkets near my house. To the left is a shiny, clean, full of Whole Foods Supermarket. To the right is my tiny, local, well appointed but supremely expensive supermarket. Both of about equal distance from my home. Now, one would think that in today's day and age, savvy moms like me would buy organic, fresh and healthy food choices for their families and live happily ever after. Right?
Not in my house. I have to remind my daughter that Chips Ahoy is not a member of the four basic food groups. And my son that powdered doughnuts are for occasional treats, not a staple in a growing boy's diet. My Guy? He's worse than both of them because he thinks that Pop Tarts and a banana is the Breakfast of Champions. And I give up.
So then I think, I will lead by example. I will leave fresh fruits on the counter for my children to graze at when they arrive home from school. Wholesome nuts and occasional dried fruits accompany the fresh fruits.....along with green mold that builds up from not being eaten. Fresh veggies and poultry and or fish that I cook for dinner is becoming increasingly expensive when they ALL turn their noses up at it. Herein lies my problem.
I need to shop at the Whole Foods for my diet. I need the fresh produce, the healthy choices and now the sugar free options the super market provides. But I can't get Froot Loops at Whole Foods....I know what you're thinking. "You can get Organic Frootie O's at Whole Foods. They won't even know the difference."
Really, well I didn't go to school just to eat lunch. I tried that. Epic Fail.
Seriously, I've tried just about everything to get them to eat healthier and to no avail. What I find so hilarious is now, my daughter has decided she is going vegetarian. All of a sudden she will only eat veggies and pasta. Of course, Nutella on fruit and waffles and toast are fine, as well as her beloved Chips Ahoy. Oh yeah and Cheeseburgers have been deemed suitable for her vegetarian diet. I have to give her credit though, she will eat my veggies and she LOVES fish, but I wonder where the "I don't like milk, mom." is coming from.
AND she's the easy one...The other two? For the love of all that is green on God's earth, give me strength, because if it is not USDA Prime with potatoes and some gravy, they're not eating it. Which means I'm heading to two super markets a week and making, sometimes, two meals a night. I can't always eat what they eat and she's definitely not eating what they eat so I might as well hire a fricken chef because I'm EXHAUSTED!!
Am I nuts?
I'm going back to basics. I'm rolling all Old School on them and telling them that they will eat what I put in front of them and they will like it, or they won't eat at all. Let's see how that goes over. I can just imagine the revolt.
In the mean time, I will continue my almost daily trek through BOTH supermarkets. And like the song says.....sometimes it's nice to go where everybody knows your name.
My mother was the "old school" variety. Eat what I put in front of you, or sit there. And maybe you can make your own damn peanutbutter and jelly sandwhich later. But it never came to that, because you knew better than to not eat what was served you.
ReplyDeleteI can't do Whole Foods. I tried them once. All I need was yellow mustard. How hard could it be? I've never been back. But I will hit up Trader Joe's for healthier stuff.
And with 2 people with different tastebuds than myself moving in soon, I feel ya, I think.
But the real question: What kind of Pop-Tarts? Cherry are my favorites, but the chocolate with the white filling are aces, too. But with a banana? I'd go brown sugar cinnamon. (Frosted, naturally. The unfrosted are for health nuts and taste of @$$.)
I forgot what I was going to comment because the word verification has thrown me a curveball. The word verification is "penne" and that is the pasta my mother continues to purchase. Nobody eats it, but she keeps buying it. She's been buying it for so long for other people, she's gotten in the habit of buying it. But now, there's nobody who eats it. Right now, she has a cupboard in the linen closet full of penne.
ReplyDeleteOld School, Old School, OLD SCHOOL!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy word ver was "unchy," which, with the block letters looked like "undy." Tee-hee.
No Wegman's near you? Man can live very well on basalmic vinegar marinated cipolini onions, I've discovered . . . mmmm.
ReplyDeleteOld school is definitely the way to go, as is the constant reminder that "there are children starving in Biafra, who would be very happy to have that." Try that line, and let me know how it works. I could never find a food-safe mailing envelope in 1968, or some lucky little skinny Biafran kid would have gotten more eggplant parmesan than he knew what to do with . . .
Also try "Cooking Light" magazine. Tons of tinkered-with traditional recipes that you can eat, and they won't know the difference . . . less fat, fewer carbs, etc. . . . whatever you're trying to do. If I can get mine to eat lima beans, Szechuan peanutty flank steak, and a warm Spanish brussels sprout salad, you can get them to eat good stuff too.
Being exiled from New England as I am, the one food group which is out of my reach (unless I order online, and sneak around with them like a crack addict, or something) is the Whoopie Pie Family, which includes cream horns, flip cakes, and other such nutritious and delectable treats that you find in select health food stores like Cumberland Farms, 7-11s, and various snack shops run by the petroleum companies ;-)
[For the uninitiated, or those unlucky enough to have never been to New England, the best ones are made by French-Canadians; here's a link ---http://www.labadiesbakery.com/ . . . and yes, I'll share the order with you :-) ]
XO
Anyone that will eat Nutella has a dietary problem, lol !
ReplyDeleteYou need to bring your family here for a month. Believe me they’ll appreciate every little (healthy) thing in the grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteGod I miss Whole Foods. I miss so much normal food.
Really, you need a Wegmans. One stop shopping. Fresh organic fruits & veggies, Fruit Loops, Pop Tarts and USDA beef, with gravy in a jar on the side. I do believe they are slowly headed your way. You will be assimilated!
ReplyDeleteI SAY GO OLD SCHOOL!!!
ReplyDeleteMAY YOUR PIMP HAND BE STRONG!!
iffn they don't like it, they don't have to eat it!!
Because the world is not filled with chefs, just waiting to serve them when they grow up and move out of the house.
so yes old school it CANDY and again,
MAY YOUR PIMP HAND BE STRONG!!
Go for it Girl. And if they get hungry enough, they'll eat anything.
ReplyDelete