I had planned on writing a blog today about how I have no idea why I am trying to change our diet. Yesterday it felt like I was pulling teeth to get the kids to try the snacks that Sarah and I had made. (If you are wondering we made granola and applesauce - which were both delicious.) Then at dinner last night, Andy would not try the lentil soup I made and neither would Elizabeth which made them hungry campers since I only provided lentil soup and salad as a meal option. This morning we had a smoothie for breakfast followed by more complaining. I was beginning to feel desperate. I was wondering what on earth I was trying to do. I mean, who am I to try and change things from the mainstream? Why am I trying to go against the grain with our diet. Life would be so much easier if I just continued down the path of the Standard American Diet. (Is it a coincidence that the initials of the way we eat in this country spells the word 'SAD' - I think not.) My kids are just going to eat crap food when they are out of my house, so why on earth am I going to battle with them to try and change our diets inside this house? On and on my thoughts went like this all last night and into today. I finally remembered to say a quick little prayer and asked God to help me through these tough moments.
A while after my prayer a thought popped into my head. Yes, my kids are unhappy with the snack options and meal options right now, but there IS food in this house. Just not chips and cheese and crackers and an assortment of other junk food. We have granola, applesauce, fruit, veggies, salsa, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, & popcorn. Are they the food options my kids would prefer right now? Nope. Not on your life. BUT are they the foods that my kids will eat if they get hungry enough in between meals? You can bet your life on it. So, if they aren't hungry enough to eat an apple then they really aren't that hungry.
As I was mentally walking myself through the above thoughts I began to prepare dinner. I bought my first whole chicken (in order to be able to save money on our grocery budget) and cooked it tonight (in the crock-pot to boot! Who knew?!) fully expecting the kids to complain and kvetch through the whole dinner. I also made Yukon gold potatoes (partially boiled and then roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and pepper), Brussels sprouts and a large salad completed our meal. I was waiting for the complaining to start, and it never happened! All of the kids ate the salad (which wasn't too big of a surprise) and some of them tried the Brussels sprouts (Josh loves them). Everyone (except Josh) tried and ate all of their potatoes AND every single child of mine had seconds of the chicken because they liked it so much!!!! Victory for mom!
Everyone walked away from the table with a belly full of food. No one was hungry and everyone got the point that I am not trying to kill them, and that we will find foods that everyone finds appealing even while trying to avoid dairy and gluten. (Although I read through parts of two books today that advocated raw unpasteurized, homogenized milk. We also know of a family that advocates this type of milk very much. So, I may need to look into that. For now, we will remain dairy free.)
I was thankful to God that I received the pick-me-up that I needed tonight at dinner. Changing our diet is really, really hard. I know that there are going to be a million more times where I want to throw in the towel, but it's little victories like today that make all of the trouble worth it.
Hooray! Roasted chicken and potatoes is one of my family's favorite meals, too!
ReplyDeleteReading this made me think of a book I like called "French Kids Eat Everything". It talks quite a bit about ways to introduce kids to foods without forcing cajoling, pressure, etc. I learned a lot from it, as I used to stress out quite a bit about what my kids would eat (or not eat). Let me know if you want to borrow it.