eating

So here's my theory on my kids and eating (with only 4 years of experience): they need variety and lots of chances to develop their tastes. I heard once that it takes 20 or 30 times of trying something before you can develop a like or dislike.



Life is way too short to eat tasteless canned corn and limp pale peas too many times in a year when there are options like spinach with salad fixings, stir-fried asparagus, mashed sweet and white potatoes and grilled fresh green beans. And that's just the vegetable part of things.



Granted there are things that are more difficult to serve to kids, but they won't learn to appreciate a variety if they are in college when they first try them. It might be too late to develop a varied palatte at that point. Kids will eat beef and broccoli on rice, sprouted wheat bread, plain yogurt, grapefruit and oatmeal pancakes if that what is being served.



What Mary Poppins said about a spoonful of sugar is quite accurate. Sometimes it takes a slice or two of cheese, a sprinkle of parmesan, a little syrup and butter, a squirt of strawberry syrup or a generous amount of jam for the good stuff to go down, but think of the variety one misses when only frozen pizza, fish sticks, chicken wads, pop tarts and cocoa puffs comprise a person's diet.



I'd make a terrible vegan. Grilled steak is too succulent. Sour cream finishes the taste of so many things from chili to salsa and chips. And without cheese, a piece of life would be missing. Completely sticking to everything organic is great in theory until I visit the six-aisles of my hometown grocery store. Not to mention that I'd leave the grocery store with significantly fewer bags and smaller containers considering organic prices. But variety is such a fine concept.



So for right now, my theory is I make no conclusions about my children's definite dislikes yet. I have so many new recipes to try.