What’s for dinner Muuuuuuum? Argh!

In keeping with my promise to myself, I’ve just written the first of hopefully MANY posts that aren’t specifically about autism for this year. I’m finding ‘me’ and who I am and what I like.

This is the #yearoftheoxygenmask after all

So…..

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There are four questions that I absolutely HATE in this house.

1. How much longer?

2. Do I have to do my homework?

and

3. What’s for dinner?

(Well, actually – this is a family blog so the fourth question that I hate will have to be left to your imaginations)

My answers to the top two questions are usually along the lines of:

1. “As long as a piece of string” (or never if you keep nagging me)

2. “Absolutely” “Hell yeah” or a sarcastic “No, We’ll just hand in a blank book” (which incidentally is NOT a good idea when you have extremely literal aspies!)

But for the third question, I usually fumble with my words and um and ah because I’m not known for being very organised in the whole cooking department. It is partly because I see it as a grand waste of time because my minions refuse to eat almost everything that I cook (therefore making me feel like a pile of manure) and it completely sucks having to think of something new to cook EVERY night knowing full well that it will probably be rejected anyway.

But  hoorah! Now I have a plan.

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OK….

(For those that know me…..don’t fall off your seats in shock- I know that creativity is not my strong point) but when I saw something like this on Pinterest a while ago – I have had it stored in my memory bank ever since and have been determined to try and make one when I got a spare moment.

So I found a small snippet of time (when I was able to hide from the kids and their incessant demands for me to entertain them, feed them garbage or sort out their latest squabble) and I made it and I’m super proud of how it turned out!

I struggle every single day to try and think of what on earth to cook at mealtimes as I have such fussy eaters in my family. There are a few tried and tested recipes that they don’t necessarliy actually eat ALL of but there are elements of every dish that they will have.

And lookie here 

I ACTUALLY made this!!!! (shock, horror, gasp!)

The idea is that every Monday, Ella gets to pick a meal, every Tuesday Harley does, Wednesdays Lucas does then the same order on Thursday, Friday and Sunday nights.  Mr Patient and I get to chose a special meal for just us for Saturday nights and tonight he cooked me Cajun blackened Chicken with pineapple and shallot rice.

Yup...he's a keeper!

The kids have to choose from the pile of meal cards that I have made up and because they get some say in what we will be eating….they actually enjoy it!  And the best part is that being visual learners – they can see at a glance what is for dinner so they can QUIT ASKING ME!

It’s a complete win/win don’t ya think?

Oh …. and another bonus? My grocery bill came down by $50 this week because I only bought the things that were on this week’s meal plan. Seems I’ve been buying a lot that I didn’t really need all this time! Ooops!

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Wordless Wednesday

My boy loves his food

How to get your kids to eat veggies…..

Ok, so that was a trick heading…..

Truth is…..there isn’t a way .

Not in this house anyway.

The only way my kids eat them ….is if I manage to get away with hiding them in their meal.

Like the time I cooked spaghetti bolognaise with vegetable juice added to the tomatoes.

Or the time I crafted home-made chicken nuggets from scratch and added puree squash and peeled zucchini (courgette) to the mix. (The breadcrumbs hide any tell-tale signs of the nasty “v” word!

And not forgetting the countless times that I have served them mini pizzas that I made myself and spread them with a mix of puree tomatoes, capsicum (red pepper) and onion (and just enough tomato sauce (ketchup) to hide the taste of the capsicum!

They still to this day think that they are only being made to eat a Hawaiian pizza. Cheese, ham and pineapple

I have spent 10 years now trying to allure them by steaming, roasting, stir-frying and  char-grilling every type, every colour and every variety of vegetable that exists.

All of these methods are commonly used in menus all over the world to entice diners into ordering the tasty dish that they are served with.

But not kids.

Uh uh.

So….what to do?

Well, I went to a dietician years ago who told me not to worry about it.

Um, excuse me???? I hear you ask?

Yep. Forget about it. Don’t force it, don’t belabour the point and as long as your child is growing steadily and reasonably healthy, it’s not a problem.

Fruit.

She told me fruit is the secret weapon.

Ooooh…kayyy? I answered slowly…..( secretly scanning the room for a quick escape route and thinking she had seriously lost her marbles).

I mean…..all the do-gooder magazine articles and countless healthy living books out there tell you that fruit contains too much sugar. And isn’t sugar what we’re supposed to be weaning our little ones OFF???

Well…Yes,AND no, she answered.

Yes, it’s not good for a child’s diet to consist ONLY of fruit, (tooth decay, obesity etc etc), it’s also an often overlooked source of nutrition and vitamins for them.

She told me that as long as my children were eating from all the other food groups, (whole-grains, cereals, etc etc) then eventually it will all even out in the wash.

She told me to introduce them to those fruits that hinge on the border between fruits and vegetables like avocado and tomatoes and that eating your typical plate of meat and 3 veg is not necessarily what she means.

She applauded my efforts in making my own tomato paste sauces with REAL tomatoes and rewarded me with an excited YES! when I described the avocado (guacamole type) dip I make with just avocado, garlic , lemon juice and a DAB of sour cream.

She explained that these are the ways that children eat vegetables in the way they are designed to be enjoyed.

Not with all the preservatives, additives and processed junk that is in store-bought convenience foods these days.

Now……I am definitely NOT a cook. In fact, not only do I not enjoy it, I would even go so far as to say that I literally CANNOT STAND cooking!

But I do it. I do it because a) we have to eat and b) it’s ACTUALLY cheaper in the long run and with all the food intolerances that are rife in my family – it’s easier too.

Tonight we had a simple meal.

Actually……Let me SHOW you,

See this here chicken?

Ten bucks already cooked at the supermarket , Five bucks if you buy it frozen and roast it yourself.  Me - I already told you I loathe un-necessary cooking!

Well…..cut it up, whack it on a plate with various colourful fruits , cheese and salad and you have a meal in less than 10 minutes.

Ok…..you got me…..yes, that is a piece of processed cheese that you see there on the plate. Hey….I never SAID I was perfect right?

So…..do they actually eat it?    ****   Well……judge for yourselves……

So……What’s for dinner at YOUR place?

I LOVE the taste but I HATE the smell Mum……

But I like the taste Mum........

I took this photo of Harley because I was highly amused (and proud) at his ingenuity to overcoming his sensory issues.

He couldn’t handle the smell of the Hoisin sauce that was on his noodles but desperately wanted to eat them!

Soo how do you get around that problem?

Easy……just eat with a peg on your nose!