Food and Family

It's been a week since my last post and my mind has been disconnected a bit from blogging, taken up with reading good books, the constant multi-tasking of parenting, watching a few interesting shows (namely, Downton Abbey), and other household tasks like looking after my husband's baby grape vines that he just put into the ground. 

During this past week, though, the girls and I have had quite a few opportunities to cook together.  I have read in many different places that  a good way to get your kids interested in more interesting food is to have them help prepare the meal.  My young elementary-age children are now all at a point that they can help either prep food and/or cook it under supervision.  Even though my girls eat well and healthfully the majority of the time, I wouldn't say that they are terribly adventurous eaters.  But, regardless, I gave them assignments for helping me with the food preparation and it peaked their interest.  Isabella, #1, made a caramelized onion and apple sauce to put on the roasted pork loin.  Selah, #2, who says she doesn't prefer yams, nonetheless mashed the yams for me.  Then, she proceeded to prepare green beans which we sauteed with sliced garlic and topped with bacon pieces.  When it came to dinner time, everyone seemed much more interested in eating than usual and each of the girls was complementing each other on a job well done, even those that hadn't done any preparing.  Selah decided after a small bite of mashed yams that she actually liked them more than she thought and she declared her sauteed green beans to be "scrumptious".  Isabella was quite taken with her sauce for the pork and even cajoled her little sister Livia, #4, into trying it which lead to more request for caramelized onions and apples on the rest of her pork bites.  My girls have always been very interested in helping with cooking and baking, but this recent dinner has encouraged me to have the girls themselves prepare ingredients that they might not usually choose for themselves in order to develop their sense of adventure in cooking and eating.