Cooking: Fun word or curse word?
Cooking - Fun word or curse word?
Some moms enjoy it, others despise it and many can take it or leave it. Before kids, I spent a lot of time cooking, even for a time photographed my creations and dabbled in making cooking videos. It was a creative outlet for me. I also find lots of pleasure in eating so cooking has been a way to tap into that. Since kids, there has been less cooking and creative time and instead, more go to staples.
What do I cook for my kids? Pasta.
When I cook things outside of pasta, it is getting cooked for me to enjoy and if my kids also enjoy it, that's a bonus. Their eating habits are so unpredictable that I mostly stick to pasta, rice or peanut butter sandwiches for them with different fruit, veggies and sides as options.
Our job when it comes to feeding our kids
This is from the work of Ellyn Satter, a registered dietician and family therapist. When feeding our kids, our job is determining what food is offered, when it's offered and where it's offered food; and our kids' job is to decide whether they eat and how much. So below is what that looks like practically.
Our job:
What: I decide what is served as options (what’s on the plate, available on the table)
When: I decide when food is offered (according to schedule, preferences, practical reasons)
Where: I decide where food is offered and eaten (table, kitchen, outside, car, etc.)
Kid’s job:
Whether: They decide whether or not they take a bite of something
How much: They decide how many bites they take of something
This idea helped take a lot of pressure off of me when I first learned about it. It was not my job to control, coerce, convince my child to try or eat certain foods. That is on them. They have the freedom to decide. I can offer foods I like such as roasted broccoli, strawberry smoothie, baked sweet potatoes, sauteed kale and whether they decide to try it or not is up to them.
Differences in kids
Having two children I get to see how I have handled food the same way with each of them and they still naturally have their own food preferences and tendencies. One child is more food curious than the other and tries lots of new and different foods, while the other tends to stick more to their tried and true, and even those can be hit or miss. It has reminded me that we can’t as parents take on all of the ownership over our kids' eating habits; they are individuals with preferences, tendencies, opinions and temperaments.
My go to, no recipe, meals lately:
Quinoa or pasta (I like the banza chickpea pasta) - with olive oil and nutritional yeast or lemon vinaigrette, olives, chopped veggies, chickpeas or tofu
Burritos - tortillas stuffed with beans, veggies, greens, hummus and wrapped, brushed with oil and baked or cooked on skillet, hot sauce and avocado on side|
Toast with fried egg- Dave's bread (yum!) with olive oil, fried egg with spices and more olive oil, avocado spread on top, if I have
Some of my regular recipes
Chocolate granola
Crispy Tofu
Potatoes
Crispy chickpeas
My go to hosting meal
Butternut squash risotto (I always skip the fried sage and add ground sage to make it easier)
Dutch oven no knead bread (for leftovers, I slice, freeze then toast when ready to eat)
Simple salad (I make a version of this with whatever fruit or nuts I have and then often just top with olive oil and a balsamic glaze)
Meals I prepped ahead and froze before giving birth
Freezer Breakfast Burritos
Seriously Good Vegetable Soup
Apple and Carrot Superhero Muffins
Butternut squash risotto
I love soups, here are some of my favorites
Instant Pot Sweet Potato Tortilla Soup
Basic + Awesome Broccoli Cheddar Soup (this is one I like to gift to others)
Spicy Black Bean Soup
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup (I usually make without wild rice and still think it’s delicious)
Kid friendly food resource
Feeding Littles & Beyond (I ike the pizza egg bites, chickpea coconut bites and chickpea “tuna” salad)
Favorite kitchen tools
Kyocera Chef’s Knife (this was recommended by Detoxinista and I can’t recommend it enough, I’ve been known to bring it with me to Air B&B’s to make sure I have a good chopping knife!)
Citrus Squeezer (not the one I have but looks similar)
Silicon Baking Mat (not the one I have but looks similar)
Eating Resource I’ve Found Helpful, recommended to me by my therapist
Eating in the Light of the Moon book
Favorite Recipe Site - Hands down
Cookie and Kate (absolute favorite, 10/10 recommend!)
Other Sites I Frequent
Love and Lemons
Minimalist Baker
Pinch of Yum