MomOfLittleFoodies

I hope things are going ok with you, winesonoma! My most recent hospital incarceration ended 2 weeks ago (birth of 4th kidlet), and while there, I had 1 turkey sandwich (kidlet born after dinner), 1 decent breakfasts, and 1 lousy lunch and dinner each. I made sure to order whatever fresh fruit was offered at each meal to horde for the middle of the night... I kept full on bananas, apples, apple juice and a lovely quiznos sub that the hubby smuggled in the last night I was there.

My mother-in-law has a nice collection of Japanese and Japanese inspired stoneware, pottery and porcelain. I've always loved how the Japanese pay so much attention to how food is presented.

Wow Kristin, it all looks good, but that rabbit mochi is so darned cute.

Someone remind me to stop going to dinners in other people's homes. I had no idea people were this tetchy about special diets. I always warn people that the stuff I make or bring isn't typical though.

I'm 35 weeks pregnant right now, and I'm avoiding soft, unpastuerized cheese, fish that are high on the food chain (read high levels of mercury), raw or very rare meats, peanuts and tree nuts. The peanuts and tree nuts are because I'm trying to avoid peanut/tree nut allergy with this baby. I've eaten cold cuts, eggs with runny yolks and some sushi through my pregnancies. As far as sushi goes, I avoid the raw fish items, but they are not a big favorite of mine to begin with. There's a bulletin board at ivillage that is for women due around the same time I am, and I'm always surprised at how much stuff they feel they need to avoid eating.

My boy? Noooo. Strangely he barely eats when he's visiting friends.

I'm not Helen, but I grew up in a family of mixed backgrounds (Mom's family is Japanese, Dad's is European-American). Breakfasts were very much Westernized in our house, but lunch and dinner went either way. We had sukiyaki, yakisoba, curry rice and tonkatsu just as often as anything Western for dinner. Lunches outside of school involved lots of ramen, somen and what I now call "sato joyu surprise", which is basically whatever canned meat (typically sardines, hot dogs or bologna). My husband is from a Japanese-American family, and the foods he ate growing up lean a little more towards the Japanese end of the spectrum. Typically what I cook at home leans a bit more towards Western because until last month, my oldest son was allergic to soy products. Now that he can have soy products again, I've been able to welcome things like soy sauce, tofu and miso into our home, and I'm getting used to being able to cook with it again, rather than have to sneak shoyu onto my food after it's cooked.

I wouldn't say her choices are based on her dietary restrictions. She likes waffles because the kind I keep on hand are tasty enough to eat without syrup. They're frozen, organic blueberry waffles that are dairy and egg free (oldest son is egg allergic). I've yet to find a good recipe for dairy and egg free waffles. When I ask the kids what they want for breakfast on mornings that we're not rushing out the door like maniacs, they always ask for pancakes and sausage without fail. When the kids spend the night with my in-laws, my in-laws know that by default, they'll have pancakes and sausage for breakfast. My 6 year old will eat pancakes and sausage for any meal given the opportunity.

My mother-in-law makes a chicken hot pot that she called shabu shabu, even though it's technically not shabu shabu. She uses one of those electric skillet thingies to make it.

I'm no help with the rices availible in Japan, but I've found that the California grown musenmai rices turn out a lot better if you wash it, even though it says you don't need to.

I try not to donate stuff like cranberry sauce and creamed corn... it seems like these end up in the barrels at the food drives most often. Most of the grocery stores around here offer a bag of staples that you can buy and set in the barrel on your way out for about $10. Generally includes peanut butter, dried pasta, canned meats, canned veggies, dried beans, cereal, etc. Once a year I clean out my pantry and donate anything that has been in the cupboard for over 6 months (so long as it hasn't expired). As my oldest son has gained or outgrown allergies, I've also donated the stuff he could no longer use... once this included A LOT of gluten free stuff. Each time I have had a new baby, I've also donated the formula samples I've received. I've also donated baby food in the past.

Hmmm... they get to choose meals for a day 8 year old son would choose the following breakfast- pancakes and maple sausages lunch- tuna salad sandwiches, chips apple slices and edamame dinner- roast chicken with steamed rice, brocolli or artichokes, and gravy 6 year old son would choose the following breakfast- pancakes and sausage lunch- corn dogs, yogurt and watermelon dinner- plain pasta, meatballs and more watermelon 3 year old daughter would choose the following breakfast- pancakes or waffles with sausage lunch- sunflower seed butter sandwiches, ramen noodles, and soy yogurt dinner- yakisoba My 8 year old is something of a gourmet compared to his peers. He likes good cheese, green veggies, sushi, fish, bbq anything and ethnic foods. He has multiple food allergies, so he learned from a young age to enjoy "different" foods, although he's glad he can eat wheat and soy again. My 6 year old is kind of picky... he likes fish, loves rice, noodles and bread and loves most things deep fried. He hasn't met a sausage he doesn't like either. He will eat pretty much any fruit but citrus... loves melon, grapes and bananas. The 3 year old is going through a picky stage. Loves scrambled eggs, noodles, spicy food. The only green things she allows on her plate at sugar snap peas and avocado. She's allergic to dairy products and apples so a lot of typical kid favorites are a no go for her.

The Safeways in my area did the same thing about 2 years ago in order to compete with places like Andronicos and Whole Foods. It worked out pretty well as far as I can tell.

I have 3 kids, ages 8, 6 and 3, with one more coming in about 6 weeks. I expect my kids to behave in restaurants and coffee shops... but I have reasonable expectations too. I don't expect small children to sit quietly and eat, but I do expect them to try to use indoor voices, expect them to stay seated unless it's an emergency and to be polite. I expect them to be a bit fidgety, ask to go to tbe restroom a few times. and wiggle just a bit when they've been sitting still too long. If they start to act up, they get 1 warning, and then they go outside As a parent, what really hacks me off are the kinds of parents that let their kids run around restaurants, roughhouse, throw things and in general be rude. It's a lot harder for me to keep control of my horde when there are kids running around pushing each ohter. We were recently at a family style restaurant, already seated with our food, when this couple comes in with their sons, about the same age as our older two, and sits at a table next to us. Their kids ended up roughhousing with each other, knocking over chairs, running and fighting. The parents never said a word to their kids, even after one of them nearly knocked over my daughter's high chair. I was pretty hacked off. I can understand some wiggling and loudness out of preschool aged kids, but 8 and 6 year olds should know better, and their parents should have at least attempted to correct their children rather than ignoring them.

I'm 8 months pregnant right now, so it's been 8 months of cravings. This time around, I've craved coconut shrimp, beef teriyaki, miso soup, curly fries from Jack in the Box, Haagen Daz Creme Brulee ice cream, Chef Boyardee Ravioli, chocolate cake, Beef and Potato burritos from Taco Bell, Chicken McNuggets... the list gets kind of weird.

I made french bread pizzas at the request of my 8 year old son. Quick and easy. Pizza sauce, mozzarella and parm, pepperoni and black olives.

The fruit on the dekopon wrapper looks a lot like a tangelo.

When the temple my family attends does their yearly mochitsuki, they make both the plain mochi (the special ones for butsudan and the kind for eating) and a basic daifuku style stuffed with typical red anko or the white an. I didn't know that daifuku had a separate name until I started reading here.

I use my fork left-handed when I'm using a knife with my right, or when my 6 year old son insists on sitting to my right. He's a leftie, so if he sits to my right, I eat left-handed to avoid the battle of the elbows.

I really like the gobo tenpura kamaboko, and that half circle neon pink and white stuff. Mom sometimes tosses the former into yakisoba.

Ah ok... this is often not the case with people with Celiac Disease. Most people who have Celiac Disease are on complete gluten elimination diets. That said, I've had very good luck with recipes from a cookbook called The Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg. My oldest son was on a wheat and oat free diet from age 3 1/2 to age 6 1/2.

Just as an FYI, barley bread is not a good idea for someone with celiac disease. Barley is a gluten bearing grain.

You can make your own uzu (mortar) to make mochi in. The big Buddhist temple that my family goes to in Los Angeles made uzus out of galvanized washtub that they filled with cement and sunk a metal mixing bowl into while the cement was still wet.

You might also want to check the toaster oven/oven toaster thread on this forum.

Our tap water comes from the Sacramento River Delta, and at certain times of the year, no matter how much you filter it, it still tastes kind of muddy. I use bottled water for drinking during those times.