Children As Meal Planners

[munchymom]

I just asked my 3-year-old what he wants for breakfast (he doesn't have sufficient foresight to plan for a whole day) and he said "No oatmeal." Okay, you don't want oatmeal, what *do* you want? "No Triscuits or Goldfish." [the snacks he had yesterday] Okay, no Triscuits or Goldfish, what do you want for breakfast? "You don't want anything." [He has a little, as Bugs Bunny would put it, pronoun trouble.] Toast? "No." Sausage? "No." Chex? "No." I guess he's not hungry.

[Pontormo]

NO!

Ask him what he wants you and the rest of the household to have for breakfast. Same (no)thing?

I'm curious.

[Pontormo]

As to the first post this morning, Rinsewind, thank you. I really am enjoying the answers all the children are providing.

Your own analysis of the banana theme seems spot-on. A Freudian would love it!

I also am touched by the fact that a four-year old would decide he would have to cook for his family, too. Your son sounds like a nutrionist's dream.

Among the answers supplied, there's already a nice range of balanced, adventurous, cosmopolitian meals; the kid-centric choices, such as the all-white theme; and among the older children, there are some signs of the kinds of adult tastes currently being villified, as one mother ruefully puts it "the Viking diet"*, or among Ling's students, the combination of healthful Asian treats and the fast food of the West....plus ribs.

Then, of course, there's the all-mashed potato diet and the all eggs all the time.

I do hope there will be a few more responses from places around the world in addition to North America.

If you haven't quizzed kids yet, but intend to, I'd like to ask a favor. Make sure you ask for meals that the entire family would have to eat that day---or after the meal is planned, would you mind asking, "Is that what you want your sister, me, etc. to eat, too?"

*However, at least there's a range of meat! Among the carnivores posting on eGullet, pork seems to reign supreme.

Edited November 22, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[jilli42]

12 year old son:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, toast

Lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with chips

Dinner: pizza and maybe a salad

Snacks: yogurt, chips, almonds, celery with peanut butter

7 year old daughter:

Breakfast: eggs over easy with fresh ground pepper and wheat toast or mommy's breakfast sandwiches - sharp cheddar, turkey bacon, fried egg white on whole wheat english muffins.

Lunch: fruit & yogurt or sushi & miso soup (she has been on a sushi kick lately)

Dinner: salmon, "some kind" of rice, roasted asparagus or broccoli. cookie dough ice cream for dessert. In case we don't have any salmon (she actually said this, she was really thinking this through) roasted chicken, "small red" potatoes, carrots and onions. ('Cause we always have those)

Snacks: cut up cucumbers, carrots, snow or sugar snap peas & red pepper strips with "dip", cheese & crackers, snickers, fruit

You can tell who is more of a food lover here. She loves to help in the kitchen and is always willing to try anything I make. She loves to try different foods whenever we go out to eat.

At least I have one person in the house who understands and one day will be able to empathize with the fact that I bought a $100 knife, because it was worth it, instead of looking at me like I was crazy and making the announcement that I "can't go to that cooking store alone anymore" This from the guy that is willing to shell out $600 for a gun that he will shoot maybe 6 times a year, I use my knife EVERYDAY.

[lcdm]

3 girls ; dinner menu.

4 year old: Macaroni and Cheese (she loves pasta and would eat it everyday) and ice cream and candy.

10 year old: pierogies, fried fish, pizza

13 year old: 1st thought the question was "if she had to make dinner" and promptly replied "cereal", then I explained and she said fajitas.

* I'll have to ask about the other meals.

Edited November 22, 2005 by lcdm (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

At least I have one person in the house who understands and one day will be able to empathize with the fact that I bought a $100 knife, because it was worth it, instead of looking at me like I was crazy and making the announcement that I "can't go to that cooking store alone anymore"      This from the guy that is willing to shell out $600 for a gun that he will shoot maybe 6 times a year, I use my knife EVERYDAY.

←

I know what you mean. Someone in my household thinks there is nothing wrong with the $10 knife that has "As Seen on TV" on the box.

[srhcb]

As luck would have it, I had a real life "Children as Meal Planners" experience yesterday.

As previously noted on this thread, my grandson Zach, age two, is a bit young to understand the concept of menu planning. However, he isn't shy about offering, ne demanding, input into selecting food for his immediate gratification. Lately he's taken up grabbing me by the hand, leading me into the kitchen, and saying, "Cook Poppa."

Last night, having preparation for dinner already well in hand, I asked what I should cook. "Cake!" Zach replied. (He's only recently learned to distinguish various baked sweets from each other. They all used to fall into his catchall category of "cookie".)

I didn't have a lot of extra time before I needed to make dinner, so I decided to throw together a simple pan cake previously known as Mock Chocolate Cake:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

In a 9x13 Baking Pan combine:

3 Cups AP Flour

2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Carob Powder (Cocoa would work as well, but more on that later)

2 tsp Baking Soda

Pour In:

2 Cups Strong Black Coffee (room temp)

2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tbl Vinegar

2 tsp Vanilla

Mix Well

Bake 30-35 minutes.

You can eat it as is, dusted with powdered sugar, or frosted

I like to use this easy Carmel Frosting:

1 Stick Butter

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Melt Butter in heavy medium-sized Pan

Over Med Heat stir in Brown Sugar

Bring to a boil for 2 minutes

Add Milk, return to boil 1 for 1 minute

Allow mixture to cool to room temp

Add Vanilla and Powdered Sugar

Stir until smooth and apply thick coat atop cooled Cake

In honor of Elmo, the Muppet character we'd been playing with on the computer, Zach and I renamed the cake "Tickle Me Cake". Besides being distinctive, this name provides me with the opening to ask, whenever the subject of the cake comes up, (which is quite often), "What kind of cake is it?", to which Zach has to reply, "Tickle me!". Then he gets tickled and laughs uproariously. It works every time.

Now, the reason Tickle Me Cake uses Carob rather than Cocoa is because a significant portion of everything Zach eats ends up on the floor and subsequently is consumed by our dogs. Chocolate isn't healthy for dogs, although they can eat carob. (In fact, the reason I used carob in this recipe the first time was because I had some left over from making Dog Brownies.)

Zach always eats the frosting off the cake first and then asks for more. He's always told he must finish what he has on his plate first, so he either stuffs the entire cake into his mouth at once, or sneaks some to the fore-mentioned canine cohorts.

Ah, a chunk of Tickle Me Cake, a Sippi Cup of chocolate milk, and a Shrek dvd. That's Livin'!

[Pontormo]

And before I dash, I wanted to add:

Karen C.: Will you see some of these nieces and nephews on Thanksgiving? ....

←

They’re all going to be there. It’ll make an interesting game.

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Did you play?

Or if, not, did you learn anything new about them by the choices they made at the table?

[Lori in PA]

17 yodd:

Breakfast:

Eggs Benedict with Basil Hollandaise (I make)

some really nice juice to go with it

Lunch:

"something like I would get at that restaurant in Carlisle (PA) -- California Cafe"

some nice bread to go along

Dinner:

Gnocchi

Italian salad

water

bread

13 yods:

unavailable for comment

10 yods:

Breakfast:

yogurt

bagel

oj

Lunch:

fried chicken

breadsticks

water

carrots

Dinner:

sushi

water

egg drop soup in a bread bowl (his invention, apparently)

[I_call_the_duck]

Thanksgiving with my side of the family is a loud and chaotic event. We didn't play at the table, but I managed to pull some of the kids aside afterwards. Here's what I learned:

15 year-old niece

breakfast - no time for the most important meal of the day.

lunch - sandwich on whole wheat (either turkey or other deli meat)

dinner - broiled chicken or fish, steamed broccoli

if she knew how to cook it, Thai food (her words)

backup - sushi, or Chinese take-out

10 year-old nephew

breakfast - egg white omelet on bagel, milk

lunch - turkey sandwich w/ lettuce on a baguette

dinner - pasta w/ pesto, grilled vegetables

What was intertesting about this was that these two are siblings. I interviewed them separately, and they planned very similar meals. I could see that they are greatly influenced by my sister.

six year-old nephew

breakfast - pancakes

lunch - ramen noodles (orange bag)

dinner - Chinese food (take-out)

Not surprising here. His parents are workaholics who generally have little time to cook a real meal.

And there were no surprises at the Thanksgiving table. The 15 and 10 year-olds ate pretty much everything. Their parents are a bit health conscious and also love to eat at ethnic restaurants. The other set of kids (a nine year-old and two six year-old twins) are picky eaters and mainly chose beige food--white meat, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, zucchini...and stayed away from the sweet potatoes, onions, cranberry chutney, and sticky rice. (I don't know what exactly they actually ate, but I'd guess just turkey and potatoes.) The only exception was the gravy.

[Pontormo]

Interesting, Lori! Teen-ager's rather sophisticated and the 13-year old, well that's kind of typical, too.

I think the ten-year old's inventive spirit is great. Soup in bread bowls were a popular item in St. Louis when I lived there. Someone should make ribollito with the child...or one of the simple combinations of egg, leftover bread, kale and broth that Judy Rodgers recommends in Zuni Cafe Cookbook.

And Ms. I. C. Duck: Thanks! So glad the broccoli lover is still into it. I appreciate your comments, especially, since you have noticed how parents influence children and observed divergences in the same family. It's also interesting that the older niece thought she should cook the Thai food. Take-out's a last resort.

Does anyone know what's age-appropriate for the all-white/beige diet? When do kids grow out of it?

Edited November 28, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

And Ms. I. C. Duck: Thanks!  So glad the broccoli lover is still into it.  I appreciate your comments, especially, since you have noticed how parents influence children and observed divergences in the same family.  It's also interesting that the older niece thought she should cook the Thai food.  Take-out's a last resort. 

Does anyone know what's age-appropriate for the all-white/beige diet?  When do kids grow out of it?

←

I almost laughed when my niece said broccoli. And to clarify something, I did say she had to cook. I figured that ordering or going out may be too vague (and a last resort type of thing). But she did express an interest in cooking real Thai food. Good kid.

To answer your second question, I don't think some kids do grow out of it. I went to college with someone who pretty much only ate beige food!