Cooking for my children is not a gratifying experience. I am not a terrible cook (according to Michael), I enjoy cooking when I have time, I like making new recipes, I have a subscription to Cooking Light and use the web archive of recipes often. One of the reasons I need my computer in the kitchen is to access the recipes I've stored. (I realize that not everyone likes to cook, I'm pretty sure that there are things they do that I am not interested in doing. One of my good friends doesn't cook, but is a good gardener, which is something I very much dislike, for example.)
If you ask Eleanor, however, I make the worst food in the world. After much bargaining we agreed that she is free to dislike what I make, she is free to tell me how much she dislikes it, but once we sit down at the table she can't comment on how awful the food is. She keeps her end of the bargain, and I only make her eat a few bites of the main dish, a good serving of vegetables or fruit, and then she can have bread with or without butter, and maybe some cheese. If she had her way, we'd eat pancakes every day, although she will eat hamburgers (no bun, with lots of ketchup). There are a few other things I make that I think she has grown a little fond of---I can tell because she doesn't complain quite as vigorously.
Amanda is a special case. She likes eating MEAT, which is good because there isn't really a lot else she can eat. She's the main reason we cook a lot: since she's allergic to wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nuts, and barley, it's hard to buy processed food. It is surprisingly easy to modify many of Cooking Light's main dish recipes to avoid these allergens---use rice pasta, or rice bread crumbs, or applesauce instead of eggs. Her favorite meal is my crock pot beef stew. I have given up baking for her (except pancakes) since I don't think I've ever made any cookie or muffin from scratch that she hasn't taken one bite of and wiped the rest off her tongue. I'm afraid that there is something in there that she's allergic to, so I don't make her eat it, but it is disheartening to make something specially for her and have it rejected. I made pumpkin muffins for her preschool class on Halloween using oat and rice flour and egg replacer. Amanda didn't like them, but the rest of the class enjoyed them.
Today I "cooked" for Luke for the first time: peas and brown rice puree. I felt very virtuous for making my own baby food. He was completely unimpressed---he made an awful face and started reaching for the stuff from the jar. Sigh. I was hoping that he'd like my cooking for a while before the dislike settled in, no such luck.
If you ask Eleanor, however, I make the worst food in the world. After much bargaining we agreed that she is free to dislike what I make, she is free to tell me how much she dislikes it, but once we sit down at the table she can't comment on how awful the food is. She keeps her end of the bargain, and I only make her eat a few bites of the main dish, a good serving of vegetables or fruit, and then she can have bread with or without butter, and maybe some cheese. If she had her way, we'd eat pancakes every day, although she will eat hamburgers (no bun, with lots of ketchup). There are a few other things I make that I think she has grown a little fond of---I can tell because she doesn't complain quite as vigorously.
Amanda is a special case. She likes eating MEAT, which is good because there isn't really a lot else she can eat. She's the main reason we cook a lot: since she's allergic to wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nuts, and barley, it's hard to buy processed food. It is surprisingly easy to modify many of Cooking Light's main dish recipes to avoid these allergens---use rice pasta, or rice bread crumbs, or applesauce instead of eggs. Her favorite meal is my crock pot beef stew. I have given up baking for her (except pancakes) since I don't think I've ever made any cookie or muffin from scratch that she hasn't taken one bite of and wiped the rest off her tongue. I'm afraid that there is something in there that she's allergic to, so I don't make her eat it, but it is disheartening to make something specially for her and have it rejected. I made pumpkin muffins for her preschool class on Halloween using oat and rice flour and egg replacer. Amanda didn't like them, but the rest of the class enjoyed them.
Today I "cooked" for Luke for the first time: peas and brown rice puree. I felt very virtuous for making my own baby food. He was completely unimpressed---he made an awful face and started reaching for the stuff from the jar. Sigh. I was hoping that he'd like my cooking for a while before the dislike settled in, no such luck.
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