Eating away from home

We are on our second week of Spring Break.  The first of which, we spent in Ohio visiting friends and family.  Of course – when searching for available times to meet up with friends and family, the schedule is going to almost always revolve around food.  Such was the case with my friend, Erin, and her family.  Erin’s husband, Brian, is a fabulous cook and loves to make such wonderful things.  Of course – these wonderful things might cause panic in a child that is a picky eater and worries about what people are going to try and feed him.  However, Erin and her family are also very kind and caring and know of the boy’s apprehension towards food.  So, rather than make just one thing, Brian made a whole variety of things.  There were crab cakes (which the boy tried….) and there was beef tenderloin, halibut, asparagus, cauliflower, and so many other amazing foods to choose from.  In the middle of dinner when it appeared that the boy might be overwhelmed by it all, Brian brought out a bowl of baby carrots for the boy.  Ahhhhh….something familiar and edible in the boy’s eyes.  It was a wonderful and stress free evening…for us.  And by the way, the boy LOVED the fish. 

What did we learn from all of this?  Well, beyond the fact that Erin and Brian are amazing hosts, we learned that if you put  it up front that there is a picky eater in the family, people are willing to try and cater to that.  We don’t ask anyone to go overboard, but if someone is planning a complete menu with things on it the boy is totally going to turn from, we do ask if they mind if we bring something else along for the boy.  It can be difficult and awkward, but is always met with understanding. 

Thanks to Brian and Erin for a delicious dinner and wonderful evening! 

Casseroles

Sometimes I get so excited about trying new things for the boy, that I forget that there are some important “rules” to keep in mind. 

Enter the Hot Dog Cornbread casserole.  The boy LOVES his vegetarian hot dogs.  And the boy really likes cornbread.  The boy will eat actual corn if it is attached to the ear and grilled to perfection (as only my husband can do).  So, when I came across a recipe that included all of these items and a few seasoning ingredients, I thought to myself what a great idea!  Here is where the rule comes into play….the boy does NOT like his food mixed together.  He would have eaten all those items without complaint (except for the corn…I would have had to pull the “mommy card” on that one) had I just prepared them and put them on his plate.  Instead, he stared at the plate for a really long time.  I “encouraged” him to take a bite. I told him of all the yummy goodness that was in that portion on his plate.  He ate his bite.  He was NOT thrilled.  There was not yummy goodness on that plate according to him.  It was food….all mixed together and he was not happy about it.  He did eat what was required of him, but as soon as he completed the number of bites required, he was done. 

So, now as I browse books to find different and nutritious foods for the boy to try, I am going to have to keep in mind that they cannot be in casserole form.  *sigh*  Life with a picky eater can be tough!

Popcorn Shrimp

When a picky eater is involved, and THEY are the one who suggests a new food, certain celebrations are bound to follow.  Take my picky eater….he saw a box of popcorn shrimp.  The name implies fun food.  He has had shrimp before and wants to like it, so he asked if we could get it.  Hey….if the kid wants to try a new food … I am all for it (within reason). 

So, tonight I made some sweet potato chips (baked in the oven with a little olive oil, garlic and a pinch of salt) and cut up a red bell pepper (the boy likes those over the other colors of bell peppers) and made the popcorn shrimp.  He was excited.  He tried one.  Then, he tried one with some barbeque sauce (the boy’s version of ketchup).  He tried one more.  Three popcorn shrimps went into the boy.  He then looked at me and told me, “They don’t taste like I thought that they would.”  Guess what?  That’s OK.  He doesn’t have to like every food.  He just has to be willing to try it.  He was.  He gave them a fair chance.  And I think in the future he will try them again.  I focused on the fact that he tried the food, gave it a fair shake and then admitted that it just wasn’t his thing for the moment.  Who knows what he might try next time.  

Just keep trying!

One of my favorite Pixar characters is Dory, the forgetful fish in “Finding Nemo.”  Dory is the encouraging character that keeps going on even when it seems like quitting is the thing to do.   It is the same here when we try to get the boy to eat his vegetables and other healthy foods.  We just keep trying them and trying them.  And sometimes, we obtain success! 

Sunday was one of those success days.  My husband is usually the weekend cook as he loves to cook and I love his food.  It is a win-win situation.  This past weekend was no different.  On Sunday, he made a delicious pasta sauce with ground turkey along with a side dish of roasted broccoli.  Oh my, was it good!  Now, usually when he makes it, except for the ground turkey in it, the sauce is a smooth texture.  This time, however, he added some crushed tomatoes.  They were small.  But – there were still tomato chunks in there.  The boy gobbled it down.  We did ask him about if he noticed the tomato chunks in there and he said, “yes” but that he was trying not to think about them being in there.  

Yes, he did eat his broccoli.  He wasn’t happy about it, but he ate it.   I did notice that he is more apt to eat his vegetables when he sees me eating mine at the exact same time.  I might have to do an experiment on that.  But, if I tell him to eat his veggies and then start to eat mine at the same time, we have less of an issue about eating them.  Hmmmmm….Something to think about. 

While our success is limited to eating tomato chunks in a sauce is little.  It is a success!  Oh think of the possibilities of what he will eat next!   

Veggie Meats

The boy has been trying and really liking vegetarian “meats.”  He tasted a sausage patty at a grocery store and really liked it.  My husband told him that it was a veggie sausage and he was fine with it.  We did worry that maybe once he ate them again, he wouldn’t be so thrilled.  I will tell you….he LOVES his veggie sausage.  Plus, I don’t feel bad about letting him have sausage every morning at breakfast because he is getting a full serving of veggies to start his day.

The veggie sausage was going really well and so I thought that I would try something else along the vegetarian line.  The boy WANTS to like hot dogs.  He has friends that eat hot dogs and he really wants to be a part of the crowd.  He doesn’t because of what he was told that they contain.  In fact, unless it was a turkey hot dog cooked only on the grill, he refused to eat it.  Well, while shopping in the grocery store today, I came across vegetarian hot dogs.  They looked just like the real deal.  I was a little concerned when I took it out of the package because I could see that it didn’t quite look like a real hot dog.  I told him, before I served it to him, that it was a healthy version of a hot dog.  He was setting the table and took his plate over to the table.  He said that his mouth was watering because his food looked so good.  He ate every bite.  I told him that it was a veggie hot dog and he looked at me and shrugged his shoulders and said, “OK.”  Sometimes eating healthy means making switches from the food you used to eat (like sausage) or foods you want to eat (like hot dogs) to healthier versions.  Let’s hope I continue to have such great success with yummy and nutritious foods.     

Hidden Sugar

I came across this article yesterday written by Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD for WebMD.  The article can be found here.  I have to admit that while I have known that there are some foods that have sweetness to them, that there can be a LOT of added sugar added to things to appeal to our need for a sweet taste.  It can be so deceiving on how much sugar is added. 

I took a popular brand of cereal that has an excellent reputation for their healthiness factor.  This particular brand has a regular flavor and ten other flavors including a multigrain version and several other tasty versions.  All over the front of these cereal boxes it is stated that these cereals contain whole grains and are approved by the American Heart Association.  However, in order for these cereals to all appear to be the same in calories the serving size is changed.  Out of the eleven varieties that are available, only 2 are a serving size of a full cup.  The other nine are a serving size of ¾ cup.  The regular flavor and the multigrain flavor have the lowest amount of sugar in that they have 1 gram and 6 grams of sugar respectively.  However, the multigrain version has added sugar and brown sugar syrup.  There is one of the varieties that have 5 different forms of sugar added to it including brown sugar, sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar syrup and dried corn syrup.  That’s a lot of sugar, folks.  And this is the healthier choice in the cereal aisle.  I didn’t even begin to look up what the “sugar-coated” cereals have going for them. 

What can I do about it?  The first thing I have started doing is making my son aware of what he is eating.  We read the white box on the product.  My husband and I have taught him to look at serving size, calories and fat content.  Now, in our teaching process, we are teaching him to look at the sugar amount contained in the product.  I am not saying that I am going to cut out all sugar from my son’s diet, I am just making him aware of what is going into his mouth and body.  And what do they say about knowledge?  KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!  

Magic Act!

A good magician uses sleight of hand and distractions to pull off the perfect magic trick.  A good mom can do the same thing with dinner.  For one of our dinners that we had this week, we made fish tacos.  We use frozen fish fillets (tortilla lime crusted tilapia is one of our favorites) and cook them according to the instructions.   We then wrap them either in corn tortillas (for the adults) or a flour tortilla (which right now is the only kind the boy likes). We like to add different things to our tacos.  My husband and I like salsa and cheese and some avocados.  The boy likes….cheese.  But, not too much cheese.  He does NOT like it when a little of the cheese grease drips out of the sides of his taco. 

I have been reading a lot about pureeing veggies and adding (hiding) them in food.  I have done it once successfully with the cauliflower in the mac and cheese, but the question here was could I make it fly past the boy’s radar once again?  So, for his fish taco, I mixed together a ¼ cup of pureed butternut squash with a ¼ cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  Then, my husband put it in the flour tortilla and put the fish on top of it.  The boy likes barbeque sauce, so he added a bit of barbeque sauce in and then folded it up burrito style and heated it in the pan…until the cheese melted.  The boy came to dinner hungry and ate a couple of carrots out of the bowl that was sitting on the table as he was setting the table.  (That act almost caused me to faint right there!)  The boy appeared to be slightly suspicious about what we might be pulling over his eyes…and he looked at his food very carefully.  He took a bite and another and another and before we knew it, he had devoured the whole thing!  He finally started to relax thinking that we hadn’t added anything strange to his meal.  He ate it all.  And he ate a serving of carrots.  Two veggies in one meal!  Yes, it was a team effort and I could not have done it without my lovely assistant (my husband).  I do see many more hidden magical treats in the boy’s future!

Making Food Changes

When it comes to getting the boy to eat “different” foods, it can take quite a while for it to happen.  It can be the little changes in the beginning that lead to the bigger changes down the road.  My friend, Barb, makes her son’s grilled cheese with wheat bread.  He doesn’t complain because he doesn’t recognize the change.  Grilled white bread and grilled wheat bread are both brown.  We got the boy to eat wheat bread several years ago because we told him that wheat bread had a sweeter taste to it (and it does) and we started him on it by making his peanut butter toast  in the morning with it.  Once he realizes that he has been eating something for a while, he is ok with the change becoming permanent.   

Another item that we have been able to switch out is our pasta.  We are a pasta loving family.  So, in order for all of us to eat a healthier version, we started using whole wheat pasta.  We started by adding quite a bit more sauce to his pasta.  As we have dialed back on the sauce, and he realized we had been eating wheat pasta all along, he is fine with the change.  We are now in the process of trying to switch from white rice to introducing brown rice. It is a slow process!

Now, this isn’t saying that all of the changes are going to be easy.  The foods that we have switched out have had the same texture.  There is no way I have been able to get the boy to eat multigrain bread over his wheat bread.   Those bits and pieces of grains just turn him off. 

For picky eaters, taking the time to slowly introduce things is the best route that we have found.  Especially the stubborn picky eater!  I guess my advice is to keep trying.  There was a time when the boy would only eat a small number of things.  Now, he is (most of the time) up for trying new things …as long as there aren’t any chunky vegetables in it!  J

Cauliflower!

When I first started talking to other moms on how they got their kids to eat vegetables, one of the mothers told me to puree the vegetable and put it in regular food.  I thought that there was NO WAY this would ever work.  I had tried hiding veggies in the boy’s food before, and he has always found it.  I had never considered pureeing it and adding it.  So, tonight was the big test night.  Could I get him to eat cauliflower? 

I took some store made (we have an organic food store here that also makes food) macaroni and cheese.  I took some frozen cauliflower and cooked it.  I pureed the cauliflower until almost smooth.  I would have done it more, but the boy was just in the next room and I didn’t want him to come in and find out what I was doing.  It could have been a disaster because there were tiny (kosher salt sized) bits of cauliflower in the mac and cheese that I could see and the boy has the amazing ability to find even the tiniest bits in anything.  I mixed a little more than a ½ cup of cauliflower into the 2 cups of mac and cheese.  We sat down to dinner.  The boy scooped up a bite and “mmmmm” were his words.  I held my breath.  The boy scooped up another bite.  He then proceeded to eat the whole serving.  There was some mac and cheese left over and I asked him if he would like me to pack it in his thermos tomorrow so that he can take it to school in his lunch.  He said…..”SURE!” 

HE ATE IT!  He ate the cauliflower and never suspected a thing.  I am so very excited as to what other veggies I can do this with and serve incognito.  This is definitely a way to get him to eat this.  I will try with other veggies.  AND so that he doesn’t suspect anything, I will also keep serving an additional veggie with dinner.  At least I will know that he will be getting one serving.  YAY for little victories!

Peer Pressure and Smoothies

I made the smoothies again.  This time I used only frozen mango and the tropical drink that I know the boy loves.  I made it because he had two of his friends over after school yesterday and I was hoping that maybe because his friends were here, he would drink it and love it.  And in return tell me that I was best and most beautiful mom in the whole world.  Hey!  A girl can dream! 

So this is the reality of how really happened.  The boy’s friends LOVED it.  They gobbled up their smoothies like there was no tomorrow.  The boy?  He sniffed it.  He reluctantly made a face while he sipped what could only be considered a microscopic sip and then declared that he didn’t want it.  His friends were flabbergasted!  They wanted to know how he couldn’t like it.  Then – they went on to make bids for the remainder of his smoothie.  The boy was not swayed.  He had decided that he didn’t like it and no amount of peer pressure was going to make him change his mind. 

That is the way it is with a lot of picky eaters.  They make up their mind and that is final.  My advice is to keep trying.  Try different ways, try the same ways, and make up new ways.  Just keep trying.  The boy used to refuse to eat any form of an apple.  He hated (and still does) applesauce.  He really hated the fruit itself.  But, little by little, and by constant trying, he started eating apples if they were cut and peeled.  Now, he eats them without the peel being removed.  He will eat it by biting into it – if that is his only choice, but still prefers that they are cut.  The fact is, he changed and now will eat apples.  (Applesauce is still on his no go list) 

And as for not succumbing to peer-pressure in regards to drinking his smoothie, maybe this will carry over to when his friends pressure him later in life.  One can only hope!

Veggie Burgers

I remember my first veggie burger.  I was at a local chain restaurant in Columbus, Ohio and it was delicious!  I have been hooked on them ever since.  Oh, don’t get me wrong…I still love a good beef or turkey burger, but these are pretty yummy and much easier. 

Last night – we decided to introduce the boy to the wonder of the veggie burger.  We already know that he goes bonkers (in delight) over the veggie sausage patties, so I didn’t think that this would be a very big leap.  My husband sautéed some onions and green peppers in a skillet and then added the burgers on top of them when they were about halfway done.  He covered the skillet and let them all steam and cook together.  He flipped the burgers and then cooked the other side in the same way.  This really keeps them from getting too dry.  When they are just about done, he puts all the onions and peppers to the side and puts the buns (we use whole wheat ones) on top to warm them up.  Normally, if he were just cooking for the two of us, we would keep the peppers and onions underneath the burgers, but if the boy sees them all touching….it could be a disaster! 

The boy was excited because we were having burgers for dinner.  He used his favorite condiment (BBQ sauce) on top and took a big bite.  He ate it up!  He took a second bite and while eating it, he happened to glance at the burger.  He was fine until he saw it.  A carrot.  A carrot sliver was sticking out.  Calmly he put the burger down.  Next thing I knew there were strings of carrot slivers on his plate.  We told him to stop picking out the carrots and to just eat it.  He did.  I believe that if he had been blindfolded for the whole meal, he would have eaten it just fine without any issues.  Hmmm….blindfolding during dinner….might have to put that on the “try” list.  In the boy’s mind, it doesn’t get a thumbs up because it had carrot slices.  However, it didn’t get a thumbs down because he ate it.  In my mind, it gets a TOTAL thumbs up because I know that it was LOADED with other veggies that the boy ate and didn’t even notice (thanks to the carrots!).  This will be a repeat at our dinner table and maybe the boy will find other ways to trick himself into eating it without the carrot dissection.  Or, I may have to implement the blindfold idea.  Either way, it will be on our table again!

Smoothies!

There is so much to love about smoothies.  You can hide wonderful things in them and make them so good for you.  But, the boy is skeptical.  I have been making spinach smoothies for my breakfast.  They have a little peanut butter in them and that is what they taste like.  But, they are green.  And just like the man in Dr. Suess’ story, the boy isn’t going to try it.  “It’s green.”

I started thinking about baby steps and how I could get the boy to try it.  AHA!  I will combine frozen fruit with fruit juice.  It will make it more like a slushy instead of something that might be good for you.  So, here is what I did.  I took a ½ cup of fruit juice.  His favorite is a tropical fruit mixture.  I am sure that the more fruit in the fruit juice, the better this will be for you, but I am just trying to get the boy to taste it.  I added a ½ cup of frozen mango and a cup of frozen pineapple.  I blended it all together and poured it into dark glasses with lids and straws.  It worked.  He seemed interested.  He took that first drink and I thought that I had a winner.  Then it happened.  He walked over to me (knowing that I was trying hard to find him something that he might like) and said that it “wasn’t his favorite.”   How does that translate from the boy’s language into the real world?  It means that he didn’t like it….at all.  I asked him what he didn’t like and he couldn’t tell me, but I think it had something to do with the pineapple.  It didn’t blend perfectly smooth and therefore there were bits that went across his tongue.  The boy doesn’t like “bits” in anything.  Even though this didn’t work out quite the way I wanted it to, I am going to try again.  Instead of mixing in the pineapple, I am going to just use the mango.  Several smoothie recipes call for adding sugar or honey.  This is pretty sweet as it is and there are a LOT of natural sugars in fruit.  No need to add any more sugar.  I will not give up on the smoothie.  Cause, when I get him to like it, I can start sneaking in other things that will give it much more of a powerful nutrient punch! 

And who knows, maybe I can get him to try my spinach smoothie on St. Patrick’s Day.  It IS green!  

Pumpkin Pancakes!

One of things that the boy and I like to do when my husband is away is have breakfast for dinner.  So, since my husband is off playing golf this week with the oldest son, the boy and I decided that last night was breakfast night!  While reading a new cookbook (I think it has been on the shelves since 2011) called “No Whine with Dinner” written by Liz Weiss (MS, RD) and Janice Newell Bissex (MS, RD), I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes.  Actually, the real name of the recipe is called Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes, but the boy doesn’t like chocolate chips…so we skipped them. 

These pancakes were very good.  These women have a website called Meal Makeover Moms.  Here is the recipe for the pancakes.  (If you click on the word “recipe” it will take you right to their website.) I did make a few changes.  We only have skim milk in our house, so I substituted that.  And of course, the boy doesn’t like chocolate chips (believe me, he WANTS to like them but he just doesn’t) so we left them out.  The boy also doesn’t like butter on his pancakes, only peanut butter.  I was worried about combining the two tastes.  However, the pancakes don’t have a strong pumpkin taste, so it worked out great.  The batter was also a little thicker than we like our pancake batter to be so a little splash of milk took care of that.  These really taste good.  They also don’t leave you with that “I just ate a heavy meal and now I need to go lie down and take a nap” feeling that pancakes can sometimes do to you.  I eat my pancakes with a little of fruit preserves while the boy likes his with … peanut butter and syrup.  I added a piece of turkey bacon, some orange juice and voila!  We had our breakfast for dinner.  Delicious!

And the boy’s rating for these pancakes?  He gave it two thumbs up!  He probably would have said more, but he was too busy eating.

Sloppy Joes!

Ever experienced day after day of beautiful sunshine to the point that you are lulled into thinking that every day will be sunny and beautiful … and then it happens.  WHAM!  A storm comes up and your day is filled with rain and dark clouds.  That is how I was feeling about the boy trying new foods.  Lately, he has been so agreeable and loving the things that I was putting in front of him.  Then, I tried a new recipe.  I had such high hopes for this recipe.  He even helped pick it out.  But when we sat down to dinner, I could tell that this was going to be a “rainy day.”  The air was filled with the impending doom of dislike. 

The thing I really liked about this recipe was the fact that you loaded it with vegetables.  It has carrots and zucchini all chopped up inside with onion and garlic and of course….tomatoes!  I did change the recipe some in that I used ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I chopped up the veggies as thoroughly as I could (when he can’t see them – it means that they aren’t there….right?)  The can of tomatoes and tomato sauce comes after the turkey and veggies have cooked.  Then, you let the whole thing simmer until cooked thoroughly. 

At the table – my very picky eater asked me why I didn’t pick out all the tomatoes for him.  It was downhill from there.  I asked him if I tried making it again and didn’t put in the tomatoes would he like it.  His answer?  He might like it if I left out the tomatoes, onions and carrots.  I served it in a whole wheat pita pocket. 

It looked yummy – but it got a full blown two thumbs down from my toughest critic.  He did eat his obligatory bites, but only after full inspection of removing all the offending bits of carrots and onions and tomato (I must have successfully chopped the zucchini to microscopic size).  

*sigh* 

 I guess it is back to the drawing board.  Note - visible tomatoes, onions and carrots (cooked) are a definite no-go.   

  

Not Your Mama’s Sprouts

What comes to mind when you think about Brussels sprouts?  Green, smelly, squishy wads of grossness?  Yeah, these weren’t them!  Oh my goodness!  I came across this recipe on www.skinnytaste.com and it was unbelievably delicious!  My whole family (really … just my husband and myself) had doubts about how good this could really taste.  We were not prepared for how good they really were.  Yes, the recipe calls for pancetta.  I did use it this time, but will try turkey bacon in its place next time.  (and YES, there will be a next time) The nice thing about this recipe is that you have so many options.  I think we may even try it with our sausage tofu.  Here is what it looked like in the bowl.

Did the boy like it?  Well, in my opinion he did.  If you ask him, he will deny, deny, deny.  However, I told him that he needed to take 4 really healthy bites.  He did it without complaining. (There wasn’t a gagging noise to be heard…he just ate the bites!)   And then, I told him that I needed to take a picture of him taking a bite…and he took another healthy bite…with a little complaint, but not the big ruckus that can happen when he is made to eat something he doesn’t like.  So, in my opinion, he liked it…he just doesn’t want to admit that he liked and ate vegetables.  I see more Brussels sprouts in his future!  

Friday night = Pizza Night!

Friday night, when I was growing up, meant pizza night.  We didn’t have pizza every Friday night, but we did for most of them.  Fast forward to now, we rarely have pizza let alone eat pizza on a Friday night.  Jack LOVES pizza (at least he does now…he didn’t start liking it until he was 6 or 7) and he loves meat on his pizza.  You know the kind of meat….pepperoni, sausage, hamburger.  On my pizza….I like veggies.  Lots of veggies.  I like green peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, and broccoli (don’t judge).  I even love sliced tomatoes on it.  Dave likes it all on his pizza, the meat and the veggies.  If we were to order out a pizza, we would have to either order 3 different pizzas or a gigantic one just to appease everyone’s tastes.  We found a way around all of that.  We make them at home.  They turn out just the way we want them and everyone is happy.  We each make a personal sized pizza and everyone puts their own toppings on.  So, what could I do to make them better?  I will tell you.  Instead of making white flour dough, I made the dough with wheat flour.  The dough was kind of dry and I think I will need to experiment with it a bit more the next time.  What was the biggest change I made for the boy and my husband?  I used tofu sausage. This idea was given to me by my friend, Beki C.  She suggested that I slice the sausage and brown it in the skillet with some peppers and onions.  I did and it came out tasting just like sausage.  The boy LOVED it!  (Thanks Beki!)  Does cooking with tofu mean that I am trying to get the boy to become a vegetarian?  Nope, but I like knowing that there are choices out there for my son to try.  Did we tell him it was tofu?  Nope.  We decided to let him eat it a few more times to really fall in love with the taste and then let him know what he has been eating all along.  

Happy Valentine's Day

I got the night off from cooking because my wonderful husband took over and made our meal.  He made baked Chicken Parmesan and it was delicious.  Sometimes cooking doesn’t mean lots of hard work in the kitchen.  Although, don’t get me wrong….my husband worked hard to prepare our meal.  Sometimes healthy eating comes from making little changes.  We had whole wheat spaghetti pasta with our chicken.  Our chicken was baked and not fried.  AND it was delicious!  Did the boy eat it?  OH YES HE DID!  He gave it two thumbs up and would have said more about it – but his mouth was full.  

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day and got to spend at least some time with the people they love.  As for now – I am going to sign off and go snuggle with my honey.  Rumor has it – he has strawberries!  YUM!

Pssst.  I did have a picture of this wonderfulness....but alas, I cannot get it to load correctly and I really want to go spend some time with my honey.  So, you are going to have to take my word for it....IT WAS WONDERFUL!  

Skillet Chicken Paprika

Tonight I tried a new recipe because it has components that I know Jack will like.  He likes red bell peppers and he likes chicken.  So.....

1 lb of skinless, boneless chicken thighs (cut into small cubes…about an inch)
½ teaspoon of salt
1 ½ teaspoons of olive oil
I large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 T paprika (the recipe called for Hungarian paprika…if you got it, use it…otherwise, the   normal stuff worked for us!)
2 T flour
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup of reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 garlic clove, minced (I used 3…but we like our garlic!)
2 teaspoons of caraway seeds
3 T of light sour cream (I substituted greek yogurt)

Sprinkle the chicken with the salt and put it in a large skillet with 1 teaspoon of the oil.  Cook until brown and cooked all the way through.  Take it out of the pan and put it in a bowl (or whatever you have handy).  Add the remaining ½ teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and cook the onions and peppers until soft (about 5 minutes).  Sprinkle with the paprika and flour and stir constantly.  You want the flour to absorb all the juices in the pan at this point.  After a minute has passed, add the tomatoes with their juice, the chicken broth, garlic and caraway seeds.  (I would use about ½ of the caraway seeds…it has a very strong flavor)  Stir the mixture until thick and bubbly.  Add the cooked chicken and cook over medium heat until it is all hot.  Remove from heat and then stir in the sour cream (again, we used greek yogurt as I tend to substitute greek yogurt for sour cream in all my recipes and it tastes great).

The recipe says to serve over egg noodles.  However, we (and when I say “we” I mean Jack) don’t care very much for the egg noodles.  So, I tried it over brown rice. 

I must say it was delicious.  I was able (because I told him that he had to) get Jack to eat the chicken.  And he did eat a piece of the red bell pepper.  However, when I asked him to try the rice that was underneath it all, I got that “face.”  You know the one….where it looks like they may have taken their last breath and you forced them to eat something hideous.  When I asked him if he liked it, he responded by saying it wasn’t his favorite.  When I asked him if he would try it again if I made some changes (like strained the onions out before the mixture hits his plate), he stated maybe.  So, while it was a big hit with the adults in the house….not so much for the kid.

The Reason

There is a lot of talk about healthy choices these days.  Not just about food, but also about healthy life choices.  We are so lucky because we live in Southern California.  The sun shines here about 98% of the time.  We live a few miles from the beach and right next to an amazing hiking canyon.  Yet - where do you find the kids that live around here?  Inside...playing video games or watching TV or playing on the computer.  AND...they are eating without thinking.  Ever sit down while watching TV or working on the computer and bring a small bowl of snacks with you?  Ever go to take another bite and realize that the bowl is empty ... and you don't remember eating that much?  :)  Well, my goal is to help my son take notice of what he is eating.  Its a small step....but an important one.  I plan on making some healthy meals and snacks and showing you the step by step process.  Then....we will find the answer to...will he eat it?  Now, you and I know that he isn't going to like everything I make.  In fact, I am willing to bet that he will only like about 25% of the foods that I will make.  However, he will be tasting all of them.  He will give his opinion about it. What he doesn't know is that he is opening his mind and his palate to some wonderful foods that are out there.  Wonderful fruits and vegetables that unless I "creatively" place in front of him...he won't try or even know about them.  Ready to take this journey with me?  And if he eats it....maybe you or your kids will too!