In the Kitchen...

Just Pass the Bread, Please: Despite the fact that most child care experts say to do otherwise, I have found great success over the past few months at getting Kate to try new things or eat the veggies on her plate by bribing her with garlic bread (or crackers and sometimes even fruit). The experts say something about not treating some foods differently than others, but I think they are crazy. You would have to have dead tastebuds not to notice that peas don't taste as good as french bread laden with butter and garlic, right? Even peas that are laden with butter and garlic or whatever still don't taste or feel the same as garlic bread (or crackers, etc)!

While she's not completely out of the I won't eat any vegetable unless it is made into a nugget form (aka broccoli cheese or spinach cheese nuggets), she actually eats lettuce, sometimes will eat carrot sticks or carrot wheels and peas. She has always eaten corn, but I hardly count that as a vegetable since it's so starchy and delicious. This week, we are moving back into the vegetable at lunch effort where I serve a vegetable at lunch whether she touches it or not.

In another effort to get more veggies into Kate, I picked up Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook. LOVE IT! While I am not particularly thrilled at pureeing vegetables, again, I am quite skilled at it, so after a couple of evenings of work, I have plenty of veggies in the freezer to sneak into everything from tuna salad to lasagna to french toast. I particulary love that the recipes are simple and just regular food that kids love (like spaghetti, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, etc). I put carrots in my french toast (who knew how good that would be) and sweet potato and cauliflower in the lasagna without any complaint from Keith or Kate. And, just for fun, I still offer a veggie at dinner so if she eats it, double the nutrients! Awesome.

Food Milestones: There have been a couple of other food milestones over the past couple of weeks. Kate actually ate a few bites of hot dog at Nama's and Papa Ron's house. She's not asking for more, but it's nice to know she'll eat it if I have to offer it (like, when I find some that don't have nitrates in them and don't totally gross me out!). She still thinks ketchup is "yucky!" She also managed to eat a couple of french fries when Keith and I took her to the beach on Labor day. She dipped them in the ketchup, then, too, so maybe ketchup is growing on her. I'll have to whip up a batch from the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook before she acquires a taste for the commercial version with all the added junk she doesn't need.

Cooking: Kate has been asking to "help" mommy in the kitchen a lot this August. Ever since we made Daddy's birthday cake, she realizes how much fun cooking can be (and how tasty). While Kate "helps," she usually peruses through a kid-friendly cookbook I received from Parents magazine. She took a strong liking to one of the recipes, Pear Bear Muffins. She asked for two weeks to make them. Once we finally did, she was so proud (see her proudly displaying her muffin, above and to the right). She even asked if we could deliver them to her friends (which we did)! Next up from the cookbook is chocolate covered fruit. She's also been eyeing a pool cake...not sure what occasion we'll use to attempt that one! She also has spread peanut butter, jelly and butter on her sandwiches and even helped crack eggs. Maybe with some encouragement she'll happily take over dinner preparation one day.

Washing Dishes: Along with the new interest in cooking came a strong desire to clean up afterwards (hmm...wherever does she get this?). I'm so happy that she loves helping to wash dishes. She's improving immensly and doesn't dump water out of the sink as much anymore!