Food Wars, Part 5,349

My son feeds himself, as does the daughter, but they still both expect me to cook for them occasionally. If I cook they can't complain. I've made this possible by the fact that sometimes I don't cook and force them to eat the dreaded "leftover". The leftover can be in the fridge for weeks and I'll still heat it up as long as it doesn't smell bad and there is no fuzz on it. We are a hardy group so to me this seems okay, they are horrified. So far no one has gotten sick. Anyway, by not cooking, making them eat the stuff that has been sitting in the back of the fridge for a while, makes them appreciate when I do cook foods that might not be appealing to them all the time. Besides the dog will always eat what no one else will touch.

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My children are champion scroungers, and yes, that includes the wee ones. We provide them food, seriously, but my son especially doesn't really want to eat it unless he's caught it himself.

It's very strange.

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Please tell me about it.
The elder one does not like pulses but will eat vegetables. The younger one will not touch vegetables and thrives on pulses. Force them to eat both ( for their own good of course ) and they love it.
What they like one day, they don't want to touch the next day. They both want innovative stuff, but how on earth do you innovate every day.
Grilled chicken marinated in Teriyaki sauce passes muster, but I wonder how long.

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Hey, I know just what you mean! The eldest would like to only eat chicken, and she thinks turkey bacon is the bees knees. The youngest doesn't like meat and she doesn't like vegetables. She will eat apples, chicken nuggets, and peaches but only if they are sliced up first. We spend half our life fighting over whether she is going to eat the beans and rice I made for dinner last night.

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"If I just leave food in the refrigerator, does that count as doing my maternal duty?"

Absolutely. Our role as mothers is to provide the materials and the instruction for children to **do things for themselves.** That isn't to say that I will never cook dinner or feed them at all. However, if they don't like what I've cooked, they know where the food is kept. "Mother" does not equal short-order cook.

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Everything tastes better fried…or breaded
It's amazing to see how teen eating habits can resemble toddler's.

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It would be so easy for us to spend our entire lives planning, cooking, serving, eating, and cleaning up when it comes to feeding the family. I have a carnivore who only likes frozen peas and doesn't like tomato sauce and a vegetarian who cried when I used to serve lamb, and eats whole tomatoes the way you eat an apple. It feel as if I've given blood already this morning just thinking about what I might possibly serve tonight. I try not to appease and cater, but I know I do in wimpish attempt to avoid teen "tude."

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We're so mean. "You don't like this? How sad for you. You're going to get hungry."

Hubby was catered to as a kid & now won't eat anything but red meat and white bread, plus the occasional bean or potato (but only if cooked in such a way as to have somehow included bacon in the preparation). He's also overweight & unhealthy. I was forced to eat veggies & now I love them.

So I'm forcing it.

Then again, I don't have teenagers. I don't even want to think about THAT. I'm pretty sure that teens will take the wind right out of my sails – in fact, my main goal is going to just be to hang on tight & hope we all survive it.

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My three can prove the point that it doesn't matter what you do because they are the same age, raised by the same mom at the same time. All have their own pain in the ass issues. One has never and will never touch egg alone or in something. Another will eat nothing crunchy. Today triplet B eats apple, tomorrow not but A will. So it has absolutely nothing to do with me I am convinced. I am pretty hard on the eat it or starve seeing as how I am not catering to three tastes for each meal. Just not. Thankfully they all still eat yogurt and cereal. They can survive a long time on that I'm sure…

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My 8 year old and his food issues? Banging my head against the wall would be more productive than fighting those battles.

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So basically what you're saying is that I should just enjoy the days of my girls eating what I give them to eat? Or teach them how to cook now…

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I vote with the others: let them start fixing their own meals NOW. Mr M can boil water for oatmeal and make his own PBJ sandwich. Soon, we'll graduate to mac 'n cheese. I'll be sure to take pictures for you.

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You mean, their food habits never actually get better? My kids are like that now! I think just the fact that you keep food in the fridge, available for the taking, has to count for something. All you have to do is PROVIDE the food…let them bake it, broil it, fry it whatever suits their fancy. Everyone's happy.

I'm so glad I know you…whether you know it or not, you are saving me a whole lotta grief when my kids become teens!

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I can't get it right with the food and people in our house. So, I did what any mother would do. I cook what I like. If you're hungry, eat it. If not, oh well.

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I'm glad to see I am not alone in my befuddlement as to who likes what, at certain times, ever changing tastes! The circular logic is killing me. It's exhausting. I thought it was a conspiracy to make me believe I'm senile so they can have me committed and have no one here to monitor curfew.

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