My kid is awesome

[nex0s]

So, Jaeger is awesome, of course. But you don't know HOW awesome. Yeah, he's adorable and whatnot, but he's awesome about food in particular. Now, I know that kids develop preferences later on, and that he'll probably stop being adventurous... HOWEVER

Comments

[kightp]

That's awesome - and good for you!

My mom was very much of the "offer the kid a taste and let her decide what she likes" school of thought. When I was five and my brother was four, she was traipsing us through the Japanese towns near the airbase where we were stationed, letting us sample sushi, sashimi and crazy Japanese pickles.

She never used or withheld food as a punishment, never forced any of us to clean our plates or sent us to bed without supper. We grew up thinking of food as an adventure and a joy, and not a one of us turned out to be a picky eater (well, one went through a phase of refusing to eat anything but corn, but that was short-lived and canned corn was cheap).

[la_directora]

This right here, minus the part about traipsing through Japanese towns (lucky you) describes my mom's approach to food with us when we were little almost precisely. As a result, my brother and I both loved all of our veggies, and were always trying stuff. We both had far more adventuresome palates than either of our parents, but very much because of how they approached food with us. As you said, never withheld or used as punishment. And we were never required to eat something we didn't like. We were just required to try it before deciding we didn't like it. :)

[ailbhe]

My understanding of baby-led weaning is that they do still go through the "reluctant to try new things" or "only eat discrete foods, never mixed ones" phases, but then they go back to being madly adventurous and easy to feed wherever you go.

[lyricmaniac]

It's great that he's adventurous! The most adventurous food we've managed is sushi. Your risotto sounds good. What do you put in it? If vegan or vegan-friendly, can I get the recipe?

[nex0s]

Have you ever made risotto? It was one of my standards when I was a vegetarian, and you can very easily veganize it. The important part is to have Aborio Rice, which is Italian rice for risotto. It's important to use this rice because it has a different starch content than regular rice (higher) and that contributes to the creamy mouthfeel of the risotto. Once you make risotto once, you'll see that it's easy to make it a thousand different ways

[la_directora]

Ditto what N said. Risotto is a GREAT dish as a vegetarian staple. When I'm out at restaurants, the reason that the risotto isn't usually vegetarian friendly is the stock, which is easy to fix at home. I personally prefer my risotto with a grating of fresh parmesan, but that's totally option. Other than that, and the choice of butter vs. olive oil for the early saute, risotto is very naturally vegan.

I usually do mine with mushrooms or sauteed spinach. Also really good with asparagus and other veggies. Leeks are AWESOME in risotto.

[accioayla]

Yay for adventurous babies! :D

Dear lord in heaven the picky phase sucks liek woah. ;_; But you've got a bit of time before that hits. And if you're lucky, it'll be amusing. I knew a kid once that decided he would only eat goat cheese for cheese product, heirloom tomatoes, and whole wheat pasta. There were a couple other things, but that was the bulk of his diet for months...

He also grew up to ask his mother to get him a wheel of aged cheddar on her trip to Wisconsin...