Mothership Meals and Satellite Saucers: New Post, Finally

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

New Post, Finally

I've been so distracted and uninspired to blog, so it's with great thanks to Nicole that I am stepping up to bat here.

Part of the problem is, how many more times can I talk about Mark Bittman?

And yet.... what happens two days ago, but a tutor I work with gives me, unprompted, unasked for, unsolicited, a copy of Mark Bittman's latest book, Food Matters. (Thank you, Michael! Seriously, I'm loving it. )

I'm completely inspired by it, now that I've gotten past the glaring injustice of Mr. Bittman telling us all to eat less meat while he's off blogging about whole-pig dinners and taking pictures of rare steaks to taunt all of us.

It turns out he's really changed his diet, blah blah blah and he's got lots of inspiring advice for eating less meat, blah blah blah. I'm not going to talk about him anymore. It's my blog, I'm talking about me.

Our efforts to eat less meat have not exactly gotten off the ground. Hey, I'd be happy to eat at Angelica Kitchen three meals a day. Give me Dragon Bowl for breakfast, seitan curry for lunch and a bunch of raw root vegetables for dinner, and I'm happy. (Well, I don't know if happy is the right word, but I'd be more than okay, as long as I got a burger once a week.) The problem is... the kids.

My daughter, the five-year-old carnivore who takes after her mother in many respects -- except for her mother being almost 40 and ~~a little more in control of her tempestuous appetite~~ , ahem, a little more grown up -- wants nothing but meat for breakfast.

This makes it hard, especially as I want thick cut applewood bacon some mornings, too.

Anyway, this is the bulk of my current strategy, in many parts derived from Food Matters:

- Instead of worrying about eating less meat, trying to eat more vegetables. Just freaken packing them on. So if I'm having a slab of goat cheese on a Wasa cracker, I'm putting a bed of arugula or sliced cucumbers underneath the cheese. If I'm heating up spaghetti or rice, I'm throwing on a thick handful of chopped broccoli or kale. This is so awesome. I'm completely into it.
- Keeping a grain and/or a bean or a soup in the fridge as often as possible, for easy last minute meals.
- Serving two vegetables at dinner instead of one and a starch (this is from my friend Nick).
- We still have the thick cut bacon on weekend mornings, but I've been cutting the whole slab in half, and just using one half to feed us all, along with eggs or toast, or whatever. No one, not even Chris, has noticed. I use the other half in a lentil dish, or slowly throughout the week.

That's sort of it. I already kind of eat this way, surrounded by vegetables, so I'm just amping it up, and hoping it will replace the animal flesh a little more. The problem is, my sort of boundless ability to put back vast quantities of food. Will bushels of greens really keep me from craving steak? Can 2 pounds of vegetables really satisfy as much as a pound of rib-eye? Hmm, toss em in enough butter, we might be onto something.

The other problem: my kids aren't doing it.

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The Mothership Method

(Or, how to sit down for dinner with your family without completely losing your mind)

It would be great if kids AND parents wanted boiled chicken and baby carrots every night for dinner. But, too bad, we picky parents want spicy, exotic, fun foods, and our kids want, well, sorta lame foods.
Here's the solution: break it down. Serve the dish deconstructed, and let everyone put their own dish together at the table. Sort of like tapas, or smorgasbord, or tacos. Or how in some parts of China you get a bowl of rice, and everything else is in the middle of the table and you take what you want for your own little bowl of rice. That way everyone gets to eat what they want, parents don't have to nag their kids, and kids get to feels some ownership over their meals. Plus, kids get exposed to the look and taste of the foods you hope they will one day love. But it's not just tacos. You'll be amazed at what can be served with the Mothership Method.

Ten Tips to Get Through Dinner Without Having A Nervous Breakdown

1. Accept That Kids Are Picky. No need to freak out on your cooking ability, or look at your kids like there is something wrong with them. It's called "neo-phobia", and it's just how they are, especially from ages 3-6.

2. Serve Meals Broken Down. Even grown-up meals like coconut curry or linguine with clams can be served in their elements, making them more appealing to kids. Grown ups can assemble their own jumble of deliciousness at their own plate while kids take on the pared-down elements.

3. Push if it Works, But Don't Nag If It Doesn't. Some kids are okay with being expected to taste everything on their plate. Others aren't. I think it's okay to push kids -- but not if you're turning dinner into a battlefield.

4. Suggest a Smell. Smelling a new food is easier than tasting it, and can sometimes provide a kid with the information needed to take that scary first bite. But don't confine smelling to new foods. Smell favorites, too, and help them develop their sense of smell by making a game out of it.

5. Don't Ask "Do You Like It?" Instead, try, "What does this remind you of?" or, "Would your cousins like this?" or, "Does this taste salty or sweet?". Asking if they like it or not gives kids too much power and ends the conversation. Besides, we don't care if they like it! We just want them to keep tasting it until it is familiar.

6. Don't Get Frustrated. Imagine being in Taiwan, or Nairobi, or Rome for the first time. Would you eat everything on the local menu? New foods are scary and gross. Our kids need time to learn about the foods that we eat.

7. No SubstitutionsThis is family dinner, not a diner. You, in all your wisdom, have provided foods that are healthy and delicious and appropriate for your children. There is something on the table for them to eat. Period.

8. No Snacks Before Dinner. This can be the hardest with our hectic schedules and hungry kids. But children who come to the table hungry are more likely to eat than cause trouble.

9. Put Peer Pressure To Your Advantage. School children are more likely to accept new foods if the alpha girls in their group accept them. Swap healthy food ideas on playdates.

10. Involve Your Kids In Cooking, Shopping, and Gardening. The more experience kids have handling and preparing a variety of foods, the more likely they are to eventually accept the foods. (But don't get upset if they help you make a complicated wonderful meal, and then refuse to eat it.)