This, along with other meals I've made in the past, have pretty "adult" flavors. Because I have small children, people have wondered what I feed them. So, below, I've included my thoughts on feeding children "adult" meals. Enjoy!
Steak Gorgonzola1 lb rigatoni pasta
olive oil, 2 TB butter
1 lb steak, cut in cubes
8 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 shallot, chopped
2 tsps rosemary, chopped
2 tsps thyme, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 TB flour
1 cup beef broth
2/3 cup heavy cream
5-6 oz gorgonzola cheese
fresh parsley, for garnish
Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it liberally. In a skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil and add the butter. When melted, add the steak. Add the pasta to the boiling water at this point, too. I like my steak medium-rare, so I simply sear the edges of the chunks. Remove the meat once cooked with a slotted spoon. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until soft. Add the shallot, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Add the white wine. Cook 1 minute. Add the flour and cook 1-2 minutes. Pour in the beef broth and cook about 5 minutes, until reduced by half. Add the cheese and cream and stir until smooth. Return the meat to the pan and add the pasta to combine. Sprinkle with fresh parsley on top.
Making "Adult" Meals with Kids at the Dinner Table
Before having kids, I always said I would never make my kids a different meal than what we were having (as long as we were eating at the same time). I.e: I won't make my children macaroni and cheese while we have steak if we're all eating together just because they might not like what we adults are having. The exception, for me, is when Randy and I want to have a "date night" at home. Then I'll feed the kids supper first, put them to bed, THEN we'll have our adult date dinner. They get a different meal under those circumstances for different reasons, not because I'm afraid they won't like something.
Now that I am a parent, I hold the same philosophy, but want to present my reasons as gentle as possible because this is a TOUGH JOB. I cringe when I hear parents judging other parents and saying "If you don't do this, you're a bad parent." This parenting thing is not easy, and I refuse to believe that any parent sets out to raise a "bad" kid (or a "picky" eater). That being said, I hold no judgment for parents that do make different "kid-friendly" meals for their kids. If it works for you, great! I don't do it, and here's why:
One of my goals as a parent is to raise a polite child. Hey, if they don't finish their whole dinner, I really don't care. But I want them to try everything without complaint because it's the polite thing to do. If my child honestly doesn't like something and is fine going without dinner, then fine. My daughter would rather do anything else but eat at this point in her life. She likes food well enough and isn't necessarily "picky", she's just "busy." When she would rather play or "be excused" than have dessert, I know she really just isn't interested in eating, period. She's healthy, active, and growing. She rarely asks for food after supper. The one or two times she has, when I say "no" she says "ok." No crying, no arguing. So when she doesn't finish her dinner, I don't care that much. What am I teaching her by FORCING her to finish something she doesn't want to? To me, it's polite to try everything, not necessarily to finish everything. That's my goal. So why would I go out of my way to prepare something different for Abby when she probably won't eat it all anyway, even if it's something I know she likes? (Plus, I find that breakfast and lunch are "happier" times of the day for kids, so I try to fill mine up at those meals. That way, when they don't want as much supper, I can rest easy knowing they ate great meals and snacks throughout the day.)
Have you ever brought your kids somewhere only to cringe at the sound of them saying "What's that!?" or "I don't like that!" That's something I try to avoid. Listen, I understand that our kids sometimes say things that make us cringe no matter how much we teach them manners. It happens. But the way I see it, if I train my children to eat what's in front of them with no questions here at the home, they're less likely to complain about something "different" when we're at a friend's house. Not only is it embarrassing for the parents, but it's also embarrassing for the cook. As a cook, it stings when anyone (even a child) doesn't want to eat what I've made. If it's a child, I understand it a little more, but it still stings.
While on the subject of table manners, I should say that I HAVE removed EACH of my children at different times from the dinner table for poor manners. If Abby immediately says, "I don't like that!" without even trying it, I give her a warning that if she doesn't want to eat it, she can go to bed. Since she's been age 1 and older, I've never had to go further than a first warning. When she was a baby and eating solid foods, we removed her several times for screaming at the table for no reason. When teaching a child to start eating solid foods, I also never pushed either child of mine to FINISH what they ate. It's just not a philosophy I believe in. But if they have ever screamed or fussed for no reason at the table, they have gone right to their crib (when I know they aren't sick). To me, if you're going to be obnoxious for no reason, do it elsewhere so you don't disturb my dinner. After about a minute, Randy or I would go get the child, bring him/her back, and they would have each calmed down immediately and finished dinner. (We've only had to do this once with Noah--he's the "chunky" child in the family; never met a meal he doesn't love... yet. With Abby, we did it a few times.) I truly believe that this action taught Abby that I mean what I say when I threaten to remove her from the table. Establishing good table manners starts early, my friends!
Speaking of starting early, that's how I get my kids to eat what's in front of them. Noah (10 months) had rigatoni gorgonzola tonight. I don't push the steak for (hopefully obvious) reasons. When Abby was younger, I remember my grandmother being surprised that I would give her strong seasonings or "diverse" foods that she herself hadn't eaten until adulthood. My response to that is, what do you think children who live in countries where that food comes from eat??? If a child is exposed to those different flavors from the beginning, then it's not really "different" or "sophisticated" for him/her--it's normal. I want it to be normal for my kids to eat what's in front of them, and to eat a wide variety of flavors/textures. So I would encourage parents of very young children to try giving your child what you eat and see what happens. The sooner you start, the easier it'll be for them to get used to it! I've never bought a jar of "baby food" for either of my kids. To me, it's just always been easier to get them used to what/how we eat as a family early on.
All of that being said, I'm not oblivious to the "picky" child or to the fact that children's taste buds haven't matured as much as adults'. Some kids are just pickier than others, and there's not much we can do about it. So my tip to the parent of the picky eater is this: make meals that always include a food your child can/will eat. Serve bread at every meal, if necessary (they do in other countries!). Serve fruit and vegetables at every meal. For a dish like this, reserve some of the pasta before putting it in with the gorgonzola sauce. But, sprinkle it with parsley and butter so the kids get used to "seeing green" in their food. I reserved some pasta for my kids tonight because I know that gorgonzola is a strong flavor and I wouldn't really blame Abby if she didn't like it. But guess what? She ate her meal just fine and didn't want any "plain" pasta. (Noah took care of his portion and hers and the gorgonzola!) Abby had her rigatoni gorgonzola, then some fruit, THEN some ice cream!
I hope these writings shed some light on how and why I get my kids to eat the meals I make without sounding "self-righteous." I highly recommend the book Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense to anyone wanting more tips on feeding babies, toddlers, and young children. I love it and have kept it by my bed ever since my doctor recommended it to me when I said I wanted to make all of Abby's food. I know I've said it before, but this is a journey we're all on together and it's so important that we have each others' backs rather than pass judgment!
(I purposely didn't address allergies in this because I don't have any and neither do my children, yet. If you have a child with allergies, please know that I'm not making any suggestions to you. Allergies are completely different than plain "pickiness.")
No comments:
Post a Comment