I noticed that in the last week RR has cooked twice with parsnips, which I never normally get. I mean, in my house the only acceptable root veggies are potatoes and yams. I made the mashed root veggies for my family, although I couldn't find celeriac and my husband requested sweet taters instead of the regular kind--and it was so good!! (Although my husband decided he does NOT like parsnips.)

The cool thing was, my 10-month-old was sitting at the table with us and I gave him some mashed parsnips, and he absolutely couldn't get enough!! And it was a perfect table food for him to experiment with. They say kids are picky eaters but my husband is WAY more picky than our son!!

I think it has to do with pre-conditioning. I mean, adults have already heard how awful things like cabbage, brussel sprouts, spinach, etc. are "suppose" to be. They go at them expecting not to like them, while young children have no preconceived notions of whether or not they will like something. My children have been encouraged to eat different things all their lives and will try just about anything at least once. I discovered with my hubby I have to 'sneak' them into casseroles and other dishes, then tell him what it was after he says he loved it.

My daughter was 4 when she ordered her first salad at a restaurant. They brought her a tiny bowl and she looked so disappointed. After having to bring her a fourth refill, the waitress finally commented that she had never seen a child actually eat a salad and that she should have brought a 'big girl bowl.' That comment made my daughter so proud that she still (at the age of 16) loves to order things that will shock her friends or other adults. Cabbage and cornbread is one of her new favorites.

The goal for us when the children were very young was to avoid saying we didn't like something or call any food "yucky." My latest goal with my kids (ages 16 & 18) is to convince them that their tastebuds change as they age and they should give old things a try too. But alas, my son still hates peanuts and peanut butter and can taste it in anything immediately. lol




--- Edited by BayouBlonde at 2008-10-23 11:01:14 ---

Wow, thanks for the encouragement! I know what you mean about your husband--I've been forbidden to discuss any ingredient with my husband beforehand. This means I have to do the grocery shopping without him, but I take the baby and it's a real bonding experience. The grocery store is such an interesting place when you look at it through the eyes of an infant!!

We devised a classification system: I use the post-it colored tabs and mark up my cookbooks and magazines. A green tab means my husband Pat liked it AND would eat it as leftovers (which is saying a lot). Blue means he liked it but wouldn't eat it as a leftover. Yellow means I liked it but he didn't, and red means either neither of us liked it, or it's just too much work to be worth it.

Ultimately, I would like to create a recipe file with only the green recipes and make those my constant go-tos. Then I could get rid of a few cookbooks. It's starting to be a collection!!!!

You're very welcome. Need some more? lol My hubby was put off by ingredients at first, but just tonight he walked through the kitchen and saw me preparing spinach. He said nothing, but when he tasted the meal (which was a new dish for us) his comment was, "This is pretty good... even if it does have spinach in it!" It may take years, but eventually they learn to judge things by the actual taste. Yes, he even helps with the grocery shopping and sometimes still makes comments when I buy certain things (spinach & broccoli.) But I just say, "You'll like what I'm gonna do with it," and he knows I'm probably right.

I can sympathize with the cookbook situation. I had quite a collection of my own, then inherited half my grandmother's several years ago. Inside hers I was surprised to find handwritten notes that gave the dates she made things and how much they were liked by whomever she had served it to. She also noted her changes by editing the recipe. She wrote stars by the title, like a rating system. I loved having those notes in her handwriting so much I adopted the practice of writing in mine as well. The only thing I don't do is dog-ear the pages of my "most favorite" or Christmas recipes like she did. I'm a nurse and we use these small plastic-like arrow-shaped sticky notes to mark places for doctors to sign paperwork... those are what I use to mark my faves. lol

My husband has just learned not to ask. I guess the, "what I don't know wont kill me" theory is in play there. But it works-he and my son-age 6-will try everything at least once, sometimes twice depending on how it is cooked.