i thought it might be interesting (perhaps depressing for me) to see what a week is life in my cooking life - juggling the needs of one child who is gluten free and becoming increasingly fussy, another who has the fussiness of asperger syndrome, the poor middle child who is luckily the least fussy, given she has to just go with the flow, and a husband who is reasonably fussy too (though i'm sure he doesn't think so, and admittedly he is less fussy than many dh's out there...) plus my own need to avoid dairy, which i am extremely pathetic at doing...
so i'll start on Sunday, because that is the day i spent preparing meals in my slow cooker :D geoff was at work from midday til the kids' bedtime so i had the joy of the afternoon on my own with the three fighting children.
in the slow cooker i made satay chicken, and in the other beef and mushroom curry. these were for nights during the week, and the freezer.
for that night i cooked a beef roast with smashed kipfler potatoes, roast parship and carrot (for me, i knew no one else would eat them ;)) and steamed carrots, green beans, broccoli and brussels sprouts, plus homemade gravy. I let each child pick 2 vegetables to have and they all had meat.
- ryan rejected his straight off. he said he'd tasted everything but i saw no evidence of it. I was not in the mood for whinging and told him to make himself something else instead. he made rice cakes with peanut butter (which was a little exciting as he has always rejected rice cakes until now! think he must have tried them at after school care...)
- Rora ate most of hers :)
- emelia ate half of hers then realised that ryan was getting something different and decided she wanted to jump on the "i don't like it, i want something else" bandwagon. i made her finish her vegies (she LOVES brussels sprouts and is fond of broccoli ;)) and then she was allowed to make a sandwich.
- ryan ate the pie, left the vegies.
- emelia ate the rice, rejected the rest
- rora ate it all and asked for the leftover of the salad and rice for lunch today :D (it's her fave salad)
- geoff and i were underwhelmed by the satay chicken recipe. so happy we still have enough for another 6 meals and no one else wants to help us eat it! (ha) next time i will make the indonesian chicken instead!
PS: i got the kids to write the menu plan and it was full of "nuggets & chips" "sausages and mashed potato" "spaghetti bolognese". luckily rora rubbed it all off so i can pretend i can't remember ;p
6 comments:
You've proven I'm not alone!!
I have an 11yo fussy Aspergers son, a 16yo fussy and Coeliac daughter, an 18yo who thinks take away constitutes a diet, myself who is gluten free and vegetarian, and a partner who thinks man can survive on meat alone. Like your middle one, my youngest (a 9yo) is the least fussy.
Preparing any meal is a juggle between who can and can't eat something, and who will or won't eat something. Thanks for the insight into your world.
Hi Kylie, give me hope i can survive please!!! i have always LOVED to cook, since i was in primary school - but i am soooo over it now. any secrets to share?!
Well with my relatively recent discovery of the Thermomix my love of cooking has been revived.... but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will eat what I cook!
I actually don't mind the cooking at all, just the decision making about what to have. I think that's the hardest part.
yes, i do agree. deciding is defintiely the hardest part. sometimes i spend my entire 50 min drive home from work trying to think of something and still fail.
i remember the excitement of having a new tmx and wanting to cook everything! have fun!!!!
Hi Karen! Lisa here, Mum to James who is 8 with has Asperger's Syndrome. Oh the culinary challenges! He will eat most fruits, provided it is cut the 'right' way, he used to eat bolognaise sauce (with hidden veggies) on all sorts of pasta but has recently pulled the plug on this one. So some nights he has vegemite toast with fruit on the side & there are 2 other main meals he will eat--satay noodles & home made fish & chips. My daughter Emma 7, is quite 'fussy' but will give anything ago. Husband also 'fussy' so it makes it v hard & stressfull trying to put something on the table that most will eat. I'm happy to do a separate meal for James. We try & expand his repertoire by suggesting that he taste something, not necessarily eat it. Most times he won't. Sometimes he will surprise us at a cafe & pick something new. Hubby & I have takeaway probably twice a week to ease the stress so that the kids can have their fish & chips. I try not to stress too much. Now that we've had a diagnosis for 3 years, at least we know WHY he is so fussy. He has at times said he is scared. I guess it's the fear of the unknown. As my gp said "it's amazing what the human body can make amino acids out of".
Hi Lisa, sounds like you have a great doctor! lol
maybe i need to let go a bit more and just be happy to do separate meals, but i hate that it means more pre-packaged foods. my own hangups i guess.
we had a win last night when rora decided she likes spinach and potato soup again - it's a fave for the rest of us and so so easy to make! i need to post the recipe actually... ryan says "i know i shouldn't like it with spinach in it but i can't help it, i do" LOL
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