picky eaters

I have been trying to think of ways to bring variety to my family's meals. Mind you, it is a difficult task. It's not like they say they like very many different foods. To clarify, they don't like many sides to their meals. Foods like potatoes, vegetables, soups, salads (besides plain lettuce, which isn't really a salad to me) are often missing from our dinner table.

About 187 days ago, my daughter decided she was going to become a vegetarian. Not a vegan. I think she did some research and saw all of the things that she would need to give up to become a real vegan and decided it was more than she wanted to do. So middle of the road vegetarian it is. I thought this would be a chance for the more food adventurous of my kids, she tried shrimp first, to start getting into many other types of foods including vegetables. Well, not quite. I forgot that many snacks would be considered "vegetarian" in a teenagers mind. So she cut back on the meats but not on the snacks and didn't even look at vegetables. It's rather humorous to have a vegetarian that doesn't really like vegetables (or fruit for that matter). She has found that she likes tofu if it is cooked right.

All this has made me more interested in and determined to figure out how to get more variety, vegetables and fruits, into my family's meals. I have looked through many recipe sites and books and found a couple I think will get me started.

The first book is on Japanese cooking, something that my family has started to get into, albeit with little steps from the hardcore meat and potato crowd. If it wasn't for the Hibachi chicken, I don't think we'd be eating there. I try to order different things every time we go so they can at least see what different things look like. I always ask if they want some. Most of the time they just look at me funny and say, "no, we'll just let you enjoy that."

The second book is on grilling vegetables. I think these recipes have the best chance of making it onto my family's plates. I just need to start off with things that I already know they will eat. I think I can also do some of the recipes as stir-fry which I think they will like. It will have that asian feel as if they were at a Japanese or Chinese restaurant.

I think I will try out one of the easier recipes this weekend since I will have the time and the kids should be home. Maybe I should practice on myself during the week to prepare. Either way, the books are bought. The ideas are there. Now it's just time to execute the plan.