Meatloaf Beatloaf Who Wants Meatloaf

At what age to toddlers start deciding- screw the carrots I’m eating goldfish?  A snap of the fingers and they have figured out what they have been “missing out” on.  At the first site of a goldfish, Caden never went back to eating a single fruit or vegetable.  He was definitely a messy eater, I mean, how long did it take a baby to eat a jar of baby food.  Caden drank at least 4 bottles of milk a day, it was his blankie… his go to, especially when therapists came to the house.  The day we pulled the bottle, he has never sipped milk since. What a stubborn hard headed kid. No idea where that came from.    

I did not come from a family of cooks.  We always had dinner at the table together, but it was thrown together, chicken, salad, spaghetti, sometimes a steak.. but nothing fancy or slaved over.  That is where my lack of skills in the kitchen comes from. When I was pregnant with Kyle, my first, companies were introducing us to processing our own foods and freezing them into ice-cube trays (that would be for the lazy), the rest did daily processing and fed directly from the batch.  I wasn’t going to try and amuse the idea… I was hands up 100% admitting I was the worst cook and had zero desire to learn. As each of my kids were born, fly by the seat of my pants meals were thrown together. My husband is a wonderful cook… but he works and rarely has the time. I prefer him cooking, although he does get carried away in the kitchen and I find myself cleaning up carrot peels that have been flung on the cabinets.  A true cook makes a mess, so I have been told. So instead of having my husband cringe at the food I try to prepare, I have gone through endless trials of what will work for our family. Currently we are doing Daily Harvest and Thistle - which we like.

My three boys could not be more different, and that includes their eating habits.  Kyle - a born vegetarian (I truly believe it is possible). The kid is an animal expert first of all… he eats blueberries by the basket, rips open bags of lettuce and eats it raw, sharing with his turtle, and he even eats frozen peas and corn - because it takes to long to heat up.  He has a very hard time with protein and needs it the most. He is my skinny boy (definitely doesn’t get that from my side of the family). My mom has joked that she is going to call social services on me. He will have an occasional piece of chicken - teriyaki only… and eats hot dogs… that is his go to.  He has actually rated the hot dogs from various restaurants around. Ruby's in Redondo Beach is his favorite.

Caden thinks he is Mexican- literally.  He has a bean burrito every single day. He gets his protein, but will not eat a single fruit or veggie.  Through the years with therapists we have added eating fruits/veggies to his goals, but it never worked. He would get so upset and I was over it.  Buying every kind of fruit and making juices, popsicles, shakes - he wasn’t having it. Apples, oranges, bananas - the typical, kiwi, guava, pineapple; the exotic - he wants none of it.  He was needing the nutrients and vitamins they provided, but I wasn’t ready for this fight. Now, at age 10, I put 5 blueberries on his plate. He hates it.. but will slowly eat them. With each one, I cheer in a sarcastic manner…  making sure he still has a pulse. I promised him if he ate all 5, I would do a cartwheel. My unbelieving sons had their doubts, but I’m a lot cooler than I seem… ;) So the battle of fruits and veggies is real and it is a hard one.  Caden knows that he needs to take his vitamins at the very least every morning to get the nutrients he is deficient of. So for now, I will continue to threaten bad behavior with 1 strawberry consumption.

Maguire will eat anything, he will try anything.  I turn around and the piece of fish is taken off my sushi.  He loves anything I am eating of course, and loves to eat at other peoples homes trying out their cooking.  Maguire also has stomach issues. Since he was little he has always complained of his belly hurting. I used to think it was to get out of eating - but he loves food.  Soon come to learn, 6 years later, that he has gluten intolerance and reflux. I”m such a good mom… 6 years later… that must be a record.

You would think having an son with Autism I would have gone gluten free upon diagnosis.  Who are you kidding? I didn’t even cook for myself, let alone my family… and now I would have to come up with gluten free meals…  Ha. It wasn’t till about 2 years ago that I finally decided it was time to make a change. I am not a preacher and I am far from doing what is right.  To make a major change of any kind, you have to be mentally ready, and going gluten free/clean eating is no different. I had the amazing Curry Girls - Peggy and Megan come to my house and meet with me.  We created a plan and hit the ground running. My cabinets were cleaned, not only of food, but of unhealthy cooking tools, pans, utensils, containers. This was the start of a new chapter in my life, that started with me making a change for myself and in turn, for my family.  I am so grateful for amazing people like Peggy and Megan. There are so many companies out there with products and services that are so beneficial to our health and environment.

I recently came across Little Foodie Club, the brainchild of Kerstin Kuhn.  She is a food writer and journalist and obsessed with creating amazing healthy foods for our babies.  She is an educator and an inspiration. I wish when my kids were babies there were companies that promoted, educated and provided healthy alternatives for over the counter baby food.  If you do not know about Little Foodie Club - check them out (you can find them under Changing Lives on my blog).

I am going to keep on pretending I am going to cook someday, but for now, making sure my kids are eating clean healthy organic food and happy is enough.