Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Bridging the Gap: A Review of Melissa D’Arabian

One of the articles that I recently enjoyed was All in the family: Smart Strategries for Kid- and Parent-Friendly Cooking, written by Melissa D’Arabian, and can be found by clicking here: http://goo.gl/XH8yzF.
D’Arabian is the host of the Food Network’s show, Ten Dollar Dinners, and is the author of a book by the same name.  After having read her article, I think she gives good advice not just for those with tight budgets, but also those with selective palates. Her article, All in the Family, gives a number of good tips and reminders. There are three in particular that I’d like to highlight and give my opinion on. Those three are:  incorporating kids’ favorites into mealtime, using a toppings bar, and bridging the gap to their world.
Incorporating Favorites
If dinnertime at your place is all about presenting to children a table of undesired food, you’re doing it wrong.  I’m not saying that every dinner needs to consist of only food that your children like, but there should always be something for them.  One of the most important things you can do for a picky-eater is to make mealtime a pleasant experience for them, which is hard to achieve if the table is full of things that they don’t like.
D’Arabian mentions in her article that she’ll put something like tiny quesadilla triangles as a side to the main course. By doing this, it creates a welcoming environment so that the child can feel included in the meal, even if all he or she eats is a handful of crackers that you’ve brought specifically for them. Will this give immediate, or even noticeable results? Probably not. But in the long run if your child can look back with fond memories on dinnertime, you’ll have succeeded.
Toppings Bar
D’Arabian mentioned this specifically when trying to transform “kid’s classic” foods into something more healthy. There are a number of advantages to this, but my favorite is that there is no pressure.  Many children don’t react well when pressured into something, I was/am one of them. If you were to force me to put peas on my plate, I wouldn’t touch them and they’d get thrown away. But, by having peas available and accessible I would be more inclined to try them. It doesn’t guarantee that I’d start eating peas, but it’s more likely than force.
The whole concept of not forcing children to eat is something that I plan on writing a full article about, if not a complete dissertation. For now suffice it to say that force won’t work in the long run, but giving them a pressure-free option can work wonders.
Bridge to their World
Finally, my favorite part of All in the Family was a story she shared at the very beginning of the article. D’Arabian’s daughter brought her a super-sugary cupcake to eat, and D’Arabian declined. Her daughter then asked “Mommy, why do you ask us to try foods you like, but you won’t try what we like?”

As a responsible parent you are working hard to get your children to eat the fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that will help them grow big and strong. You’ll beg, plead, bribe, and possibly threaten no dessert, all to get them to eat what’s good for them. Just remember, there’s stuff you don’t like either. Despite being fully grown and responsible, you’ll turn your nose up at certain things that you’ve never even seen before, just because they look funny or it has a funny name.  The point is that in many ways adults aren't much better than children when it comes to strange food.
My advice to you as a recovering picky eater is this. Go out every once in a while and try a new dish. You very well might only eat it once and then never get it again. Maybe you’ll only be able to eat a few bites before tossing the rest in the trash or feeding it to the dog, and that’s OK. You may even find a new favorite! Not only that, but imagine if your children see that you’re trying new foods. Think of the example that you set by trying something that you’re not even sure you’ll like!  I guarantee that'll it will leave an impact on them.

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