I really enjoy reading about nutrition. I also love food - healthy food, dessert - it really doesn't matter. Looking at a new cookbook makes me giddy. I even enjoy cooking. But....I sometimes feel like I have no one to cook for.
If I lived alone, this would make sense, but as a married mom of 5 kids, I actually do a lot of cooking/ The problem is my picky eaters. They will eat chicken and meat, and they tolerate raw vegetables (snap peas, cucumbers, carrots, and peppers.) Some of them are willing to eat a few broccoli spears, and my daughter loves artichokes. And yet....they refuse to eat cooked vegetables, which takes out stir fry, and soup, and casseroles, and....you get the point. Quesadillas? Sure, as long as they only contain tortillas and cheese. A few adventurous kids will dip them into salsa. Pasta? They will all eat it with cheese, one with sauce, so long as the vegetables are pureed. Let's just say, cooking dinner has become frustrating and pretty boring.
So, how is a mom feeding 5 hungry kids (did I mention that 4 of them are boys?) supposed to keep her sanity and keep everyone reasonably happy at meals? How is she supposed to also make sure that they are making good choices and incorporating healthy foods into their diet? And, how does she make sure that she is eating healthy food herself? (Because that bag of M&Ms leftover from the birthday party is calling to her way more than the box of mixed greens sitting in the fridge.)
I don't really know, but I'm doing my best, and will try to document some of my better attempts here, in the hopes that someone else's sanity might be saved. At the very least, it might help hold me accountable when there are too many nights of plain pasta with cheese and fish sticks....
