When your kids won't eat~

I would have written sooner, but I am still finding that writing about myself seems odd and different in such an open medium. I did, however, start this endeavor to pass on the joy of cooking within my home. I realized today that I didn't mention what the name of my blog means... Well, with the help of my younger sister (and mentor in this new found medium), I chose this name because most of the meals I make, can also be made "A la carte" (single servings)

See, a few years ago I received a call from a friend who works at my son's school. Up to that point, when he was with us, we made his lunches. (Would you eat the school lunches? Neither would I). My friend had called to tell me that he was not eating his lunches. He would sit there, stare at it and throw it away at the end. This suddenly made sense to me. He had been coming home daily, starving, begging for food. I had not been able to understand it until that moment.

As parents of younger children, we have one of a few choices. We could have either chosen to 1. continued to maintain the same lunches, hoping the problem would fix itself... 2. Let the school handle it and hope he likes it better... or 3. change for him...

Number 1 wasn't going  to happen, especially if you know my child. Number 2... well I would rather not spend $2.50 on lunches everyday (no offense to my friends in the cafeteria). I opted for Number 3. It was the most logical. I was already making his lunches.. why not change it up a little so he could enjoy it?

We started buying 2-3 varieties of yogurt. It gave him an option and he liked that. When shopping, we asked him what kind of fruit he liked. We made it about him.

One night, I asked him how he wanted his sandwich. I gave him the option of a regular sandwich or take the EXACT same thing and roll it up in a tortilla. He chose the tortilla. So I went a step farther and cut them into pinwheels. He was elated when he saw them, and from then on, eating lunches was a problem no more.

I write all of this, because school just started up again. Time to start making our lunches. SGB asked once for a box of the frozen bagel bite pizzas. If you have ever had them, they are chewy, over processed, and expensive! So we make our own! On my next post (tomorrow afternoon or before) I will post a few ideas of how to make a common lunch a little less common and a lot more interesting! :D

It's like cooking for the first time...

I am nervous and excited! I am completely new at this, but I received a lot of encouragement to start a blog. I never imagined doing a blog, but here we are. You may wonder why we are here, so let me explain. Two years ago, my son was in first grade. I made his lunches everyday, usually a peanut butter sandwich or turkey and cheese, a bag of chips, fruit and a drink with the occassional snack.

It seemed that no matter what, he came home everyday completely famished, and it baffled me. So I started getting lunchables and things of the like to see if that was the problem. It wasn't. While having lunch with him one day at school, a friend of mine (who is a part time employee) pulled me aside and told me that Stephen never seems to eat his lunch. He would sit there and then through it away.... No wonder!

I asked him about it when he got home that afternoon, and he told me that it bored him to eat the same thing every day. So, we decided to change things just for him. I would make lunch fun again, just for him. And I did.

It has been two years since we had that problem, and since then Stephen has enjoyed his lunches, his dinners, and desserts, to the point that now he wants to be a chef on day! It's amazing how much positive influence one can have their children's lives when we try...

In this blog I want to share with you my recipes, the fun and financially aiding ways you can make them, and the parts of my life that helped bring these things to happen. I also want you to share. Tell me if you use any of them. How you made them fun for your family and ways to enhance them for others as well. I want this new venture in my life to be an extension of me that can reach from my home to... say... my sister's home in Alabama!

Bon Appetit!