Sunday, August 13, 2006

Let's review: the end!

Okay, so this whole thing started as a summer experiment. Up until this past May, I was the kind of mom who made separate food for the adults and kids for dinner every night. Then it occurred to me that at eight and ten years of age, my kids were old enough to make their own damn dinner if they didn't like what the adults were having. And so, starting on the first day of summer vacation this year, I stopped making separate food for them. No more substituting frozen chicken nuggets or fish sticks for whatever meat DH and I were having, yo!

The primary goal was, of course, for me to only make one "menu" at dinner every night. In that respect, the experiment has been a success. While frequently I do make an effort to prepare foods that I know the kids like, no longer do I make separate food JUST for them. I make what I make, and they can take it or leave it. They know that they have to include a protein and a veggie or fruit in their meal in order for me to "approve" it, but apart from that, they're on their own. And I'm finding mealtime MUCH less of a chore these days.

My secondary goal was to get the kids to expand their palates a little and try some new foods. I feel like we managed to do pretty well with this goal, too. Both kids have tried and liked some new foods (meat in particular -- sorry, vegetarians!)(okay no, I'm not really sorry) and they've managed to surprise me and themselves with that, I think!

In my heart of hearts, I kind of hoped that by the end of the summer we'd all be eating the same foods at dinnertime. I thought the kids would likely get tired of peanut butter sandwiches and shredded cheese and raw carrots and whatnot and just start eating what I made. That, sadly, has NOT happened. Oh well.

SO. The thing is, school starts tomorrow! Summer vacation is only 81 days long -- who knew? And so the experiment is technically over, which leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. I'm not really keen on continuing to record what the kids do and do not eat every night, because I'm getting a little bored with that. However, I really have enjoyed the menu/cooking aspect of the ol' blog here, and I'd kind of like to keep that going.

So what do y'all say? Are you still interested in reading what I make for dinner (almost) every night? If so, do you want more recipes and how-to? Let me know!

7 comments:

Jess said...

I think I would like a
Badger Cooks! blog, even if it is infrequent.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and I want it every night. Loved the experiment but I really only compulsively want to know what you eat for dinner every night. With recipes.

Lisa said...

I found your blog by wandering around the internets...I actually "cuffed" some red potatoes...before I started reading this I didn't even know what cuffing was!!! The DH is pleased with this internet find! :) More please...

Sinda said...

I like it. I've been toying with putting up our menus - more for myself than anything else, and if I were in typepad I'd prefer it for categorization...

Keep it up, if you care to!

teachergirl said...

Back to school for me (Day 2) and PrepGirl said she has been delighted with our menus so far. She said that if she was in charge of dinners, we'd be having Lunchables. Keep it up.

Jaye Joseph said...

Please keep it going.

I've actually been toying with the idea of starting a food blog with menus myself once I get back to my old self.

Bonnie said...

Yep, you really should keep it going! I get stuck in a rut when it comes to figuring out what to cook, so I love seeing your menus for new ideas.

I think it sounds like your experiment was a smashing success. My kids were about the same ages as yours are when trying new foods actually became an adventure to them. The only downside is that whereas before I could grab Happy Meals for them and sushi for me, once they figured out what they were missing, my sushi tab tripled.