Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Hunger Game

 


How can it be 4:00 already?  Seems like just a moment ago the whole day was ahead of us!  We've been doing lessons, research, being busy...and now I'm behind in defrosting!

Every day at about this time it starts.  That realization and *I* am responsible for every morsel of food that every person in the house puts into their mouths.  And how to make that happen in a way that pleases all of us.
It's not easy for several reasons.  First,I forget to PLAN for dinner...it sneaks up on me every single day!  Every single day, at about this time, I look at the clock...or not...and realize ACK!  I totally forgot about dinner!  And a second reason it's tough:  of the four of us in the family, there are four different eating styles or preferences.

My husband prefers small, healthy portions interspersed with health "bars" and such, interspersed with a huge all-out hunger-busting fest once a week or so.  For dinner, he prefers spicy, tasty, meaty bits, steamed veggies from his list of faves, and a large ice water.

Dr. Who is never hungry.  Unless she is.  Then, when she is hungry, she can think of nothing she wants to eat.  Food, it would seem, does not appeal.  All suggestions of food are met with shrugs and glassy-eyed stares.  The best "meals", according to The Doctor, are those that are furtively-sneaked and that are full of chocolate or salt.  Give the girl a Ramen, salty water, and she is happy, but I am not!

Bonobo is all about the carbs.  Give him rice or noodles and he is happy, but I am not!  And bread...breadbreadbread.

As for me, I'm a veggie lover.  A small meaty entree is nice, but my main source of dinner sustenance is veggie.  Fresh or steamed.  I love almost all of them.

The challenge, as you know, is to place food on that table that becomes a DINNER...a dinner that everyone will eat.  I am not saying I try to please everyone every day.  That would be impossible...not to mention insane.
But it is nice to please someone every so often.

A few weeks ago, the kids and I watched the film "Food Matters" on Netflix.  I'm happy we watched it because the kids have become "on board" with the veggie thing like they have never been on board before!  With each dinner, I place up to four or five different veggies, usually raw, some steamed, and some fruit on the table.  The kids and I have started filling up half of the plate with the raw stuff...makes me happy.

4:00...ALREADY?!  Gotta go!

What's for dinner at your house?

2 comments:

  1. Yeah for more veggies!!!! My inlaws lived off a ramen for about 4-6months when my husband was a baby-that were really broke at the time-. To this day my mother-in-law can't look at a packet of ramen without getting sick to her stomach. She loves when we are in town and I insist on cooking healthy meals. :) My father-in-law on the other hand...could still live off of ramen. LOL.

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  2. We watched Food Inc. about three years back, and my daughter has not eaten a fast-food burger since. She was shy of all meat.

    We were vegetarians before they were born and when she and brother were small. We shifted into meat as they entered school since because my husband did not feel well eating lots of soy and did not feel fed without protein. Also, they were getting meats for hot lunch and marveled at this new food group.

    Then I found a friend who raises cows--a few, on grass--and bought a quarter of one. My daughter's signature question: were these animals treated well? She'll eat *my* burgers because of where they came from.

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