Eating our way through the alphabet

Here it is. The ever frustrating question - how do you get your kids to be more adventurous eaters? Well, I'm certainly no expert though I have fun  pretending to be. Seriously though, we play around with food. All the talk about getting kids in the kitchen helps increase what they are willing to try has proven to be a good theory in my house, although we have done that since pretty much birth. So, I am not quite sure if it works or is simply tradition where my family is concerened.  What I do know is: my goal is to be able to cook the way I like - full favor, ful of colors and textures, and variety (so over macaroni and cheese). I DO know my kids are ecclectic-I have the good breakfast eater, the good meat and potatoes eater, the good all around eater, one who likes fruit but not meat so much, one who would eat a candy store if I let her, and one who will generally try anything without complaint. Everyone knows in my house that I am not a short order cook and they get what they get, at least at dinner time. So, this is how it works for us-our game play for the rules of food.
     1. I love to cook and so do they. Each night we rotate who my assistant chef is and they are the only one allowed in the kitchen oustide of myself while dinner is being prepared. I love being able to teach them about cooking when I have this one on one time. Another child is in charge of setting the table any way they want.  They can even dictate where everyone sits.  We often get place cards and linen tablelcoths and napkins.  This is another role that is taken with great pride and it makes family meal time so special.  The third duty is serving up the beverages which is a bit of a break, but still demonstrates that we all work together.
     2. One night a week we have "kid" food.  On date night, we plan a dinner for the kids that is ultra kid friendly-say pizza, noodles, hot dogs, chicken fingers and such. It is easy for us and special for them as date night is for us grown-ups.
     3. Each week at the grocery store, we pick a mystery food-one they are not familiar with and prepare it.  Everyone has to try it, but there is no pressure to like it.
     4. At meal time I ask that everyone tries everything, but they don't have to eat it all if they don't like it.  I always make sure that there is something that everyone will eat and likes, too. They say (I don't know who says it exactly, but I have heard it a lot) that it taskes about 7 times of trying something before it is accepted. So, keep introducing it.  Eventually, they will give into most things especially if their reasons for not liking something are generic. It is usually just in their head-as is the case with mine.
     5. I like a variety as I have said, but I also like to make things fun and somewhat routine. For example, Monday mornings I always make muffins, weekend breakfasts are big country breakfasts, on Wednesday night we do where in the world is and prepare some type of ethnic dinner.  Those are just a few, but the kids, all 7 and under, have come to know them and look forward to them. Still, the mystery awaits. No one ever is quite sure what muffin will be baked or country we will visit for our ethnic dinner.

Out latest adventure is to eat the alphabet. We were playing a game and coming up with foods starting with each letter which had to have led to the birth of this idea in our home. We did our own little research project and started looking up letters and the foods that start with them. I pulled up recipes from the archives to help us eat the alphabet, but we also created a ton of new ones-many of which have been added to our family favorites recipe book. We have all explored many new foods and have had a blast all the way from a to z.

We thought we would share some of our recipes and alphabet activities we have done along the way.

Kristen