We had the best dinner time experience we've had in a loooong time tonight for two reasons a: I'm a freakin' genius, and b: these meatballs.
Lets go back a little. My Little Dude has always been a good eater. I mean, veggies: fine, textures: fine, sushi: fine. Until suddenly he reached the age of 3 and 3 months and it started to change. Suddenly he was turning his nose up at things. Things he used to eat and love. Just a few things here and there though, so I didn't mind too much. And then he got sick last month. Do you remember? No, why should you, but BOY do I remember. Because he was really sick for a long time and it SUCKED. And he hardly ate while he was sick, but then, after he got better his tastes had drastically changed. I know I've mentioned it before, but really, its very frustrating. Now I know how spoiled I was before with my "I'll eat anything" child. Because this new "I don't like that and I'm going to spit it out on my plate now" child is much less fun at dinner time.
But I'm telling you, I refuse, I absolutely refuse to cook three meals. As it is, the Baby, (though we are doing our best to integrate our food choices into his), still requires some specific baby-manageable food, what with how much he likes to feed himself and all. So I have to make dinner for Hubs and I, and remember to do some extra plain veggies and pasta or something like that for the Baby, but then, if I have to do a separate toddler meal on top of that I will LOOSE MY MIND. Because the hour from 5 to 6 pm is already hard enough as it is. That kid will eat what we eat (or a very, very similar but sauce free version of it) or I'm going on strike. I mean it. They can forage out of the bottom of the bread drawer if they have to.
So his general thing is he just wants to eat carbs. The whiter and more flavourless the better. I hear that's known as 'the toddler diet'. With a little bit of cheese maybe, but only the plainest of the orange cheddar varieties will do. And he'll always eat a banana. But seriously, with a diet like that this kid will never poop again. So clearly, something has got to be done. (I'm not saying that he'll only eat those three things, he still loves his oatmeal and fruit, but still, there is a very heavy carb bias) Not that I have anything against carbs. But too much of any good thing is not a good thing anymore, right? So I was reading this article about a book called Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman about her experience of raising her children in France. I can't say I agree with all of it, but she made a very good point about why she feels that there are very few 'picky eaters' among the kids of France. Not only are children introduced to a wide variety of flavourful foods early on (yeah we already did that) but also, and more importantly, they don't snack. Theoretically, French mother's purses are not filled with tupperware containers of goldfish crackers and cheerios. (because there's not enough room what with all the Hermés scarves and Channel lipstick. haha.) There is only one snack time in a French child's routine and that is at four o'clock. Otherwise, meals are eaten at meal times. And as a result, by the time a meal rolls around, they are hungry. And voila, the braised endive for lunch looks pretty good to a four year old when they haven't eaten since breakfast.
So, our new routine is three meals and two snacks (I'm not quite French you see) and those snacks must occur at minimum two hours before a meal. In other words, no snack after 10, and no snack after 4. And those snacks are small and plain. A handful of pretzels, or something like that. Oh, and here's the part where I'm a genius. Because even with these provisions, and only healthy food on the table, the bread and cheese and pasta are the things that get eaten, not the veggies and protein. So at 11:45 today, when he was really hungry, but it wasn't quite lunch time, he had an appetizer that looked like this:
Veggies and hummus. There were more, but in the time it took me to find my camera he ate quite a bit. Served to him where he was playing (which made it all the more attractive.) And he ate every last bit of it. Awesome.
And then for dinner time (again, no snack after four) I put out a plate of broccoli and meatballs (a protien and a veg) and he ate it all again. And when it was gone, he asked for a piece of bread. No problem, since he'd already eaten the other stuff. Then after the bread was gone, he had more meatballs. I was very, very happy. But quietly so, of course. I don't want to jinx it.
So the moral of the story is; Kids will eat when they are hungry. Duh.
ok, and finally, my awesome meatball recipe.
Turkey Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey
½ cup panko bread crumbs
¼ plus 1 tbsp of milk
1 egg
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp oregano
¼ tsp oregano
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp sage
cornmeal for rolling (optional)
olive oil and canola oil and a pat of butter for frying.
Dump the bread crumbs into a large bowl and stir in the milk. Let them sit for a minute to absorb the milk. Then add the turkey, egg, salt pepper and spices. Mix with a fork, but just until blended because it you mix it too much they get tough. Roll them into meatballs with your hands, and if you like them extra crispy, put some cornmeal on a saucer and roll each meat ball in the cornmeal. They get a nice crust then. Put them on a cookie sheet and throw them in the freezer to chill if you have time. Don’t freeze them, just let them get cold, because that way they stay round when you fry them.
Pour a few gluggs of olive oil into a pan, and another few glugs of canola oil if you like, and then a little pat of butter, just for flavour. I really like a cast iron pan for this, as they don’t stick and it cooks them nice and hot, but that’s just my preference. Use what you have. Turn the element to med heat, but on the low side. Don’t crank it to eleven like I am always tempted to do. (So impatient) Once the oil is hot, put in a layer of meat balls, but don’t crowd them. You can do multiple batches, that’s fine. Cook, turning as each side gets browned. When they are done, put them in the oven on a plate covered with a little foil to keep warm and cook the next batch. It’ll probably take two batches. But you could easily double this recipe and then do four. If you have more than three people who will eat them, you should probably double it. And don’t worry if you have too many, the left overs are awesome in spaghetti. Or on their own for lunch.
Also, don’t worry it you can’t find panko crumbs (though they have them at the evil Wal Mart here, so I’ll bet they have them near you too). I ran out tonight, so I improvised and crushed up some cornbread crackers and used that instead and they were just fine. Regular breadcrumbs would probably work too.
I like to serve them with a fruity jelly (memories of Ikea) so tonight I mixed some President’s Choice Hot Pepper Jelly with Hub’s home made wild grape jam and it was awesome. But cranberry jelly is also very good. Also, mashed potatoes, gravy and a green veg will round out the meal nicely.
M has always been a picky eater, even when she was nursing! I WISH she ate when she was hungry, but she still refuses and ends up going to bed hungry. That said, there are some things she will always eat....
lebanese cucumbers, washed and whole (thanks to a scene in her fave movie "My Neighbour Totoro")
edamame beans
strawberries, with a 1/4 tsp of sugar she can sprinkle on them herself
....and a few others. I do the veggie snack before dinner trick and with works great for her, but D is opposite and will fill up on fruit and veg and skip the carbs, only to wake starving at 3 am.
Sigh. Why can't they both have the same preferences, at least?
:D
Posted by: Lisa Mizeri | 03/08/2012 at 08:44 PM
I WISH she ate when she was hungry. delicious
Posted by: fingertrip pulse oximeter | 03/16/2012 at 11:45 AM
Dump the bread crumbs into a large bowl and stir in the milk. Let them sit for a minute to absorb the milk.
Posted by: marlon | 04/16/2012 at 07:51 AM