Day 5
I'm trying to settle into a new work routine which has me out of the house for two half days and one full, something I haven't had to do in years. And I'll admit I'm none too pleased about it. However, work has bent over backwards to be accomodating since before Max was born, allowed me to work mostly from home, was understanding about multiple hospital stays, etc. They were wonderful.
So, when they asked me to come back into the office for two extra half-days now that Max has been transplanted, I didn't feel as if I could reasonably say no. The two extra days are afternoon hours, which puts me back at home right around the time that the boys need to eat and get ready for bed.
As I've been writing about, Max has basically boycotted everything I've made for him in the last week, save for the delicious Olive Oil crackers, which is disheartening to say the least. At times, I stand there looking at him in his steadfast refusal with a look of inredulity on my face. In my head I'm saying, "I can't believe I took all this time to deliberate on the best thing to make for you, to make sure I was getting a good mix of veggies and protein that would taste good to you. I can't believe I got up at 4am to get things ready, while everyone else (including you) slept until 630 or 7. All of this I do for you and you won't even take a single bite? Not even one? One? Not one."
Oh yes. I know he's a toddler. I know they do this. I know he is even more stubborn because, well...let's face it: he has me for a mother and Moose for a father, not to mention the fact that he spent the majority of his young life with an aversion to food and eating in general.
You see, I know all this and yet I still find myself taking it personally. Oh yes. I do.
And yesterday, I even cried. Which annoyed me then and still does now.
Of course, he doesn't see me cry. He doesn't know I am upset or taking anything any way at all. He just wants his cheese and he knows I'll give it to him, eventually.
Having said all that, I need to confess that I do not have a recipe for day 5. Instead, I am looking at this as a food preparation idea, born of sheer desperation and a distinct lack of creativity as I stood in the aisles of Fred Meyer yesterday with both boys screaming at me for 'more cheese'.
Please understand this would not, in a million billion years, ever be my idea of a nutritious meal. Ever. However, I decided I needed to see if I could get him to just eat SOMETHING that was more than a cracker and a strip of cheese.
And so I give you day 4 and 5's dinner (I do not have pictures, because I was too embarrassed to take any):
Day 4 - was pigs in a blanket made with low fat refrigerated crescent roll dough, turkey dogs and Max's favorite, cheddar cheese. Terrible yes. Embarassing yes. I cut the dogs in half and rolled each half in it's own cresent with a bit of cheddar rolled up, as well.I served with a tiny salad of romaine and cucumbers from the garden with an apple cider vinegar and grapeseed oil dressing.
Day 5 - was only marginally better as mini-pizzas made with small refrigerated biscuit dough. At least with this one, I used my roasted tomato sauce made from our garden, red bell peppers, onion and garlic. I topped with a combination of shredded cheddar and jack cheese (because that's the only shredded cheese I had) and baked in the oven for 11 minutes at 400. Mini-pizzas were served with sauteed thin green beans with garlic, olive oil and sea salt.
Results:
Moose devoured the pigs, of course, and ate the salad. Rowan ate two halves, himself and didn't touch the salad. Astonishingly, Max ate an entire half by himself, put his fork in the salad, tasted the fork and then wouldn't touch the salad again. But he ate an entire portion of the pigs in a blanket!
The same thing happened with the pizzas, except both boys also tried the green beans. In fact, Rowan tried them a number of times. Max, tried them twice and the second time he actually took a bite.
I sat and watched them during both meals, while I ate leftover curried vegetables and adzuki beans, wishing my family would just try them, because they were fantastic.
In the end, taking a detour through American snackland for two nights of dinner actually ended up showing me that I can get Max to eat and that I need to be a little more creative in how I think about presenting meals to all of them.
So, it's back to the drawing board I go and this time with a little lighter heart.
