Culinarily Cornered

I love to cook, but I'm feeling *extremely* cornered by the dietary requests of my family (myself included).

• Can't be a Casserole because Crystal can't not eat all of it.
  
• Can't be rice, noodles or bread as a main ingredient; rice is *occasionally* acceptable as long as it is on the side and no ine is expected to actually eat it.
  
• No meats that have the potential to be dry, gristly, fatty or tough.
  
• Nothing deep-fried, and even pan frying is to be avoided.
  
• Nothing that involves Mayonnaise.

There are other "suggestions" that have been planted in my mind by such triggers as uneaten plates of food and physical pain that I also have to take in mind, which leave me with the options of Baked Chicken or Baked Pork Chops with a side of Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, plus peas and/or corn. Any derivation from this menu results in plates of uneaten food and/or us being in physical pain from getting food "stuck". Such is the life of a Lap Band recipient I guess :/

BUT I FEEL SO BORED WITH FOOD!!!

Variations that I can slip in occasionally which at least two out of three people will eat: Spaghetti, Salad, Tacos, Chili.

Bored, bored, BORED!!!

What would YOU do?

Food is a HUGE debate in our home all the time, mainly because Crystal and I have struggled with our weight all our lives. Our current debate is in regards to Molly.

Molly doesn't like to eat on a normal schedule. She hates to eat breakfast till she's been awake for a few hours. She doesn't like the "Three Big Meals" system. She would rather eat just a little bit when she's *actually* hungry instead of "stocking up" three times a day.

For example: If Molly wakes up at 8am, she would like to have breakfast at around 10am. A glass of milk, half a peanut butter sandwich and some berries put on the table that she'll go back to for snacking over the course of an hour or two, then at Noonish I'll put out some lunch. Celery Sticks, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, raw carrots, raisins, an apple... all sorts of super-healthy stuff that she will again just kind of snack on, never actually eating it all. And then for dinner, if I'm lucky, she'll eat a few bites of what I made before just wanting to go and play. Later in the night if she says she's hunger she's either directed back to her dinner plate or she's offered more of the healthy stuff; Broccoli, carrots, dried fruit, etc.

I WISH I HAD THIS TYPE OF MENTALITY TOWARDS FOOD!!!

I, like most other people, grew up as a member of "The Clean Plate Club". You got three meals a day plus *maybe* an after school snack and a desert if you "cleaned your plate" at dinner time, and that was it. If you weren't hungry at breakfast, you BETTER eat anyway because you might get hungry between then and lunch (which would be your only oppbortunity to eat before dinner). Each meal was HUGE to get you through the 5-or-so-hours till the next meal; Eggs, Bacon, Pancakes, Sausage, Toast and a bowl of Frosted Corn Flakes (part of this balanced breakfast). A sandwich, chips, apple, cookies and milk for lunch. And then the BIG MEAL, dinner; Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn... eat all that and you can have a nice big slice of cake or pie afterwards!

It's no surprise that with all the food I was eating, I started to pick and choose the foods I liked. Instead of listening to my body and eating the foods that made me FEEL GOOD, I chose to eat the foods that tasted the best and went down the easiest.

To this day I still have a bit of a "Well I better eat something now so I won't be hungry later" mentality. "Stock up! It may be DAYS before we get to eat again!"

I really think Molly has the right idea. Every effortlessly skinny person I've ever known ate just like Molly eats. I remember this one lady who i worked with at Birthday Express, skinny as all git-out, bought a little bag of Cheetos from the vending machine and ate just three of them before offering me the rest of the bag. I was astonished to say the least... why would you waste 50-cents on a bag of snacks and not eat the whole thing?

"I ate what I wanted to eat. It was only 50 cents, and I knew none of it would go to waste because SOMEBODY would eat them if I left them out. They'd just go stale in my desk, and when I want a Cheeto I don't want a STALE Cheeto, I want a FRESH one!"

It all seems so alien to me... only eating the food you want to eat when you want to eat it?

So here I am, The Daddy, trying to decide if I really want to force my own terribly habits on my kid.

It's not as if she's a picky eater; she'll eat ANYTHING with the exception of Peppers and Onions. She's not being raised on a diet of cookies and processed foods. She's eating REAL, healthy foods on her own terms.

SHould I force her to conform to the Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner "Clean Plate Club"?

My Birthday Plans

The weekend of my Birthday is going to be TIGHT! Hope I can cram this all in/hope this can all happen like I want it to happen!

FRIDAY MAY 6TH: See "Thor" in a theater (this may technically happen Thursday night)
SATURDAY MAY 7TH: Get my Free Comic Book Day comics from The Comic Stop on our way up to Mount Vernon. Drop Molly off at Grammy & Grampy's house so they can get ready for my super special Birthday Party on Sunday. Drive to Lynden. Check in to The Dutch Village Inn. Go eat some Greek food. Go see Evil Dead: The Musical. Go to sleep.
SUNDAY MAY 8TH: Drive to Mount Vernon and have a Birthday Party with my family! Drive home with *just* enough time to stop at the Goodwill Outlet in Everett (means my party would have to be over by 3pm).

I think this is doable! I may just have to spend the rest of my weekend making this happen :)