I know, this probably doesn’t sound very ethical or motherly, but my answer to this question is a resounding, ‘yes!’ And, although I’ve never done a ‘food bribery’ survey of parents, I doubt I’m alone on this. I mean, kids can be highly visually ‘picky’ and it’s not like I pay them $10 to try something they think ‘looks gross’–most of my bribes only involve various numbers of quarters. Plus, these monetary encouragements have proven worthwhile on more than one occasion, expanding my kids eating repertoire one quarter at a time.

The thing is, my kids won’t eat many things I know they’d like just because they don’t like the way the food looks. I could just go with the whole parent, “You have to try one bite or you can’t have dessert,” routine, but that is far less effective. And I don’t always pay them to try food either, but If I really think they’ll like it, it’s worth it to me. With my kids, when I force them to try things, they pre-decide that they don’t like it, just because they’re mad at me. BUT, if I bribe them, it becomes a game that they win either way–if they don’t like, they still get a quarter and if they do, they get a quarter and a new food they’ll eat. And I, the mom, get the joy of knowing that at least they’re trying these foods.

I will have to say, though, that the best 50 cents I ever spent was when they tried chicken livers. Now I love liver of all kinds, so I thought maybe they might too…? (OK, I know that’s stretching it, but you never know, right?) Well, let’s just say they didn’t, but I can still picture the look on their faces and the urgent grasping for milk to get the flavor out of their mouths. Priceless

Please share your thoughts or creative ways for encouraging your kids to try new foods by posting a comment below…maybe there’s something better than monetary bribery???

Alex is a lover of tuna, fresh and canned. This recipe is a little twist on plain ‘ole fashioned tuna sandwiches that he loves and even the non-canned fish lover Sophie will eat.

Pickley Tuna Sandwiches
1 can tuna packed in water, drained
1/2 capful of lemon juice in a jar or about 1 1/2 tsp. Fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 to 3 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
A Dash of Lemon Pepper
3 or 4 mini-dill pickles or about 1/2 of large dill pickle, chopped
4 slices of bread

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and then spread 1/2 on one slice of bread and 1/2 on the other. Top each with the additional slices of bread. Cut into triangles or rectangles (whichever you prefer) and serve.

I have my kids every other week. When they are with me, we cook supper together several times a week. When people hear me say that I usually the following reactions:

1) Are you crazy?
2) You let your kids use knives and go near the stove?
3) Isn’t it faster to just cook supper alone?

For the first one, the answer is ‘yes,’ but it’s doubtful that this particular reason is why I’ve gone to the crazy-side.

I guess the second one is understandable, but the answer, again, is ‘yes.’ I, Mom, let my kids use knives and go near the stove–they are supervised and instructed first, of course. Alex is 10 and Sophia is 6, so each task they are given is age appropriate. That being said, Sophia does cut stuff up and Alex uses the stove as you’ll see in their show. I am there each time and they are always reminded of the safety rules. Cooking is a learned skill that will stick with my kids for their entire lives. This fact alone heavily out weighs the safety risks in my mind, because I teach them how to use the tools and how to be safe.

The third reaction regarding the speed of cooking a meal with kids; well speed has very little to do with it for us. As I have stated before, I’m a single parent and after a full day of work, I pick up the kids, and get home by, hopefully, 6 p.m. each day. Then I have to make supper, make sure everyone eats, gets homework done and bathes…my kids and I get very little quality time before they have to go to bed so we can start it all over in the morning. Making supper together gives us a little time back (while, again, teaching a lifelong skill). Plus, the more you do it, the better the kids get at it and it actually speeds up the meal preparation.

I’m not gonna lie though, there are nights when I purposely make sure Sponge Bob is tuned in so I can just get supper prepared all super fast. And every year when we do Christmas cookie decorating, as I sit covered in flour amidst flying, holiday-colored sugars, I know for sure that I’ve lost my mind–and that I’ve gained priceless time with my love bugs…

So, we all know snacks can be awesome. I’m not just talking about delicious and naughty snacks like brownies and cookies, but also healthy stuff, like seasoned almonds, fresh strawberries or yogurt smoothies.

Alex, Soph and I are huge snackers; much of our eating is very snacky and tapas-like and we usually go in snack-phases–like pistachios, strawberries and chocolate pudding, every day of the week. Then, once I’m convinced these are their forever favorites, they change to wanting string cheese, melon and jello–huge surprise, I know. So, to avoid a fridge filled with unwanted packets of go-gurt and rotting blueberries, I not only make sure to ask the kids what they’re liking these days, I also have a rule: if you say you want it, you must eat all of it before a different ‘favorite’ is purchased (this rule also governs the purchase of cereals. A person can only store so much cookie crisp and cocoa puffs before they just have to stop the madness).

To ensure an amble supply of treats are on hand, we thoroughly stock-up each week. Our healthy favorites include: Almonds, Pistachios, Cashews, String Cheese, Cheese in general, Pop-corn, fruit, veggies and dip, leaner sausages, pudding and yogurt. And, I am NOT one of those moms who does not allow the not-so-healthy treats, so we also have ice cream, chocolate, Little Debbie snacks, various candies and other sugar/fat laden delights.

See, my theory is balance when it comes to food in-take. If Sophie eats two Little Debbie brownies, she knows she’s done with ‘not-healthy’ foods for the day. She also knows that she’ll still be allowed to eat fruit or yogurt for a sweet snack later…just no more junk. And Alex knows that if he only eats chicken for supper and tries to sneak out on his peas, well then he will not get ice cream before bed.

We truly love our snacks. And as the head of this grazing brigade, I’d like to think that we are top notch snackers, who embrace both sides of the snack aisle–healthy and not-so-healthy–with a balance that ensures nutrition and fun.

There are three of us–Alex, Sophia and Me. Well, my sister is actually living with us right now too, but she is self-maintained. Every evening when the kids are with me we either make dinner together, or I make whatever it is we decided we wanted to eat that night. Sounds fairly straight forward, right?

Here’s the thing, my kids do like to eat, but in their minds, each food has its own special way of being prepared, presented and/or eaten. For example, let’s take spaghetti, a pretty basic meal. I usually make a red sauce with meat or meatballs, spaghetti noodles, garlic bread and a wedge of Parmesan to grate on top. Alex doesn’t eat noodles, so he just eats the the bread, dipped in the Parmesan covered sauce. Sophia doesn’t eat sauce, so she has the noodles, with butter, Parmesan and bread. I like all food, so I eat it the ‘normal’ way. The simple adaptions ensure we all eat, our tummies are full and we only have to make ONE meal.

When Alex was younger, I used to make him his own special meals if he didn’t like what I was making for dinner–he was a bit spoiled. But after the arrival of his sister, Mom got busier and we had to adapt. And now that the kids Dad and I are no longer married, I have neither the time nor budget to support custom order food. The kids and/or I just make sure each meal has at least one item that each of us likes (and that it’s fairly nutritionally balanced) and all is well. Some nights Alex just eats a pork chop, and sometimes Sophia just eats broccoli, but we all eat and I don’t spend the entire meal finishing cooking someone’s special order.

I work outside the home, just like many of you. I am also a single mom. This means that after picking up the kids from school, it’s time to go home and make dinner. I have discovered that this process moves more quickly and smoothly if I actually know what I’m gonna make when we arrive–sooo, each week, the kiddies and I decide what kind of ’stuff’ we’re craving, make our shopping list and write down the menu.

This menu serves as more of a guide than anything else. We do put a full meal on each day, but if Tuesday is supposed to be Alex’s Garlic Burgers, be we decide we want Personal Mini-Meatloaves instead, we go with the Meatloaves. The decision making usually occurs in the morning while chilling out before leaving for the bus. That way, I can take anything that is frozen out of the freezer. It also allows me the freedom to not have to think about what we’re gonna eat and the group decision ensures an ‘I don’t like this’ -free meal.

There are weeks when the menu planning gets overlooked due to lazy-mom syndrome, but it usually ends up costing me more stress in the long run. This 15 minute family meal chat does two things that I love: 1) It ensures we’ll ALL eat and like at least part of every meal; and 2) It ensures some relaxing family time, cooking and eating (rather than trying to figure out what’s for dinner).