BACK...AND BETTER THAN EVER.

after abandoning the genius idea of no thank you bites {i can say genius, because the idea was not mine} our adventures in eating were suddenly, well, not adventures at all. i mean i love annie's mac and cheese, but when target has a sale {$1!!} and you find yourself buying 25 boxes, you know there is a problem.

why is this a problem? one, i like to eat things other than annies and yet do not have the time to make a meal for the girls and then a meal for me. what i eat, they eat. or i guess more accurately {at least as of late}, what they eat, i eat. {maybe i do not have thyroid issues after all, perhaps it is just too many annies carbs...hmmm}. two, i want the girls to be exposed to great food and great cooking.

so this week i started telling sort of kind of white lies to the girls: i presented them with new foods and told them rachel ray made the same kinds of food. the truth is, the women is so prolific, she probably has made everything i could ever think of making for the girls. anyway, i am not sure why rachel ray has so much cred with them, while i apparently have none, but she does. when i say she eats something, the girls eat it.

however, this trick has its weaknesses. first, soon they will be old enough to see through this little game. second, i want them to be adventurous eaters without cajoling.

when i started no thank you bites, the girls loved writing about their adventures, and tracking the new foods they tried. they had fun being mini foodies. thus no thank you bites is back. join us!

THE FULL REPORT

i am beginning to think this may be a weekly blog. but that's okay, having to remember what the girls ate a week ago is good for the memory {and for the immediate detection of early-onset alzheimers, which i am sure i will have}.

there were actually quite a few good no thank you bites last week. and i am proud to report that the girls have begun to try new foods without being asked--they know the routine. some of the more memorable bites:

• a trip to margaritas revealed a love of sour cream, black beans, and loaded nachos {ie a love of americanized mexican food, but i will take it}
• ham and swiss croissants {at an old favorite--breaking new grounds in portsmouth} {and note, lulu ate 2!!}
• scrambled eggs. FINALLY! {although i am a little worried it is because the eggs were cooked in bacon grease--please do not judge, it is absolutely delicious}
• fresh sliced mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and topped with a pinch of sea salt. {sky ate so much it might have been the most expensive meal of the week}
• scalloped potatoes. get this: WITH onions. {huge huge hit}
• roasted carrots. {as this is a staple in my diet, i was ecstatic. next time they are trying the onions and turnips}
• baked ham. {good to know for easter. always plan ahead.}
• vegetable juice. {this is kind of a fib. although i do hope they will try v8, because it will allow me to buy it despite the horrific price (i love v8), they actually drank the new fruit juice boxes with vegetables. they have a full serving of fruits and vegetables...not bad}
• chocolate frozen yogurt with melted peanut butter. {i knew they liked this, but i had t add it to the list to make sure YOU have tried it. so so good. just heat a few teaspoons of peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds--until it has melted--then spoon over ice cream or frozen yogurt. to die for. almost as good as guinness chocolate milkshakes or coffee hagen daaz with baileys over the top. have i mentioned those before?}

BY THE WAY, BYE-BYE BEAUTIFUL GOURMET

ddddonuts

alright, so this is not really one i should be bragging about. but, as a huge dunkin' donuts fan, i am actually quite proud of today's no thank you bite: a boston creme donut! unsurprisingly, it got two very sticky and orangey {fall harvest orange frosting--ignore the pink frosting in the picture--that is berry crumble, another great flavor} thumbs up. {if i were completely honest, i would tell you that i wish the hadn't finished it...because then i could have.}

RAMBLING

apparently blogger does not like rambling, as it cut off my last post. thank goodness i am writing, and not lulu {did i mention lulu operates on maximum verbosity at all times?}. anyway, just a few more things to add to last week's new foods:

> pancakes with maple syrup: 2 thumbs up {these have been rejected for YEARS, very happy that this classic breakfast food is back on our menu}

> homefries: 1 thumbs up, 1 thumbs down {i am not sure i believe this one...lulu loves potatoes, cooked in almost any way. but, we all know that ketchup makes homefries better (and of course we all know that hot sauce makes them better than better) and lulu snubs ketchup (and hot sauce). so maybe when ketchup makes it off lulu's 'forbidden foods list' she will learn to like homefries. in the meantime, i plan to continue ordering them for her...so i can eat them (with ketchup AND hot sauce)}. {did you see the () within the {}? i love the double bracketing.}

CATCH-SUP

last week got away from us {BUSY!} and although the blog suffered, lulu and sky's adventures in eating did not. so let's play a little catch-sup. a brief list of new bites and the rating {thumbs up or down} follows:

> celery with cream cheese: 2 thumbs down

> peanut butter with honey and banana sandwiches: 2 thumbs up

> fried clams: 2 thumbs up {thank goodness}

> lasagna with spinach, zucchini and mushrooms: 2 thumbs way up

> prosciutto: 1 thumbs up, 1 failure to launch {sky}

> cream of chicken soup: 2 thumbs up

> roasted pork with rosemary: 2 {sort of} thumbs up

> cranberry sauce: 1 thumbs up, 1 failure to launch {sky}

> honey mustard: 2 thumbs down

> pita chips: 1 thumbs up {only sky was snacking}

DOUBLE DARE AND COMPARE

lulu and sky both seem to like the idea of trying anything their friends like, and until they are about 10 years old {maybe 7 if we move to california next year} i will capitalize on this {by 10, i will be asking the proverbial, "if all your friends were jumping of the golden gate bridge, would you jump too?"}.

SO, it would be wonderful if other moms and dads {or grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles} shared foods their kids like, and exciting new foods their kids have tried. even better, let the kids get on and explain their food adventures. the young food enthusiasts can challenge each other to try new things, and compare notes.

a friend of mine wrote that her parents had the no thank you rule when she was growing up, and at age 4 her favorite food was sashimi {all kinds}. i think that is splendid {not to mention healthy!}.

so we will start. skyler loves avocado, either sliced with salt, pepper and lime or made into guacamole minus onion. lulu loves calamari seasoned with just salt and pepper, hold any sauce. so kids, try them out, and be sure to let us know some of your favorite adventures in eating!

BTW--not much to report on the dinner front, as we all filled up on leftovers {see below}. oh, we did make homemade applesauce though...yummy-o....

iHEARTLULUandSKYPIE

just wanted to say love you to lulu and skypie. pink heart. hugs. kisses. smooch and smack!

MUNDANE MONDAY

okay, so the work week is here again and there is little time to cook or blog...but we'll try to do a little bit of both. the girls take lunch with them {sky is in PK and lu is in K}, and so i still have the opportunity to try new foods with them. of course i want to make sure they eat enough--they both have long days {this isn't france after all}--so we'll take baby steps during the week. today we had sandwiches. old hat you say? but NO, it isn't! believe it or not, the girls do not eat sandwiches! except for grilled cheese of course, because no one, absolutely no one, can pass up cheesy buttery goodness {well, maybe if you're lactose intolerant...quite the plight indeed. and the poor guys and girls in bootcamp at PI or San Diego that get kicked to the rice and steamed veggie line. they miss the one good offering of any chow hall: grilled cheese! but i digress.}. so today is turkey and cheese. they also have blue corn chips...i think they'll like the color. finally, they have the usual standbys in case the sandwiches are not a hit: carrots and peanut butter, raisins, yogurt, juice. i'll let you know what comes home....i am betting they'll like the turkey and cheese.

NIGHT KITCHEN

lulu and sky helped make dinner tonight--or more accurately, they dumped massive amounts of brown sugar and butter into the bread pudding {which also had the remaining anadama} which of course made for absolutely scrumptious bread pudding {brown sugar and butter can make just about anything delicious}. {i like, no love, parentheticals. sorry.} i know, i am starting with desert, but it is fresh in the mind, and it was just so good. we only got one thumbs up though, as sky preferred the blueberry cream ice cream i bought.

dinner was also a big hit: breaded chicken {butter, parmesan, dijon, bread crumbs}, sweet potatoes {baked for adults, mashed with butter and a marshmallow for the girls (don't judge the marshmallow. i know.)}, mashed potatoes {back up in case the sweet potatoes weren't a hit}, sauteed spinach with tomatoes and snap peas {sort of odd texture combination, but completely delicious}. oh, and the best artisan bread i have had in ages, warmed with butter of course. wow. perfectly delicious carb overload.

lulu says thumbs up to everything. sweet-tooth-sky says thumbs up for everything but the bread pudding {i don't get it! i'll say it again, it was so delicious!}

NIGHT ALL...