New to this forum

[Barkely]

Hello, I am new to this forum, I was going to post my favorit comfort food in the comfort food thread, but decided I should stop by here, and say hi first. I love food and I love to cook. I am hoping to do both a little healthier in the New Year. I have one son, 8 yrs old, he loves pizza, mac and cheese, and spaghetti. I am hoping to come up with some new creative ideas to get him to taste some new foods. Any useful threads you could point me to would be most appreciated. I am going to take a look around and see what I can find. This forum looks like it is full of great information!

[Mama Mangia]

Welcome to the site! I see you have a typicla 8-year old - pizza, mac and cheese and spaghetti! Does he like meatballs too?? There is a lot you can do with those! How about chicken, hamburger, etc.?

[Barkely]

Yes, he is definately a typical 8 year old. It is hard to get him to try anything new, especially if it looks like a fruit or vegetable. He likes chicken, but not hamburger, or meatballs. He does like steak, and pork chops, but nothing fancy. It seemed for a while like every week one of his likes changed to a dislike, now he is just starting to add things back in, and try new things once in a while.

[Mama Mangia]

LOL - what a great stage to go through - and it's a rough one on you! Have you tried having him help with the cooking? If he makes something he would most likely eat it! You could try that.

[Barkely]

Yes, he loves to "create" his own food, and has some strange combinations. He loves Emeril, so he likes to add a dash of this and a spoon of that to his creations. I let him make loaded nachos a lot. He makes each chip separately with a bit of cheese, some sour cream, salsa, and sometimes other added ingredients. He calls it making his masterpiece. I like to call it his "mess." Since he will try new things this way, and since he enjoys doing it I really don't mind, and usually join in and help him with ideas for his creation.

[Mama Mangia]

That's great! I think he'll come around and change his eating habits. And I would definitely encourage him to create! I'd even get him an apron and a chef's hat! Betty Crocker had a children's cookbook out (I still have one that is about 45 years old) and maybe you could get him one - see what he thinks and what he would like to try from it.

[Barkely]

These are all great ideas. Thanks for the input. I have also seen an Emeril children's cookbook somewhere, I think? I was going to see if I could find that one. He thinks Emeril is, "sweeeeeet." That is what he calls anything and anyone he likes. I will try to find one of those cookbooks for him. He also loves to help me bake, but I think that is just so he can scope out the bowl when I am finished. He has no problem eating the sweet stuff.

[Mama Mangia]

LOL - he is quite the "chef" - the bottom of the bowl child! They all do that - it's the best part of baking and of course - sweets always go down best!

[pohto9]

Welcome, and I know you will find a ton of ideas on here, I know I have. My kids favorites are the same as yours and probably every other child in the world LOL. I just bought my boys an easy bake oven for Christmas, so we will see how that goes.

[loubear]

Welcome! My 2 year old is already cooking. I think it is never to early to start a child in the kitchen. It is great bonding time and teaches kids creativity and math skills as well. Kayleigh always counts out how many teaspoons of this or that and how many cups of sugar or flour. What a great teaching tool. Well goodbye for now and good luck.