Feeding a Picky Eater

I have been charged with feeding the family in the rare instances the Mother of the Gremlin relinquishes control enough to allow it. When I do this, I am again astounded at how much she takes on when the Gremlin comes to dinner.

Tonight, for instance, I did a quick search on 'best kid friendly recipes.'

I would just like to say, to every chef who has a book or a website on this subject: I hate you.

The Gremlin does NOT eat
      1) Burgers
      2) Hot dogs
      3) Pizza
      4) Mac & cheese

Every single site I found led with the first four recipes as the above, and then the next four as 'reinventions' of those four dishes.

The most regular item the Gremlin will accept on the average day is chicken nuggets, and even then we believe this is only because they are shaped like dinosaurs.  For lunch, we have started telling the Gremlin he needs a starch or carb, protein, and fruit. This usually ends with the Gremlin eating bread, cheese or edema-me, and whatever fruit was on sale this week, however we have been surprised once or twice on some good choices he has made.

Tonight, I decided he was going to help me decide what to do for dinner, my criteria being something he would eat that I could easily add additional ingredients to our portions to make it more 'grown-up.'

Tonight we had grilled cheese (his with just monterrey jack and mozzarella, ours with jack, mozzarella, borscant, basil, and tomatoes. The Gremlin must try one bite of everything (not finish, but at least try), so he tried a taste of tomato soup from his mother's bowl before deciding he didn't care for it, and had a bowl of peaches.

The Gremlin, with this new found freedom, has responded very well - he almost ate his entire portion which is rare for him. We believe this is due to him being included in the decision-making process. As for the sandwiches, next time I'd leave out the tomato, and add a sharp cheese and bacon. Mmmmmm, bacon....