A brief conversation with Karyl over at Big Girls Gotta Eat got me thinking today, so I thought I’d share.
She’s attempting the Paleo way of eating as well and in one of her posts, she mentioned cooking for company. It got me thinking – what do you do when someone comes to visit? Do you cook what you think/know they’ll enjoy? Or do you stick with what you’re trying to do for yourself?
On the one hand, it might seem selfish to cook what you need to eat rather than make something that’s traditionally served when friends/family come over. On the other, what if you use this opportunity as a chance to show others how eating better can be so delicious?
This past weekend, we picked up an extra kid – our nephew, who literally just turned 8 (as in, today!). We’ll call him Gavin. Gavin lives with his dad (my brother-in-law) and they are quite the bachelor duo. Lots of processed foods in their home. Let’s just say I once witnessed him eating Lays BBQ chips and drinking a DrPepper. For breakfast.
I’d always joked that if Gavin came to stay with us, it would be like a week of detox for him! No soda, no chips, no candy, minimal sugar, lots of fruits and veggies! What on earth would happen to him? How would he react?
This past Saturday, we were meeting with Gavin, our middle son Ryan and my mother-in-law for lunch. Ryan had been with her for two weeks and we were meeting near a midway point for us to get him back. At the end of lunch, Gavin decided he wanted to come stay with us for a while.
I was not prepared for this at all!
My first instinct was to go to the store and buy some things to make him comfortable – maybe some soda and chips, some chocolate chip waffles? And then it hit me. We don’t need to support the bad food choices he’s been making (or had made for him). Instead, I decided to show him how yummy good food can be.
The first night, I made hamburgers. I threw mushrooms, onion, garlic and cilantro into my mini-prep and chopped them up before adding them to the ground beef and making patties. I served the burgers with sweet potato fries. He wasn’t a fan of the fries, but he chowed down on that burger!
I’ve been going with that method since then. I serve him what we’re eating and let him eat what he wants. And you know what? He’s trying a lot of new foods. No pressure. He’s even discovered he loves almond milk!
Today, however, is his birthday, so I let him pick what would be for dinner and dessert.
We’re having pizza and chocolate cake. Dominos Pizza. Good ol’ Betty Crocker cake mix with vanilla icing. I considered making these things myself – making the healthier versions, etc – but I think everyone should get to splurge on their birthday. God knows I do it every year!
Eye on "One"derland 