None of this bothers me, I'm healthy, and I have learned how to fend for myself, it's all good. Then one day Reg said, I sure hope Sloan doesn't have your eating habits. Some how it hadn't even crossed my mind that he would. A slight sense of panic started to enter my body. I can remember kid's birthday parties, where everyone was eating hot dogs and hamburgers, and I was watching. Every first date, first time to a friend's house for dinner or dinner at my Grandparents, I'd always have to explain why I wasn't eating perfectly good food, without the benefit of a good explanation. I think it was tough for a girl, but it would be tougher for a boy.
I wanted Sloan to eat everything, or at least eat meat. I kicked my type A, over doer personality into high gear, and started obsessing about Sloan's diet. He was two weeks old, and it was time to get prepared. I started researching and I started cooking, and unless you count popcorn, cupcakes, and frozen cheese pizza, this was a first for me. This has been interesting for a few people, because I soon discovered if you don't eat meat, it is a huge challenge to cook it. My mom, my sister and Reg can all attest to the phone calls they receive while I am trying to figure out "Is it done, is it right?" part of cooking meat. I'd like to celebrate for a moment, by showing you a snapshot of our freezer today, as you can see it's filled with baby food...
If had taken a before shot of our freezer, you would have seen frozen pizza, french fries, and ice cream, so this is a big deal in my life.
Sloan enthusiastically accepted everything I have thrown his way, he loved my cooking, and it bolstered my confidence. Until I tried his first meat. I went with what was my perception of "safety meat", the one everything tastes like, the one you hear about all the time, the one that make tasty nuggets. You guessed it, I went with chicken. Here is the reaction I got before he even tried the chicken, just as I was warming him up to it...
I felt confident the chicken was right. I mixed some apple with it (a reoccurring suggestion) and then feed it to Sloan. I should say I tried to feed it to Sloan, he wouldn't eat at all. I thought maybe I was giving off a weird anti-chicken vibe, so I enlisted Reg to help. Reg taste tested it, gave the go ahead, and then tried to feed it to Sloan. Not fun...but video worthy.
To say the least, I wasn't prepared for this dramatic swing. Where had my enthusiastic eater gone? Was he just like his Mom? I started to fret, which quickly turned to panic. Then I chose to avoid the problem by moving on to pasta, some new veggie dishes, anything but chicken. I soon found a recipe for Beef Ragout, and decided to give it a try. Reg says this is the perfect "Beef Dinner" in a pan. And he should know he ate it, after I pureed it...but there was no way I was going to feed it to Sloan, that was a job for his Dad.
I left Reg & Sloan at home, and got the best text a while later...."Good News Sloan isn't a Vegetarian, he loves the beef" Reg said there was no suspicious looks, no funny faces, just enthusiastic eating. What a relief to find out he's just a bit fussy like his Mom and not a mini pseudo vegetarian. He however, is not happy to hear the phrase, "Come on try it, you'll like it, it tastes just like chicken".
Love,
Julie
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