It's cold enough here. :D

I really don't understand how/why a parent would need a child's permission to eat whatever. When I was growing up, it was the other way around and I had no illusions that I had the power to dictate the menu for anyone. What's the reason that it's different for you? Seriously wondering.

Welcome to what everyone has been wondering for a while. :D

How does the pickle relish not make the cut for whole30?

The kid also gets to eat whatever he wants.....hence a constant diet of cheeseburgers, fries, pizza & grilled cheese.

Staying in Hickory, NC tonight and this place looks like a winner:

https://www.oldehickorytaproom.com/

ham & cheese sandwiches

my child prefers that we not consume pork in-house so we felt that it was a courtesy to ask. Because our child is away during the daytime, my spouse easily can enjoy pork products while our child isn’t home, so it’s a fair and easy question to ask since all answers are acceptable.

You parent very differently than me. If my child told me they preferred we not consume pork in house I'd tell them when they had their own house they could dictate what meats others consumed.

Is there a reason for him saying no pork or is it just random? He could say no beef or no chicken or no crab legs.
And you will not have pork when he isn't home---just her? :confused: So bizarre that you will have pork when not home (and I assume that he is with you).
I can't imagine either why that flies. No one is forcing HIM to eat the pork but if you want pepperoni on a pizza while he is having a burger, I don't see how it should affect him.

This.
I agree.

Dinner was just a small roast ribbed pork but lunch was more interesting. Had a whole bunch of lamb bones from previous dinners in the freezer. Made a broth out of it and then sop kambing.

indian cuisine for supper
basmati rice (Kitchn recipe) - alas the rice wasn’t super basmati flaky but maybe it’s because I didn’t fluff it!

Sukhi chicken tikka masala
Trader Joe’s naan
trader Joe’s samosas
Trader Joe’s vegetable Jaipur package
tasty bite chana masala
some spinach purée from Indian Grocer
indian yogurt with cucumber (yogurt is Canadian but sold at Indian Grocer)

my spouse felt that the entrees were spicy and I felt they were way too mild. Doh! I’ll probably have to get the spicier packages from Indian Grocer or figure out a better solution!

I’m pretty sure that I’m not eating pork when I’m with my child - not sure how I presented that idea. I had pepperoni pizza by myself today in the Costco parking lot before fetching my child from school. It would be extremely logistically difficult and illogical for me to be eating pepperoni pizza while my child is eating a burger because there isn’t great or Costco pizza near Calibur or Super duper, which are the only places that my child gets a burger.

My partner refused to eat pork when we first, largely as a result of believing the animals aren't clean (ie he was grossed out about the fact that a pig will eat anything ). However, I've got him away from the idea. I think it arose as a child - he was in boarding school from elementary so little parent oversight. Pork can be some of the leanest meat you can eat (and also unhealthiest). Whilst growing up, like probably most, if I didn't eat what was on the table I didn't eat. In retrospect I have little understanding for that policy but I was never allowed to dictate what anyone ate (full understanding). Why a child should be given that power, I do not fathom.


If there're issues eating pork because it is unclean, I ask anyone who believes that to take one look at overall food intake. Processed burgers are high fat, and can be surprisingly low in meat. Regular processed food is full of garbage nutrients and addititives. I'd argue if there're are objections to animal welfare, well then good luck, plenty of examples of chicken farms across UK and Norway being "free range" whilst in reality no better than caged (ie no room to move around). I am fairly sure this is not an unique anti-EU axis of farming ;-).

Just guessing, but probably added sugar? Some relishes have quite a bit of it actually and tastes sweet. I don't even buy relish, but will chop dill or garlic pickles for tuna salad so I don't get the sweet taste.

We have a similar situation. With Indian food, I usually stir in some sambal olek after putting it on my plate. I realize it's not an Indian condiment, but it gives me the spice I need without materially altering the flavor or texture. Of course that works with things like tikka masala, but not so much with samosas and other non-saucy food.

The point of the policy is that it forces kids to try various things and means that the parent who is cooking isn't cooking multiple entrees and sides for one meal, based on a child's refusal to eat various items.

There are some dishes that my mother cooked that I haven't had in years, and don't anticipate eating again ever, unless I'm visiting my parents and my mother cooks that particular meal. One of her staples was plain, non-marinated or seasoned chicken breast, mixed with rice and cream of mushroom soup, then baked. The chicken was always dry and overcooked. I enjoy a nice, flavorful chicken breast, along with a side of rice sometimes, but never how my mother makes it. However, growing up, if I wanted to eat, I ate that probably two or three times/month.

Generally true for my childhood as well. But did you never get exceptions? There were occasions where my parents knew I or my siblings really didn't like something they wanted for dinner and we might get a frozen pizza or fish sticks, etc. Not a lot of extra work really. If we had chicken, potatoes, and green beans I might have been stuck at the table until I ate my portion of beans. But if my parents wanted beets (which would literally make me gag as a child and I still don't like), we would have had another vegetable with it or I wouldn't have been required to eat the beets. Also, and I know this sounds insane, I didn't enjoy steak when I was a kid, probably because it was usually overcooked. My parents were happy to save money and make a Tombstone pizza when I didn't want steak.

I think there's a balance to be had. Some exceptions but not every meal becomes an exception. But I'm also not qualified to critique anyone, since I don't have any children myself.

If the child has that much control (dictating what (s)he will eat at family meal is just a start) over his parents, how much more control will (s)he have when of mature age. I find the coddling of children has resulted in so many other issues today that weren't there 20 to 30 years ago. If I were to spank my child due to misbehavior in public, I would probably have the cops called on me for child abuse, but that was the way I was raised, and I turned out fine.

I don't think it necessarily means that there is no other discipline in the household. Maybe there is or maybe not.
But to your general point, I agree there is an overall lack of discipline for children today that was not the case when I was a child. A child getting what they want for dinner seems pretty mild in comparison to some of the other things I see. Not wanting to venture into OMNI territory, I'll simply suggest that we're already seeing the results of the lack of discipline in some adult generations today. Meals may (or may not) be an indicator, but it's a much bigger issue than just meals.

Very true about effects of children who have never heard the word no & expect to be indulged in real life when they are adults .
The controversy here seems to be allowing a child to randomly dictate what the parents are "allowed " to eat in their own home.
In addition I worry about meeting the nutritional needs of a growing kid when a kid is allowed to make all of their own food choices. Presumably the parents know more about healthy eating habits & would insist that children eat healthy & well balanced meals the majority of the time with items like fries, cheeseburgers etc allowed as more of an occasional treat.

My two permitted exceptions were when mom made either tongue or liver. Then, Mrs. Swanson would come over and lift her foil for me.

As for the regularly-scheduled programming, last night was leftover saw tayed mushrooms/kale/onions mix with some spicy snausages cut in, place same in a flower tor teeya, add some tomate, palta, and ají, and wrap it. So burrito-like

I didn't care for most fish and with my allergies, shellfish was a concern for many years, so if we were having fish, I usually had a grilled cheese sandwich or some such, but that was a rare occasion.

The only time my brother and I were allowed to request an alternate meal was when my parents had shrimp which neither of us particularly liked. I am convinced that my parents gave us this one freebie to object because it was cheaper not to feed us shrimp! :-) These days, we both love shrimp.

For the most part, I have outgrown most of my food dislikes. I still avoid mashed potatoes and lima beans when setting my own menu, but there are a ton of things I never used to eat that I now do. These include raw tomatoes, broccoli, peas, and cauliflower. (And for the record, if I am served mashed potatoes or lima beans I will absolutely eat them.) I was amused one day when a friend handed me her phone and asked me to update my contact information -- saved in my contact info was a note to not serve me mashed potatoes if I'm invited over for dinner.

That may be why my parents allowed me to skip seafood. It was much cheaper to serve a grilled cheese sandwich to me than seafood.

I will never understand this...never.
Of course, once in a while when my parents had liver or fish I could have something else & yes it was probably fish sticks with tons of ketchup. I can probably count on 2 hands the number of times my parents got fast food for me. Even things like take out pizza was a rare treat. I did love a good Swanson TV dinner though...especially when they started putting that little square of dessert in there (otherwise no dessert in my house). It was a sore spot with my mom because she was a good cook and made everything from scratch and yet I was excited to get a TV dinner.

Still don't feel like cooking so trying to decide what to get delivered. We were lucky enough not to lose our taste or smell but still don't have much appetite.

My mother wouldn't make something special for us but if we had tried it previously and didn't like it we didn't have to eat it. She did take into account certain preferences when deciding the menu like if the night before was something my brother absolutely hated, she would try to choose something he liked for dinner the next night. Also if we didn't eat our dinner we didn't get a snack later. By the time we were 8 and 11 my brother and I regularly cooked at least one meal a week, which meant we got to choose the menu that night.

I’m laughing at some of the responses here. I grew up in a household with a mother of Jamaican background. Suggest that I wasn’t going to eat what was placed in front of me? Not a chance! And that included the 2 foods that I detest to this day. Okra (boiled or steamed) and beets (red dirt). With my wife, things were a little different. In her household, it was every man or woman for themselves. On one of our first dates, I was over her house. She asked me if I wanted a tuna sandwich. (I know, very romantic). Lo and behold, she strolled over to her locked bedroom closet, and pulled out a can. A few dates later I peeked inside. My girl had Vienna sausages, cans of soup, instant coffee, etc in there.
Fortunately that lifestyle never made it into our marriage!

This seems perfectly acceptable to me, and pretty similar to how things operated in our family. I rarely cooked dinner, but my Dad went to work really early and my Mom liked to sleep in, which I realize sounds weird in current times. So by the time I was about 8, I would make breakfast for my brother and myself during the week, as we had to be on the school bus right around 7 am. Usually it was just cereal or toast, but probably once a week I made eggs or oatmeal. In fact, in some ways I guess I did choose what I ate for breakfast and lunch pretty much every day since I was that age. Dinner was the one meal where I was sometimes forced to eat something I didn't like.

Tonight - Buffalo chicken wraps. Tomorrow I'm going to try to fashion the leftover chuck roast into tacos.

For chgoeditor and others in the area, have you tried the One Off Hospitality (Paul Kahan) subscriptions? Basically you get a full meal for 2 people one day a week for 3 weeks, requires reheating. We found one that delivers to a drop off point in Highland Park for the next 3 weeks (Avec, Publican Quality Meats, Big Star) for $140 total, before tax and other charges. This one was Wednesday nights - decided to give it a try to make weeknights a little more interesting during freezing February.

I've been contemplating it since they first introduced it and have heard great things...I think we're going to pull the trigger for February!

Evil foods...especially the okra.
Ok--that is hilarious about your wife. Everyone kept their own food in their own bedroom closet under lock & key? :D

Big relief about taste! It’s interesting about the low appetite!

I didn't keep food under lock and key in my bedroom, but when I'd visit my grandmother, she'd send me home with a bag of candy, and would tell me to hide it under my bed so my mother wouldn't take it and ration it out to me. :D My mother learned to always check my bags when I came home after she followed the trail of ants to the bag of candy the first summer I tried it. :D

Leftovers for supper:
King crab legs
mixed green salad
green italian olives from Trader Joe’s - good olives that my spouse didn’t like, so I don’t need to ever buy them again.

It was tamale thursday.
Green salad
green chili and jack cheese tamales that I made at Christmas topped with TJ salsa verde. One of the tamales was really hot and now my mouth is on fire.

fantastic!!! Love the burn. If you made them at Xmas, did you have to freeze them? How best to reheat / cook tamales?

yes...nothing would last all that time if not frozen. I cooked them before freezing because they take a long time to cook and I wanted the convenience of just thawing and reheating. They are cooked over steam for 70 minutes .
I just nuked them but I also could have steamed them for about 15 minutes . And I have lots more taking up a lot of freezer space but I like to ration them out over a few months .
I am a sissy and don't do burn.

Yep! I found it totally weird. But, I still married her anyway. Darn love!

Tonight, it's a return to Italy, with Spaghetti con Vongole, followed by sliced oranges and grapefruit with candied peel and a limone gelato.

And, as we are in Italy (metaphorically, at least) all washed down with a nice bottle of Fiano.

Hawaiian pizza

Caesar salad with lots of garlic
Roasted Yukon golds with herbes de Provence
Porterhouse steak---Tuscan style with lemon
Old Vine Zinfandel
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...31529be395.jpg

Used leftover chili and canned enchilada sauce to make chili-and-cheese enchiladas, + canned refried beans doctored with garlic salt, cumin, and chili powder.

Splurged for dessert on a Baskin Robbins small chocolate malt made with mint chocolate chip ice cream.