I was online the other night participating in a Twitter party. The topic of discussion was food – kiddo food, healthy snacks, on-the-go foods, etc.
Since I’m not a big foodie type, I didn’t think I’d have much to contribute to the conversation. My kids eat well, but I’m not a health nut and don’t spend hours in the kitchen creating beautiful meals for my family. In short, my kids have not had a Twinkie-free existence and occasionally they have had frozen meatballs for dinner – still frozen. Two nights in a row.
But as the chit-chat went on and people were exchanging stories about weird food their kids love and delicious food their kids hate, I discovered I did have some interesting things to say. I made some valuable contributions including:
- One kid of mine has a favourite snack that is horribly embarrassing to admit. In fact, when I tell people what it is, they throw up a little in their mouths. My kid loves hot dogs but in the form of a cold wiener straight from the fridge. Just gagged while writing that.
- Another kid loves avocado with a squeeze of lemon. I don’t think I had avocado until I was about 30-years-old. In my humble upbringing, we would have called avacados “fancy food”!
- My kids and all of their cousins have the same favourite fruit called “sour apple”. It is sliced apple in a bowl, drenched in lemon juice.
- The one food I can serve up that each kid will eat without complaint is pesto on pasta. Now, it’s interesting to note that they actually make the pesto. They plant the basil in the backyard and when pesto making day is upon us, they pick the basil and go shopping for the other ingredients. This begs the question – is there a connection between kids being involved in their food and liking their food?
A strange food fact about me also made its way into the conversation, leaving people shocked and horrified. What is this shocking food news? I’ve never had a milkshake. Ever. Not once in my 39 years of life.
So go on – what creepy, weird food does your kid like? Or, have you reached the age of 40 and never tried sushi or tasted kiwi fruit? The best thing that came out of this whole Twitter party food chat is all the milkshakes I’ve had promised to me in the last few days!
RSS
my sister and i used to eat the hot dogs straight from the fridge. so did our dog. i can actually taste it still when i think about it. kinda makes me want to throw up. moving on…
i’m impressed your kids like so many sour foods! i must say there’s really not much that i won’t eat…but no matter how hard i tried, i could never develop a taste for cottage cheese or anchovies. anything else, i’m good with. my son’s developing a pretty wide palate, and i’m impressed that some of his favourites include the full sour Strubbs pickles and kalamata olives.
so as far as the milkshake thing goes, do you have an aversion to it? or now will you just not try one on principle?
My 5yo loves green olives. Her twin brother loves feta cheese. But neither of them loves carrots.
Love the raw wiener story. The butcher in the small Manitoba farm town I grew up in gave every kid a “smoky”.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
All my kids have eaten more than a few cold hot dogs from the fridge, so did I and so did my husband
My daughter’s favourite snack (as it was my sons’, mine and my Dad’s) is Schneider’s Braunsweiger meat spread. Its like liverwurst. She eats it alone in chunks or as a sandwich. She is always surprised at school when they are asked what the favourite food is that no one knows what she’s talking about 
As for a common food I’ve never tried… I can’t think of anything. I do have a friend that has never had jello and once asked at a restaurant what the brown stuff some one was putting on their roast beef… It was gravy :O
What’s weird about an uncooked hotdog? It’s not raw, it’s uncooked. We ate them all the time as kids, but ya, my son has probably never had that delight. Lots of his friends haven’t eaten cookie or cake dough either. It just really speaks to our convenience lifestyle – as a little boy, my son would say “Let’s drive up to the window, and eat our food out of a bag”. But even with my failings as a great mom serving those home-cooked meals – he has an amazing appetite for everything. It’s all in the way you position it. This summer we are heading to Italy and Greece, and he said to me that we should only eat local food. I love it!
As a kid I used to eat cold hot dogs too. My favourite lunch used to be Kraft Dinner WITH hot dogs in it. Yummy.
Food I’ve NEVER tried: Not many but I haven’t tried many “exotic” fruits like Pomegranate. Actually, on the milkshake front, I’ve never had a banana split. Seriously..
The only fruit that my 3 year old daughter will eat are mangoes and grapefruit. She likes broccoli and carrots but not chicken.
My 6 year old son will only eat Stonyfield yogurt, cherry or berry, that comes in the tube. The only vegetable he eats is the tomato sauce on pizza (sometimes I sneak a few grated carrots into the sauce). He will eat lentil soup if we call it daal and serve it with naan.
Thankfully, my 8 year old son is an adventurous eater. He will try almost anything, including sushi. His afternoon snacks often include vegetable spring rolls and edamame.
On St. Patrick’s Day, I discovered that all three like Dubliner cheddar.
…I’ve never had a Big Mac. AND I never plan to! Looks yucky to me.
Can’t think of a food my toddler doesn’t like but I just wanted to comment that I love the post picture
Some of my favorite pictures of my boys are when they are all messy after eating.
OK, it’s very reassuring to see that everyone else has freaky kids too!
Ramona – that is awesome about your son….that’s what we all want…kids who will be a bit adventurous with their food, and definately open to try local dishes.
Alicia – I’m a big fan of letting kids self feed, even when it means mess
I used to love uncooked hot dogs as a kid. My kids eat fairly normal snacks, yogurt,dried mango is a favourite, my daughter will eat cheese till she’s sick.
I think the wierdest thing I can think of is Eleanor loves bean salad.
Really, my husband is the wierd snack guy, he likes doughless pizza which is basically pepperoni laid out on a plate sprinkled with salsa and cheese… with hot sauce, everything is with hot sauce. He has also been known to eat Nutella with a spoon.
And, although I try to feed them healthy foods, like your house we are not junk free. They love hot dogs cooked in those Pilsbury dough wraps, and they love to make their own pizzas. As for avocados, my step son can’t even watch them being peeled without gagging, and the girls don’t care to try them… my favourite snack? Guacamole… at least I don’t have to share, well except with the doughless pizza boy.
My kids eat frozen peas! (I tried them, out of curiosity, and it’s as gross as it sounds). They actually get upset when I tell them it’s too late because they’re already all cooked. Kinda handy when I’m digging through the fridge looking for a raw veggie for their lunches though…
They love pesto as well. Ours comes from a jar though!!! You’re inspiring me to grow at ton of basil in the garden this year though!
my daughter, has never had a hot dog, hamburger, regular bun or bread, anything soy, pork, dairy, eggs, anything with msg, anything with yellow 6 food coloring or any red food coloring. shes never had a canned tomato, shes never had regular pasta, shes never had spaghetti, the list of things my daughter has never had is a million miles long. Some of those things due to allergies, some due to the fact that I wont use them (mainly the canned tomatoes…the rest are all allergies). Oh and shes never had peanut butter….terrified to try it, with all the other allergies
Her favs: pomegranates, mangos, avocado, star fruit, carrot juice (but not carrots, shes got a condition with her mouth where shes got no feeling in parts and cant eat hard foods or large pieces of food), rice pasta w/ homemade dairy free alfredo sauce w/ mushrooms, vegetarian chili made with fresh tomatos, etc. My daughter wont eat ANY canned veggies AT ALL! But any fresh ones, except sweet potatoes, dont get me wrong, she LOVES them but shes deathly allergic to them :S
As for me, i have never SEEN an anchovie…the thought makes me sick, yet I love fish and am addicted to sushi…never had kraft dinner…or pizza pops….or canned soup…or boxed soup for that matter…the list goes on and on lol!
All my kids have eaten more than a few cold hot dogs from the fridge, so did I and so did my husband
My daughter’s favourite snack (as it was my sons’, mine and my Dad’s) is Schneider’s Braunsweiger meat spread. Its like liverwurst. She eats it alone in chunks or as a sandwich. She is always surprised at school when they are asked what the favourite food is that no one knows what she’s talking about 
As for a common food I’ve never tried… I can’t think of anything. I do have a friend that has never had jello and once asked at a restaurant what the brown stuff some one was putting on their roast beef… It was gravy :O