Climbing up out of the rut

BH and I have been in a food rut for ohhhhhh..probably 10 years or so. (I might be exaggerating, but it sure feels that long.)

We have been trying to eat at home more, and have been fairly successful for awhile. Even during really busy times, we have managed to eat home food rather than fast food.

For quite a while last year we had a rule that we ate at no restaurant that had a drive-thru. That limits one's choices when in a hurry, and it soon became much easier in many many many ways to just eat at home rather than engage in the 4 year long debate about where we were going to eat that would be without complaining. The answer to that question is no where. There is no non-drive thru fast food restaurant where everyone at Chez Babble will happily eat. Give me a PB&J over pouty people at dinner any time.

As these things go, we eventually slacked on that rule. However recently we have gone back to our no-drive thru vow. It has been easier this time. Why I am not sure. I could try and analyze it, but I really don't want to. Feel free to share your thoughts about it if you like tho'!

BH recently stated that he thinks one reason we have not wanted to eat at home is because we eat the same thing all the time and we rarely plan meals that involve much real cooking. Real cooking meaning that we have to put some effort in to preparation, not just heating and eating.

So we have been hitting the cookbooks when menu planning lately, and planning meals that cause us to have to cook. Like with chopping and marinating and getting our saute on. I had my doubts about our follow through, but so far so good.

BH and I used to really cook quite a bit back when we were young and child free. It was one of our favorite pastimes.

Somewhere along the way after the kids came along we just forgot about it. Easy and hassle free became the name of the game for us.

I guess we are ready for the hassle again.

I think our more adventuresome cooking is having a positive effect on the children.

#1 for a while now has been far less picky and willing to try new foods.

#2. Ohhh #2. No way no how is she trying anything that she doesn't already know she likes. That means she will eat about 5 foods max.

Yesterday however...I think we may have upped her number of foods she is willing to eat. We had cheese ravioli. Man was she having a pout and attitude about dinner. (This happens everytime we have a dinner that does not involve one of those 5 foods. As I don't believe in catering this way, we encounter attitude SEVERAL nights a week. I think I am almost immune to it at this point.) But for whatever reason, and again I am not going to try and figure out the whys of it all, and just enjoy the moment. I digress. For whatever reason she decided she was going to try the cheese ravioli. Try she did and like she did. I nearly fell out of my chair. I even gave her money for trying a new food. (Yes I did, and I will do it again. If you knew what we have been through with this child and food you would be right there with me.)

Tonight she talked about trying the new chicken dish we made. She never did actually try it, but she talked about it AND there was no attitude at dinner.

Happy Happy Days!

If this doesn't keep us motivated on the path to cooking better food then I don't know what will.