Dreena Burton cookbooks

October 15, 2008

I have an extremely picky child and husband. DH only eats about 5 foods

regardless of diet - carnivore or vegan. He just rotates them but I

can hide some veggies in his food. He won't eat soup at all. DD used to

be a wonderful eater - lots of variety and veggies but now won't eat

much of anything, like DH. I've thought of asking for one of Dreena

Burton's cookbooks for Christmas. Does anyone have a suggestion as to

which of her books may be best for picky eaters?

Thanks,

Carrol

October 15, 2008

I haven't read any others and my kids aren't that picky, but I just finished

Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and it was fantastic! I seriously copied almost

every single recipe. They're very light on soy and processed foods, unlike

most other vegan cookbooks, and easy to make and adapt. This is definitely

one of my favorites, and I've read just about every veg*n cookbook in

existence.

Chandelle

Whole Food Whole Family <http://www.wholefoodwholefamily.blogspot.com>

October 15, 2008

*Kids are picky, at least most of them. It's just the way they are. If

they are really small (like before school age) they can only eat five

different foods if a parent allows that. Quite simply, they don't shop,

cook or prepare their own meals. Even if my kids stomped their feet and

asked for the same five foods over and over I wouldn't allow it. I do

the planning, shopping, preparing, etc. so they are getting whatever it

is I make that day (they are 2 and 4). They are pretty good eaters for

the most part, but I don't give in to letting them only eat a few foods

by preparing it over and over for them. I also don't make special dishes

for them while we eat something else (with the exception of when we go

to PF Chang's because I can't get them to eat anything there).*

I definitely agree with this statement. It drives me crazy when parents say

things like, " My kid only eats cheese, " or " My kid has chicken fingers and

fries every night of the week! " These are children we're talking about.

They don't buy or cook food themselves. If you feed your kids crap, that's

what they'll eat. That's what they'll want. And eventually, that's what

they'll demand.

We as parents have the responsibility to say no, to keep their best

interests in mind even when it's difficult. My daughter was born a picky

eater and it's been a struggle working with her after our son who would eat

anything. I think it's even more important with picky eaters that we

provide them only with healthy food and with a lot of diversity. I believe

that picky eaters are even more inclined to get attached to unhealthy

" comfort foods " and be resistant to healthy things. They're more likely to

be deficient for this reason. I've observed this cycle over and over. The

five foods that picky children will eat are unlikely to be brown rice, tofu,

grapefruit, broccoli and almonds. It's much more common to see fast food

products, potato products, white pastas, processed cheeses, manufactured

meats, and other bland, deficient comfort foods. So it's even more

important with these children that we resist the impulse to give in and

perpetuate the cycle.

It's normal for children to require several dozen attempts with a food

before they can really know if they like it. I always make a main dish, a

side dish and a salad with a great dressing so my daughter has a lot to

choose from. We reinforce their perception of preference when we only

respond with the foods they've decided, from minimal experience, that

they're willing to eat. My daughter has grown accustomed to having a lot of

choices and sub-choices, like the same food prepared many different ways,

and now she will at least try almost anything I make.

The rule in our house is that if someone doesn't like what I've made, they

can make themselves a sandwich, but they don't get to complain. I'm not a

short-order cook.

Chandelle

On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:26 AM, Jacqueline Bodnar <jb

> wrote:

> I also like Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. There are some very good recipes in

> there. It's not one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks though... I

> prefer those by Robin Robertson and the PETA cookbook (an oldie but a

> goodie!). I also like the PDQ cookbook by Donna Klein.

>

> Kids are picky, at least most of them. It's just the way they are. If

> they are really small (like before school age) they can only eat five

> different foods if a parent allows that. Quite simply, they don't shop,

> cook or prepare their own meals. Even if my kids stomped their feet and

> asked for the same five foods over and over I wouldn't allow it. I do

> the planning, shopping, preparing, etc. so they are getting whatever it

> is I make that day (they are 2 and 4). They are pretty good eaters for

> the most part, but I don't give in to letting them only eat a few foods

> by preparing it over and over for them. I also don't make special dishes

> for them while we eat something else (with the exception of when we go

> to PF Chang's because I can't get them to eat anything there).

>

> Today I got in the mail a book I had ordered last week. It's the Kids

> Can Cook vegetarian cookbook. My kids always want to help cook. So this

> is their first cookbook. I plan to let them pick one recipe out of it a

> week that we will make together. This will teach them about cooking, how

> to read recipes, etc. Plus, they will be more interested in trying the

> food they help prepare.

>

> Jacqueline

>

--

" if voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal. "

~emma goldman

October 15, 2008

One of our long-time favourites is Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Family

Cookbook. On many of the recipes she has " picky eater tips " for things

you can leave out or substitute or how you can cook it in stages, i.e.

dish some out at a certain stage before you add other ingredients that

some of your family may not like.

We have Dreena Burton's " Everyday Vegan " and like it, I will second the

comment that her recipes are not soy-heavy and don't use many processed

food ingredients. I don't know how it would be for picky eaters though,

I guess it would depend what ingredients they're picky about!

Jacqueline, I just looked up Kids Can Cook and it looks good, but I have

a question -- we are vegan. Are there a lot of recipes that rely on eggs

and cheese or do you think it would be suitable for a vegan family?

Heather

Jacqueline Bodnar wrote: