My wife and I are both good cooks, and we both like good foood. But my stepson (17) eats nothing but crap! He practically lives on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! Likewise, my daughter: the other night , I made an excellent dinner: Paella Valenciana (with fresh scallops, shrimp, and asparagus)…their reaction? Eeeww!that’s gross! (Both refused this wonderful food). Their idea of a good meal is some loathsome Domino’s “pizza”, or greasy fried “chicken” from thje colonel!
Of course, perhaps I should not complain-we get to eat great food, they subsist on junk.
Why??
Don’t buy the pizzas. If they want to turn up their nose at what’s put on the plate, let them buy the replacement food.
Try simple food, well cooked.
And I wouldn’t want the aspearagus, either. (42 years old).
Tell them, there’s a 21 year old student here, who would love to trade places with them. Can’t wait for spring break so I get to go home and eat some decent food. Including some asparagus.
That sounds most yummy ralph124c. My teenage niece is the same way, shunning good meals, and wondering why she’s overweight. Reality check on register 5
Maybe they keep kosher (no shellfish)? ;j
Why? Because they’re stupid teenagers and their tastebuds haven’t matured. Make them at least try it, and don’t let them substitute junk when they refuse your good food. I tell my stupid teenagers that they either eat what’s on the table or go hungry the rest of the night. Of course, then they go off with their friends and eat pizza, but I do what I can. At least they’re paying for the junk and not me.
Damn! I one of my friends (I’m 19) did that, I’d slap 'em for being so dumb. I’ve hated fast food (including piza chains) since I was in fifth grade. Although nothing beats a good rare steak, I would love to have something like what the OP described…
…except the asparagus. I hate that stuff.
ralph124c, just wait untill they go off to college, and hve to eat that greasy crap all the time in the nasty caffeteria
Oh! I just got another Idea!
Just follw this simple script:
YOU: you don’t want to eat this? [point to fridge] There’s the fridge. [ponits to kitchen] There’s the kitchen.
Forget that, how about “you don’t want to eat this, fine. Breakfast is in 12 hours and we can try again”.
Because they don’t like what you made and you allow them to eat pizza instead would be my guess.
I wouldn’t want your paella either.
We don’t make our kids eat food they hate, but we don’t let them replace it with crap either. Children taste things differently than adults and we can’t always expect them to like “good” foods.
Most kids don’t like fancy meals so we have ours try something new if we’re having it but we’ll usually have a nutritious alternative to more complicated meals. It’s not a big deal to keep some foods separate for the kids before I mix them together for us. Or not putting the sauce on their foods. It isn’t any extra work to bake some chicken for them.
As far as expensive foods like shellfish and seafood go, we definitely don’t even want them to like those. If they want to develop expensive food tastes they can do it when they’re adults and buy their own food. I would hate to see some 15 dollar a pound item be inhaled by the mixing bowl full and not tasted in the usual teenage boy manner.
A lot of people don’t like scallops or asparagus. I wouldn’t eat that dish, but that’s because I might have a rather nasty (best case: three days of serious GI tract distress. Worst case: almost instant death) reaction to the scallops. Why don’t you try asking them what they want?
(Of course, the odds that this results in either “I dunno…” or “[insert fast food here]”…)
BTW time someone is seventeen, I think “letting them” or “not letting them” eat something is a little strict. Don’t go out of your way to fix them junk-tell them there’s food in the cupboard for them if they want to fix something.
3 kids…all boys.
Got a 16 year old…eats meat only, and on his schedule.
Got a 8 year old…picky eater, eats very little at dinner and then is hungry in one hour, looking for junk.
Got a 3 year old that eats just about anything…meat, cheese, rice, noodles, potatoes, any hot vegetable (including aspargus), and SALAD. Now, that’s my man.
I think it is a bit much to expect teenagers used to pizza and fried chicken to like paella. But if you know what sort of ingredients they like, feel free to have them ‘eat it or go hungry’ when you cook for them.
Mmmmm junk food!
I’m 19, and am exactly like your kids. I can’t explain it. I just like the taste of junk food. I’m a very fussy eater (my diet is quite limited).
You might want to try asking your step son and daughter what food they like that isn’t junk food. They are teenagers and have different tastes from you and your wife. Maybe they’re just not a fan of the food you love.
You could of course just do what my mum did, and tell me to make my own meals. This didn’t last very long though once my mum realised that rather then cooking I just wasn’t bothering to eat.
… because they don’t like the taste of your food, and I can’t blame them.
I’m 37 years old, and the thought of having to eat any form of seafood, much less asparagus, gets my tummy queasy.
All my life I’ve hated seafood - can’t stand the taste, revolted by the smell, etc. Wouldn’t eat it at home, and got punished for it, but I’d rather have the punishment than have to upchuck later that night. Since moving out, 17 years ago, I’ve not touched the stuff. I also avoid salad like the plague, and various other foods that are “good for you!” because they just revolt me.
Also, as I’ve found out in later life, those salads and seafood are anathema to my digestive system. There’s no WAY at 17 I’d confess to my parents that those foods caused really bad diarhea and other internal distress!
Now that I’m getting older, I’m finding that I can start trying the lighter, more delicate forms of seafood - lobster neuberg, etc., and now that I’m on the proper digestive medication, I can actually keep it down. The smell is still revolting though.
Now, as to Dominos, KFC, Mac and Cheese being yucky - it seems like that to YOU. I love that stuff, and find it enjoyable. To your kids, eating the foods YOU like is the same reaction that they have to the foods you think they should eat - icky. If family dining is big to you - compromise. One night your foods, one night their foods. Either that, or do what my parents did - Institute a cooking night. Each kid has to cook one night, and the parents the other night. It allows for a range of cooking, and it lets you see what foods THEY are interested in. If they want to spend their money for pizza, so be it. But then you have to be prepared to eat cheeseburger-hambuger-helper and not squeal your displeasure.
And don’t stress the whole thing. Teenagers, as a whole, will find ways to feed themselves. Kind of like a roaming band of locusts.
The thing is that nearly everything is an aquired taste. It’s a lot faster to eat pizza than your “good” food. So they eat it and like it. They don’t eat your “good” food because they don’t have a taste for it. I (15 years old) am the same way. I would far prefer ground beef to steak.
Well, I have the same issues with my 7 year old. After some thought, and some good advice from the folks here, we have a good compromise. If you don’t like what was cooked, you get PB & J. That’s it. In the few months we’ve done it, we’ve noticed a lot more participation at family dinners.
While for some it’s a taste thing, it might be one of those control issues you’ll always have to work through with kids.