Going Back To Basics
My kids can be picky eaters at times. My wife made some darn good chicken soup, but the kids were complaining that there were veggies in their chicken soup, they hate veggies, veggies make them sick, and they wanted my wife to pick them out of the soup. We tried to tell them that good chicken soup needs veggies to taste good, but they were being stubborn.
I’m sure other parents can understand. I told the kids, “if you really hate the taste of veggies, I’ll make soup tomorrow, and you guys can make sure I only put stuff in you like.” They liked that idea…at the time. The next day, I get the pot filled with water, all the typical soup ingredients out, and gathered the kids. I asked for their approval on every item.
Chicken—yes, salt—yes, black pepper—no (gross, too spicy), celery—no (I can’t even stand the smell), onions—NO!!! It went on like that, with them rejecting parsley, bay leaves, and other veggies. The total contents of the pot ended up being: Chicken, water, salt, noodles. After the soup was done cooking, I served it up and they excitedly started to eat. A few funny faces later, and one of them said, “it tastes weird, this isn’t very good.”
I said “but I only put in everything you guys approved. I think, from now on, I should make the soup, right?” They looked at each other and said “can we have mom’s soup instead?” Since that day, they haven’t complained about finding veggies mixed in the food. Sure, they almost always eat around a carrot or green pea, but they understand that it adds flavor.