April Aleman
I have 4 children each with individual likes and dislikes. I am the parent who has always refused to cook a separate meal for kids at breakfast, lunch or dinner. So, I like to think my parenting technique would have created kids with good, adventurous eating habits.
And yet, I have one (who shall remain nameless but goes by junk-food-Jovie) who is soooo picky..
She likes fruits and vegetables, but has a hard time with any meat other than an In-N-Out cheeseburger, and struggles to eat savory foods. Sure, her favorite food is sushi, and boy can she can eat a plate of spaghetti (with cheese, butter and salt ONLY) like a champ. But, her palate is limited, and it drives me nuts!
When I discussed this with Allison of Lil’ Pinkies Up, we decided to try one of her classes for inspiration and ideas. Let’s just put it this way, my pickiest eater tried raw garlic because she wanted the experience and even put sauce on the final product. THAT NEVER HAPPENS! Even more unbelievably, and yet, totally believable, is she said she wanted more of it! Wouldn’t you know that sauces can enhance flavors?! (You know it, I know it, it’s simply getting picky eaters to know it… am I right?!)
As for my oldest, who has always been pretty open-minded when it comes to food, this was a fantastic opportunity to try new things while developing a better cooking technique.
This class gave her the confidence she needed to cook by herself at home. I was impressed that she woke up the next day and made pancakes. As she did she proudly showed me the right way to crack an egg, how to hold her elbow (awkwardly) while mixing and even cut things using the proper knife technique learned in class. I was impressed. But more importantly, she was confident in her own cooking abilities. And Allison was so wonderful with all my kids!
She was warm, funny, inviting and so very patient with them. I was honestly so impressed by the entire experience. Start to finish it was a delight!
