I told the kids that starting in January we were going to have a new meal plan. I had no idea what it would be, but I was sick of arguing with them about what they could eat, sick of making three different meals each night, sick of negotiating exactly how many carrot sticks it would take to get yet another piece of bread and butter. Just sick of the whole feeding process! Despite the fact that I mentioned it to them several times over the past month, I did not, in fact, have any actual plan in mind.

So it came up again in conversation a few days ago. We discussed, as a family, the reasons I was unhappy with the current meal situation. They added their opinions. We came up with a plan. The plan is that they will make their own dinners from now on. How’s that for a plan?! I agreed, with the caveat that they need to make healthy dinners. We talked about what a healthy dinner includes and Lex expressed concern that he wouldn’t be able to do that since he doesn’t like fruits and vegetables. It was late and he was starting to get agitated, so we agreed to attempt a list of fruits and veggies the next day.

After school yesterday they each grabbed a sheet of paper and started making a list of fruits and vegetables they like, sorted by color. I pulled up a great PDF listing of fruits and veggies by color (from the Sesame Street website, no less, and it also includes a convenient “sometimes foods” and “anytime foods” list) Both kids made their lists and Lex was surprised to find how many things he likes in the green category. You can see in the picture below that he made the green section pretty small, expecting it to be empty.

When they got done listing the foods that like, I asked them to choose two foods from each color group that they *might* like and would be willing to try. Those are written with a question mark next to them. Then they each chose one of the question mark foods to add to the shopping list, with the understanding that they would in fact taste the foods when I brought them home.

These are the fruits and veggies that my kids like… today.

Last night Lex wanted garlic bread for dinner so I taught them both how to make garlic bread. They each looked at their lists and chose their side dishes accordingly. Eve ate grapes and lentil soup (the meal I cooked), while Lex ate an entire honeydew melon! Eve had milk, Lex had yogurt. A fairly healthy meal, I think. And everyone was happy and no one argued.

This evening Lex made garlic bread again, with cheese on top, and he wanted carrots for the side. He agreed to work with me on prepping them. I washed and he cut. Yes, I taught him how to use the sharp knife. He said, “Am I really old enough for the sharp knife??” It was terrifying to me, but his opinion was “This is pretty easy, really.” I was composing a visit-to-the-ER blog post in my head, but he got the carrots all cut up and had carrots, yogurt, and cheesy garlic bread for dinner. Whole wheat bread. Healthy enough. (are my standards low?!)

I don’t know how long this will last, but the life skills lessons in the kitchen (Eve can now make mac & cheese by herself, with just my supervision around the stove) and the eagerness to prepare meals is something I’m going to enjoy as long as possible!