Trying New Foods - 7 Year Old Style

"I've decided I'm going to start trying new foods", our youngest daughter, Rachel, declared to us at dinner the other night.

"That's great, sweetie!" I replied to her, as I set the table.

While this is something you don't entirely expect to hear from a 7-year old, that's never a bad thing, right?  Of course, Rachel has always been a pretty good eater and often tries new foods.   She's going through a bit of a stage where if something looks different than she expects, she declares that "she doesn't like that", but otherwise, she has a pretty wide range of tastes.

The timing seemed a little odd, too, as I was grilling our weekend sirloin, and had already made baked beans and had some Orieda fries in the oven on a cookie sheet.  Additionally, Rachel has asked me to make hamburgers instead of the sirloin, but Dianne and I wanted the sirloin so bad we declared that we were making steak.  Final answer.

Naturally, once Rachel and I were in Kendrick's picking out the sirloin du jour, I caved in and bought some ground sirloin patties to make her a burger.

I'm basically the world's nicest dad.  As further proof, I'm making the drive all the way out to Six Flags tonight to pick up my teen-age daughter and her lunatic friends when the park closes.  I'm hoping they all fall asleep in the car after playing out there all day.

Back to the food story.  Given that we were having weekend grilled comfort food for dinner, I was curious as to what brought about this "trying new foods" quest.

So I asked Rachel if she had identified any foods that were on her short list of trying.

"Yes, I have two picked out", she replied.

Well, at least there is a plan.

"What foods?" I asked.

"Jalapenos and dill pickles", she replied.

Apparently, the jalapenos idea came from me putting them on hamburgers whenever I can.  And, yes, she was aware that they are hot and spicy.

So, the big moment came, we were sitting at the table, she had her hamburger open and selected a jalapeno slice from the jar of canned jalapenos.

She placed the slice on her hamburger,  put the top slice of bread back on, and took a big bite - right through the jalapeno area.

My wife and I watched her closely for any reaction. 

Rachel chewed.  And chewed.  And chewed.  There was essentially no reaction other than her looking up into her skull, studying the flavors.  Finally, after a good 30 seconds of this, she decided that she was going to rate the jalapenos as a "no", but was open to trying them again next time.   She finished the jalapeno in her mouth, too.

I think she'll be eating them shortly, judging from the minimal negative reaction.

That's my girl!  I love spicy food.

By the way, her taste test of the dill pickle following the jalapeno test resulted in a positive recommendation from her.

Comments

[Wendy Kienbusch]

She can try our homeade dill pickles that we marinated in jalepenos. That way she can do two in one deal.

[Gregg]

What a great idea! I use Jalapenos as a dill pickle substitute on burgers. This way, I could have them both!

[Gregg's Mom]

Rachel is a fun child to cook for as she will at least truly try everything. When she spent every Thurs. night with us as a preschooler, I was always amazed how much she ate, usually eating as much as Dad or I. How does she stay so thin?

[sangeeta]

Thanks for this interesting post. It is wonderful to know that a 7 year old can be so open to trying new food. However, it is entirely different with toddlers, especially the troublesome two's who want to have it their own way.

Cheers!
parenting infants and toddlers

[Rob Horton]

Awesome! I was SO expecting a description of steam shooting out of her ears all cartoon-style but sounds like she handled it like a champ! Grats on having a fellow spicy-food-eater in the house.