A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about what a fab eater Audrey is.  Pride and falls.  That’s me.

Tonight, we went to BJ’s Pizza to celebrate my sister’s latest blood test results.  Kidney disease is losing this fight, buddy! Sis still has a long way to go but it’s great to see her cholesterol at 190–not 750.

All of the elements for a fun dinner out were in place- plenty of hands to help entertain, a loud enough restaurant that she could make a little noise, crayons, and an obscenely early meal time.  We left the house by 4:30 and she ate only bread until we arrived home at 6:30.

She would not eat:
pizza
sausage
potato
salmon
tomato
feta
chicken

We made it back to the house, grumpy hungry toddler in tow.  Did she want to eat? NO!  Eventually, I was able to bribe her with black olives to eat maybe an ounce of sliced turkey.  I remembered the way she demolished a cup of cut green beans in her cart at Target yesterday so I microwaved a bowl and she ate a dozen.  I think she also ate maybe three pieces of watermelon.

What happened to my eat anything girl???  She spent her time at the restaurant climbing in and out of her booster seat, playing with the ice water, and stacking pennies from my purse.  I guess her behavior could have been worse, but if I’ve learned anything, it is always feed the child before going out.  She can always eat more out.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.

Of all the things I was committed to as a non-parent, it was the idea that I would raise our children to enjoy many kinds of food.  There was no way I wanted to relive my nanny experience–the kids would only eat strained spaghetti sauce, corn or broccoli and potatoes.  They also helped themselves to nearly a quart of ice cream every night and only got exercise on a concrete basketball court that was on a roof of their building complex.

Audrey still eats lots of different foods.

You could say we got lucky.  That’s probably some of it.  We also made it a huge priority from a very early age.  I made her baby food. I tried to introduce non traditional vegetables and meats.  We used green onions for teething relief.

I also clung to an article one of my college roommates brought home from an anthropology  class.  It talked about something to the effect of how Italian families never serve children separate meals.  Kids eat the same foods as adults.  There was also something as to how the father would star meals with a statement like, “Look at the wonderful meal Mama has prepared for us.”  It was all about how different cultures set the stage for eating and how, unfortunately, American society has not made eating well a priority.

Here’s an article in Gourmet magazine that sounds a lot like something I would have written. I hope the author gets her wish.

Audrey still often eats at a different time than Jake and I do, mainly because she’s been ready for dinner around 4:30pm for the last several months.  Still, last night, she and I sat down to bowls of creamy garlic chicken pasta.  Her favorite part was the broccoli.

Note: I have a very difficult time finishing things.  I started this blog post around 9pm on Saturday night.  I finally just got the photos up.  My recommendation– pretend you just traveled back in time.

Tonight I am making Prosphora, Orthodox Holy Bread that is used in communion/the Eucharist. Tomorrow, His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH, will be joining our little fellowship and serving liturgy. On a portion of the bread, he will call down the Holy Spirit and it will become the Body of Christ. This is a mystery of the church that neither I, nor the greatest theologian fully understand. How does the simple flour, yeast, salt and water that is currently on my kitchen counter transform into something so incredibly sacred? I don’t know. But, I am blown away every time I get the chance to bake this special bread.

I thought I’d share with you the process and my little recipe, born from some serious trial and error and a little help from Prosphora.org.

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