Maybe I’m a mean mom, but I make my kids try new foods. I don’t make them eat it if they don’t like it and I don’t go out of my way to get things that will gross them out. Both of them like pistachio nuts so I thought I would make some pistachio pudding for dessert. Here’s what happened.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJELxG7LALU
Let me just defend myself here. I have never fed my kids anything out of a dumpster. I get food from grocery stores and I don’t know any aliens. I don’t like food waste, so I bought just one box of pudding, however my timing on it wasn’t great. I was going out of town the next day and since nobody liked it, it sat in my fridge for 5 days. I guess the aliens came in peace though, as this is the shape the pudding cracked into.
Okay, so I added the little piece at the bottom between the two small lines, but it looked like a peace sign when I pulled it out, as the other 3 lines were cracked in. So what’s the best way to avoid food waste with kids? Here’s a few tips.
- Small portions. When eating out, I sometimes make them share or order small quantities because we can always order more. At home, I let them fill their own plates with the understanding that they must eat what they put on it.
- Plan leftovers. If you go out, don’t get food that will taste bad as leftovers. French fries are just gross as leftovers. Order something that you or your kids will eat the next day. At home, make extras of the foods that will keep well as leftovers and cook only what will be eaten on the right-now foods.
- Let your kids cook. I don’t do this often enough, but if they help in the meal planning and cooking, they’re more apt to eat it.
This won’t eliminate waste, but it sure will cut it down to an extreme minimum. It also never hurts to communicate your grocery budget to the kids and let them shop. Keep in mind this can backfire when your 10 and 11 year-olds go to the neighbors house and tell them they’re spending way too much money on groceries, telling them everything they know about saving money when buying food. I’ve found that works better than the ‘starving-kids-in-other-countries’ talk. If we’re less wasteful, we’ll have more resources to help others.