Meal planning with the Duggars. I fixed it for you

[Buzzard]

J'chelles latest rambling, with corrections.

 

http://parentables.howstuffworks.com/ch ... cgn=fbtlc1

 

In our house, organization is very important in everything we the J'slaves do and that of course includes meal planning. Our family works with a large master menu to plan our food for the week. Whoever is going to cook for that week gets to pick what meals they want to prepare. Usually, we they plan two weeks at a time: that way we're theyre not going to duplicate the same recipe too often. I get truly annoyed when I have to have one of their favorite dishes too often and not mine.It also helps us when we they plan our shopping list so we they can make sure that we they get all the ingredients that we’re they're going to need. Menus and lists are a huge help with that.

 

Because we're the girls are cooking for a lot of children, and occasionally their oldest brother who is also a child, we they tend to make the same family favorites a lot. We’re They're not going to try out too many crazy recipes that young palates won't be interested in, because diversity and new experiences are of the devil. We eat a lot of green salads and veggie trays that we buy at walmart. Of course, ours are giant trays so sometimes we have to go to Sams! A lot of times we’ll they'll slice up a big tray of tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and top with a spritz of vinegar. Eating any food in its natural, God made form is prohibited. That’s a favorite snack around here.

 

All of the kids take turns in the kitchen because I am well above cooking for my own children. I always let each one of them take a turn at learning how to prepare a meal, funny how they think its their idea. Usually, they'll start off with breakfast or lunch before diving into dinner. And it's not just for the girls! Some of the boys are really good cooks. They are experts at microwaving ramen and defrosting french fries. You've never had a pillsbury bisquit like Jed makes! They have lots of fun getting in there and being creative. Jason and Justin are particularly enjoying being in the kitchen lately because thy discovered that any cookie dough or ice cream that falls on the floor or counter is fair game. Of course, the little ones love to help, too. Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn all love lending a hand. If they didnt, they'd get the back of one. They’re always in the kitchen asking, "What can I do? Can I open this? Can I help?" I have trained them well to be helpmeets.

 

We usually have teams of three or four kids that’ll work together on the cooking. If you get more than that, there are really just too many cooks in the kitchen! There’s a leader and then the rest of them follow the instructions of the leader. I supervise from the bedroom, sitting in my rocker with my feet in a hot massage bath. We The girls label everything so that whoever is in there can find things and know where they belong when they're doing cleanup. But really, since all of our food is boxed, its really about counting the eggs on the carton and making sure you dont leave broken shells. The kids truly enjoy their time in the kitchen and it’s a huge help tothe family me. It really works out well for everyone me and Jim Bob.

[curlykate]

:clap: Bravo!

You've really nailed it with your comments.

I love how she adds that the boys enjoy helping in the kitchen as well. I bet the only help the get asked for is opening a can, as the women pretend to be weak and in need of "saving" from a man. :roll:

[paganhomeschooler]

There's only 1 mistake. Michelle hasn't trained them well to be helpmeets....the J'slaves have trained them well to be helpmeets. ;-)

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

:clap: Good job!

[Scribber]

:clap: :lol:

I actually had an acquaintance attempt to justify this the other day! She was going on about how you want the kids to eat, and so sometimes bland/overly processed foods are all they will eat.

Umm. :naughty: My daughter will eat pretty much anything I put in front of her. She's had fast food only a limited number of times, and she eats mostly fruits and veggies from our garden or the farmers market if we can get it. She loves chicken and fish. And has never once had a tater tot :snooty:

[Buzzard]

:clap: :lol:

I actually had an acquaintance attempt to justify this the other day! She was going on about how you want the kids to eat, and so sometimes bland/overly processed foods are all they will eat.

Umm. :naughty: My daughter will eat pretty much anything I put in front of her. She's had fast food only a limited number of times, and she eats mostly fruits and veggies from our garden or the farmers market if we can get it. She loves chicken and fish. And has never once had a tater tot :snooty:

I actually had that conversation with my friend yesterday when her baby was munching on a mango. Kids eat garbage because its easy to feed them garbage. Hungry kid? Stop by the mcdonalds drive thru and give em some mcnuggets! This isnt about "crazy recipes" and "young palates", its about laziness.

[AmyP]

yeah, well, ok. but if you ever have a kid with serious sensory issues you feed them what you can.

[Hane]

I actually had that conversation with my friend yesterday when her baby was munching on a mango. Kids eat garbage because it's easy to feed them garbage. Hungry kid? Stop by the McDonald's drive thru and give em some McNuggets! This isn't about "crazy recipes" and "young palates", it's about laziness.

I always felt exactly the same way you do--until my grandson came along.

Both of his parents are excellent cooks, make nutritious meals, and grew up eating healthy foods. My daughter used to eat raw vegetables right off the plants in my dad's garden.

But my now-five-year-old grandson has what his mother calls a "limited palate." His parents keep junk food out of the house, but his dietary preferences are string cheese, kids' yogurt, apples, carrots, juice, milk, bread, and veggie chips (cookies if I make him some, but only very plain ones). When they go out to eat, all he wants is a few fries off someone's plate.

None of us has the slightest idea how this kid ended up this way.

[AmyP]

I always felt exactly the same way you do--until my grandson came along.

Both of his parents are excellent cooks, make nutritious meals, and grew up eating healthy foods. My daughter used to eat raw vegetables right off the plants in my dad's garden.

But my now-five-year-old grandson has what his mother calls a "limited palate." His parents keep junk food out of the house, but his dietary preferences are string cheese, kids' yogurt, apples, carrots, juice, milk, bread, and veggie chips (cookies if I make him some, but only very plain ones). When they go out to eat, all he wants is a few fries off someone's plate.

None of us has the slightest idea how this kid ended up this way.

I always felt that way too, until my third child. I couldn't even wean her. Did not like homemade baby food, store bought baby food, ground up dinner, organic baby food, mashed banana or potato. Would. Not. Eat. Tried Everything. Went to solids- maybe she did not like mushy stuff. Even worse. Just would not eat. Three years later, still won't eat. She will only tolerate a very limited number of things and unfortunately chicken nuggets are one of the things she will eat.

[Buzzard]

yeah, well, ok. but if you ever have a kid with serious sensory issues you feed them what you can.

Of course, medical issues always are an exception and yes, you do what you can. In J'chelle's case... its laziness.

[Witsec7]

Of course, medical issues always are an exception and yes, you do what you can. In J'chelle's case... its laziness.

Juterus would never admit to any of her kids to having sensory issues. Besides the sister mother's would have to keep her informed regarding the littles.

[Buzzard]

Ok, I fixed it again.

In our house, organization is very important in everything we the J'slaves do and that of course includes meal planning. Our family works with a large master menu to plan our food for the week. Whoever is going to cook for that week gets to pick what meals they want to prepare. Usually, we they plan two weeks at a time: that way we're theyre not going to duplicate the same recipe too often. I get truly annoyed when I have to have one of their favorite dishes too often and not mine.It also helps us when we they plan our shopping list so we they can make sure that we they get all the ingredients that we’re they're going to need. Menus and lists are a huge help with that. It also helps ensure that all the children have something they can and will eat, especially because I have no idea about food allergies, sensitivities, or issues my children have.

Because we're the girls are cooking for a lot of children, and occasionally their oldest brother who is also a child, we they tend to make the same family favorites a lot. We’re They're not going to try out too many crazy recipes that young palates won't be interested in, because diversity and new experiences are of the devil. We eat a lot of green salads and veggie trays that we buy at walmart. Of course, ours are giant trays so sometimes we have to go to Sams! A lot of times we’ll they'll slice up a big tray of tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and top with a spritz of vinegar. Eating any food in its natural, God made form is prohibited. That’s a favorite snack around here.

All of the kids take turns in the kitchen because I am well above cooking for my own children. I always let each one of them take a turn at learning how to prepare a meal, funny how they think its their idea. Usually, they'll start off with breakfast or lunch before diving into dinner. And it's not just for the girls! Some of the boys are really good cooks. They are experts at microwaving ramen and defrosting french fries. You've never had a pillsbury bisquit like Jed makes! They have lots of fun getting in there and being creative. Jason and Justin are particularly enjoying being in the kitchen lately because thy discovered that any cookie dough or ice cream that falls on the floor or counter is fair game. Of course, the little ones love to help, too. Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn all love lending a hand. If they didnt, they'd get the back of one. They’re always in the kitchen asking, "What can I do? Can I open this? Can I help?" The girls have trained them well to be helpmeets.

We usually have teams of three or four kids that’ll work together on the cooking. If you get more than that, there are really just too many cooks in the kitchen! There’s a leader and then the rest of them follow the instructions of the leader. I supervise from the bedroom, sitting in my rocker with my feet in a hot massage bath. We The girls label everything so that whoever is in there can find things and know where they belong when they're doing cleanup. But really, since all of our food is boxed, its really about counting the eggs on the carton and making sure you dont leave broken shells. The kids truly enjoy their time in the kitchen and it’s a huge help tothe family me. It really works out well for everyone me and Jim Bob.

[paganhomeschooler]

I think that's quite possibly the most honest thing J'Chelle has ever written. ;-) I'm so glad you were able to fix those minor omissions for her.

[Buzzard]

I think that's quite possibly the most honest thing J'Chelle has ever written. ;-) I'm so glad you were able to fix those minor omissions for her.

I look forward to helping her edit her next entry!

[rene76]

You should do this for all of her blog entries! This fix is much closer to the truth.

[paganhomeschooler]

I look forward to reading it! I'm sure it will be very insightful about this lovely, inspiring, wholesome family. /sarcasm

[Scribber]

Of course, medical issues always are an exception and yes, you do what you can. In J'chelle's case... its laziness.

I agree completely. Sensory issues, and the occasional child with allergies/etc. But I would venture to guess that the majority of the time it's pure laziness. Because pre-packaged foods and drive thru are so much more convenient/cheaper than to venture outside of the comfort zone.

[Arete]

People would be a lot more accepting of prepackaged and convenience foods if fundies like the Duggars didn't make such a idol of "homemaking". Homemaking my ass. Don't tell me your a "keeper at home" when you can't even make marinara sauce from canned tomatoes and a few garlic cloves.

[Miggy]

Son 2 would only ever eat white food: bread (no topping), white sauce, pasta, rice, milk. He was 11-12 before he started to eat stronger flavoured foods. We have a small family so it was never a drama to make two meals or to remove his share before adding other ingrediants. In the Duggars case, with so many kids, even if each child had one food they didn't like, you loose a huge number of foods. No way you could produce different meals for each child. However, I do not see this as a reason to keep food simple. I see it as a sign you have too many kids.

Tomatoes are DELICIOUS. A highlight of my childhood was picking them in my grandpas garden and eating them fresh, tomato juice dribbling all over my clothes. We had three fresh from the markets for lunch today. Why would you put salt, pepper & vinegar on them??? Can you even taste them or do you just taste salt, pepper & vinegar??? :roll:

[Irishy]

Bravo! Hilarious! You made my morning.

[Abi]

:clap: Fantastic!

[Cerdwin]

I have 3 children, and every one of them turned out differently as far as food is concerned. The first was hyper picky, and didn't start eating many strong flavoured foods until about 10 years old. I served his food first then added the ingredients we like. The second devoured everything in sight, and spent her first birthday party scavenging sun dried tomatoes and black olives (seedless, of course) off guests' plates. The third? Well, he turned out to be the hardest. He's vegetarian, and has been since he could talk. He started not liking the texture of meat, but now also hates the thought of eating animals. So now we eat some meat, but I now cook many more legumes and vegetarian meals. Now we have had to cut out all preservatives to help with his behaviour issues, so the menu is being rewritten once more.

I am sorry that those kids have no one who cares about their individual needs, and that they are expected to slot in with a menu that makes boarding school look gourmet.

[clarinetpower]

I hear you on the sensory issues. We eat mostly whole foods, homemade, lots of veggies, nothing deep fried, and that's what we serve our kids, of course. Deal with lactose intolerance, too, so no dairy. My oldest loves veggies and is a pretty good eater. My youngest would be happy on a life of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, ham and french fries. We've found other things she'll eat, but it's hard to get enough nutrition from 2 cherry tomatoes and a clementine, so we feed her what we can.

Oldest has sensory issues with clothes, and I've finally just learned to let her lead; saves a lot of headaches and stress. I tried insisting, arguing, and bargaining, and eventually just gave in. Luckily, it was around the time I found a huge semiâ€annual resale event, so I was able to buy enough dresses to get her through the year without going to every store in town and spending a fortune.

Here's an interesting thing that happened the other day. I had ripened a papaya on the windowsill, and peeled and sliced it for a snack. Oldest took one bite and said, "It tasteâ€iz like when the dentist puts his gloves in my mouth." Turns out, the enzyme in papaya is harvested to make latex. So maybe there's something more to this than just being stubborn? ;) But then again, if I were fundie, I'd just whack her with a plumbing line and tell her to eat the papaya to the glory of the Lord. (Then again again, I'd probably be serving canned pears, so never mind.)

[slickcat79]

Tomatoes are DELICIOUS. A highlight of my childhood was picking them in my grandpas garden and eating them fresh, tomato juice dribbling all over my clothes. We had three fresh from the markets for lunch today. Why would you put salt, pepper & vinegar on them??? Can you even taste them or do you just taste salt, pepper & vinegar??? :roll:

Not to mention, have we ever seen them eat a tray of tomatoes in any way, shape, or form? Frozen fruit, yes. Yogurt, yes. Salad, sometimes-especially the older girls. Pickles, obviously. That one time they brought a veggie tray on a picnic as an STFU, Internet moment. Granted, I haven't watched that many episodes of the show in the last couple of seasons, but I've never seen them eat or use fresh tomatoes for anything :?

[Coconut Flan]

I saw Jill or Jana cutting up tomatoes in Little Rock for salad I think it was. How said is it that happens so seldom it made a memory for me of the show?