Why Dads are so great.

My sister in law emailed me a delicious recipe last night, saying she and my brother had made it over the weekend and even though I have picky eaters over here, maybe the kids would like this.

When I read the list of ingredients, my mouth started to water....olives, artichoke hearts, feta, sun dried tomatoes....these are all my favorite things.

This list reads like Logan's worst dinner option, you stick a pickle on top and you've got Logan's gastronomic nightmare. Scratch that, add some onions and a pickle.

I wrote back explaining to my sister in law that even though this recipe is free of mayonnaise and onions...it still will never pass in this house. I push the limits sometimes, I mean I have no choice or I'd eat poached chicken and broccoli every night of my life. Trying to pass off this dish at dinner here would mean certain death for me.

Here's her reply.

WHO DOESN'T LOVE FETA?!?
You need to tell them what my Dad would tell us as kids.... 'Eat it or wear it!'
We always opted for eat it but I always wanted to see a sibling wear it.

Eat it or wear it. I've been laughing about this all day. I love the nonsense things Dads come up with to say to their kids.

Additionally I think Eat It Or Wear It could become a lovely addition to the Did They Eat It? thing. We'll dump the "Try a taste of everything on your plate" and replace it with Eat It or Wear It.

It's spring break here this week.
I'd like to say I'm loving it, but you know, I'm not.
So I won't say that.

Hold....me......

Comments

[katg]

I think that is what the dad said in the book, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume. As I recall, the younger brother (Fudge) refused to eat it one day, so had his bowl of cereal dumped over his head.
As a fourth grader, I found this really, really amusing!

[Mary]

We had to have some of everything & sit at the table until we'd cleaned our plate. There's no way Mom would've cleaned up the wearing of it.

[Heather]

totally change it up to "Did they wear it?" Mine are younger so the only rule so far is to not to "ewww yuck" in front of your siblings. That recipe looks delish--going to have to try it even though I hate olives.

[WaltzInExile]

It's spring break here, too. Can we hold each other...?

[Casey]

My oldest daughter's standby meal is: pasta and strawberries. The youngest is putting her to shame, preferring to eat off our plates than partake in the plain pasta.

My god, I didn't plan for the alliteration there.

My question to you, is, do your kids eat pasta and will they tolerate a mild tomato cream sauce on it? If so, I might have a recipe for you. And the best part: it's super easy to make in bulk and freeze in batches for another time. Oh! And it can be found in a cookbook called "Intercourses" which is, of course, written around the topic of aphrodisiacs.

The kids don't need to know that.

[kym b]

i hear you on the spring break, we have the same problem here.

totally trying that recipe, my kids will eat everything on there except the sundried tomatoes. i will just have to throw in some red pepper instead.

[j3n]

The reigning favorite food/eating related saying around here is, "you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit." My four year old loves repeating this at every chance.

[Angie]

Niiiice!
When I have kids, if I have kids, I will tell them exactly that.

[bonzai]

I've adopted the motto of the Gosselins (Jon & Kate + 8). "If you don't want to eat dinner, there's always breakfast."
I'm constantly amazed at the pickiness of my kids. They don't even like mashed potatoes! What WOULD they have done in my mom's house - faced with liver & onions or the worst, Bohemian tripe soup? Fallen on their dull knives?

[angelawd]

I once tried to take a stand with one of my daughters about the remaining cereal in her bowl. There were 3 Cheerios left and she was refusing to eat them. The bowl was returned to the table at lunch; by dinner the Cheerios were the size of innertubes. She tried adding chocolate syrup to make it taste better, but judging by the awful sounds she made, it was much, much worse.

I actually don't remember who won that battle of wills.

[Tiffany]

At our house it was "This isn't a freaking restaurant!!" Some days I ate, some days I didn't... I still wound up being a pudgy adult though. Heh.

[Thebe]

I'm reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" to my 5-year-old boy, who loves to hear about Fudge. He loves the phrase "Eat It or Wear It." Last night he wouldn't finish his dinner and I asked, "What did Fudge's daddy say!" He yelled "Eat it or wear it!" and laughed maniacally. But he finished his dinner.

[Jenn]

I'll have to ask Marv if he got that line from Judy Blume. He worked at the State (Mental)Hospital in Ypsi during college... I think (sadly) it may have been carried over from his days there. He also used to threaten 'I'll tap dance on your butt!' if we didn't do what he said...hardly a viable threat.

[mythoughtsonthat]

My kid is not really picky but that Eat It Or Wear It really makes me laugh. Although I would be the one stuck with the cleanup of Wearing It so I probably would skip it.

[Marta]

My uncle used to say:"Well, if you don't like it you just have to eat more to learn to like it." We always ended up eating a bit of everything afraid that he would fill our plate with the ingredient we didn't like.

[Carole]

We took a line from my British SIL - everyone must take a "no thank you bite" of everything that was made. It has worked so far, but I think that may have come to an end last week when we made our 7 yr-old try a brussel sprout. It did not stay down.

[Dana]

My father-in-law says "you don't have to eat it, but it'll look funny in your ear."

He's a strange bird, but funny!

[cat]

when we started in with the, "daddy i'm hungry what's for dinner i'm huuuungry" bit, my dad whipped out the "we're having pickled pig's feet and fried lizard lips" bit. and we believed him every time.

[Lisame]

I don't love feta! Yuck!

I was raised under the rule that you take one bite of everything. Fortunately, Mom doesn't like cheese either so it wasn't that bad.

[kalle]

as a child, my husband was told his options for dinner were "like it or love it; those are the choices". difficult to argue with that!

[ella]

Mmm! Whatever this recipe is sounds wonderful! Can't wait for the post. Be sure and include pictures of everyone wearing dinner.

[Miss Elizabeth]

Melissa, I think you should serve that dish once a week and tell your family "Hi, haters!" if they're goofy enough to gripe. Floss those artichoke hearts like rims on a new Benz.

[CinAA]

I can sort of understand that Logan doesn't like any of the pickled, sourish, briny things. Great, fine, I don't like maple, so there are some flavors some people don't enjoy. What I DON'T get is my kids, who love pickles and olives, but protest over artichoke hearts or, God forbid, a tablespoon of capers in a recipe that has black olives and garlic.

[Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com]

I had a parent who said the same thing.

The other parent said "this is not a diner, you will sit here until you finish what's on your plate."

This is why I spent hours at the dinner table after everyone else was done. Ah, sweet childhood memories.

[Erika]

I just read something interesting a friend on Facebook did. She sat her kids down, asked them what they wanted to get done over their break (go to movie, ride bikes, shopping,) wrote up the list, and then made a schedule. That's sounds like something that could be up your alley, no?

[Sarah L]

Hate onions. gag reflex. just sayin'.

[WindyLou]

Didn't read all the comments, but my grandfather used to say that to my mom and her sisters. He also really would smear/dump the food on them if they didn't eat it!

I'd forgotten about those stories until your post today. Thanks for the laugh!

[Lisa]

mmmm, that recipe sounds wonderful. I'm going to make it.

My family are picky eater (although not as picky as yours) and I make things all the time that they don't like. If they don't want it, they can have a hot pocket. I refuse to live on tacos and pizza.

Unless they want to take over cooking duties, I get to pick what we eat.

[dorrie]

I hear you about the picky eaters! They do improve as they get older, though, I promise. Except about onions, maybe.

I work full time and would love love love to be home with my kids! Enjoy!

[shan]

My mom did this years ago to my brother.
She made a dish that was called "yap yap." It was kind of gross (3 kinds of soup (tomato, veg and cream of mushroom), ground beef and noodles mixed together with cheese on top); my brother refused to eat it, and she dumped it on his head.

"Eat it or wear it" was a threat heard in my family at almost every meal, and it was shocking to have my parents actually follow through for once.

Never again did she make "yap yap" though.

[rbiggs]

Melissa,

I just have to say, that given all of the crap that you dealt with your dad, the title of your post shocked me and then warmed my heart for you! I love seeing that you are getting to watch Logan be a great dad to your kids! You are a great mom. I don't know you , but read you blog every day, even when you don't post, so I feel like I know you.

[heidi]

I had to tell you that I made this last night. Just enough for 1 as not another soul in the house would eat this. I had leftover chicken and pasta in the fridge and picked up the rest on the way home. OMG! You must make this even if only for yourself. It is divine. Please thank your SIL for me.

[Sonja]

What Heidi said!! OMG!! SO GOOD!! I've got a two year old and I keep waiting for the picky stage to hit but so far so good. He loved the olives and the artichokes! And the feta really isn't "present" - it just gives flavor and makes it creamy. Also, I used rotini because it's less messy for a toddler to eat and I already had a box. The fresh angel hair isn't critical - but it would cut down on the time. It makes a ton so you could keep some for yourself and give the rest to a family that would appreciate it. A new mom maybe...

[Lisa]

I was blessed with a daughter who would eat everything, and a son who would not. At 18 months, she was gobbling up pizza with everything, liverwurst and pickled herring. Nick, on the other hand, was suspicious of anything we set before him, even if he liked it before. Frustrating, to say the least!
Here's a dish they both ate willingly. I got it from a friend's mother years ago)
Chicken with Glop
4 Chicken breast halves
4 slices of swiss cheese
1 can of cream of anything soup (I know, I know)
about 1 cup of buttered bread crumbs (or dry if you don't have the energy)
Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish. Cover with cheese. Spread soup over chicken and cheese. Top with bread crumbs. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes. Serve with rice, potatoes or your favorite starch.
My daughter, now 23, makes this for her roommates and they love it. Let me know if you ever try it.

[sumo]

I don't understand how kids get away with being such picky eaters these days. When I was a kid we ate what was put in front of us. And it wasn't a "Eat it or go hungry" option, it was EAT IT (I like the EAT it or WEAR it option). I think we were pretty obedient because we didn't want to incur THE WRATH. I'm not picking on parents - it seems to be a universal problem and I don't know how I would handle it myself. I'm just confused.