Pass the (cottage) cheese, please.

Brady has always been a good eater (in spite of the fact that he's in the 10th percentile for his weight), but lately, he's become just a little pickier.  Meaning if I mix up pureed asparagus, cauliflower, tofu and carrots, there is a chance it won't stay in his mouth for more than a second.  So, this means I have to be more strategic during meal time.  I can still get Brady to eat all the previously listed foods, it just takes a little more scheming.

The strategy is quite easy, actually.  Mix in a little magic potion...otherwise known as cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese is the only food I've found that Brady really seems to love. Clearly, he doesn't have texture issues.  The good news is, cottage cheese is good for you, but unfortunately for Brady, there are other foods required to maintain a well-balanced diet, so cottage cheese can't be his main course each meal.

The other good news for me is that Brady will eat anything with cottage cheese. I put in big spoonful of broccoli and there is a good chance its ending up on Brady's bib.  Mix in a little cottage cheese and Brady can't wait until the next bite.  The most fascinating thing to me is that he doesn't really require much cottage cheese in order for the bite to be deemed edible.  It's not as though the cottege cheese has to overpower Veggie X.  I've gotten it down to quite a science and I'd say only about 20% cottage cheese is necessary to make the bite satisfactory.  Sometimes I have no idea how he can even taste it in the bite, but if I get greedy and take it out completely, we're back to food on the bib.

I'm trying to think about employing this strategy in my own life, since I'm also not always so good at eating my veggies.  But mix in a scoop of chocolate cookie dough ice cream with some lima beans and you're still eating lima beans. 

And while we're talking veggies, let me share a quick story.   A few weeks ago, I cooked a big meal which included four new recipes.  I asked Eric what he thought of the meal, and like a good husband, said it was very good.  Sometimes this happens and when I remake a dish that he "liked", I can tell he's less than thrilled.  So, in order to get an idea of what recipe should definitly go in the "make-again" pile, I asked him what his favorite thing on his plate was.  To which he responded, "the asparagus."

Perfect, my green beans taste like asparagus.

Perhaps if I mix in some cottage cheese, they'll turn back into green beans.