Day: August 27, 2016

One of the reasons I started this blog is because I have been really struggling to cook for a blended family for the past four years.

My husband and I brought together our teen aged sons to form what I have to say is a pretty successful family unit. I don’t want to diminish that success, but food has been an ongoing problem.

The first issue has been our differing relationships to food. Everyone has food likes and dislikes. That’s a given. But we all also develop a relationship to food that is dictated by our home environment and how food factors into our upbringing.

I raised my son with the same relationship to food that I was raised with (thanks mom!). He was encouraged to try new foods, but never required to. There was no punishment for not trying, and certainly no punishment for not liking a new food. He was also encouraged to revisit foods he had already tried and disliked. We both have certain foods we simply would never choose first and a few we just avoid, but we’re overall good eaters.

My step sons have a completely different relationship to food. They were brought up old school and dinner was mandated eating. As a result, new foods cause them quite a bit of anxiety and they are very hesitant to try anything new. When they do try new food it’s usually a fake attempt because they’ve already decided they don’t want to like it.

The second consistent issue is meat. I’m not a fan, neither is my son. I started turning away beef as a tween. I now rarely touch pork (but bacon, am I right?). I eat chicken in small portions. My son eats all of those meats, but also prefers small portions in relation to the vegetables and grains offered.

My husband and his boys were raised in meat centric cultures. Pork and beef centric cultures, with some potatoes and veggies haphazardly placed on the side.

The third and last issue is prepared versus fresh foods.
Here again, I cook the way I was raised (thanks again, mom!). I cook from scratch with very few prepared ingredients. This results in far healthier meals. I think they are tastier too because I can’t stand too much salt and sugar.

The real rub is that it also means I put a significant amount of thought into planning and
preparing meals. When they don’t get eaten it feels like I have completely wasted my time.

My son avoids fast food, as do I. We don’t feel good when we eat it. We don’t like prepared foods either because we were raised on them and are accustomed to the taste of real food, without all the salt and sugar.

My husband’s kids seem to gravitate toward prepared foods and fast food. I have serious concerns about their future health based on their eating habits. I’d like to think I can expand their culinary horizons, broaden their palates, and set them up for better lifelong health.

A lot of this blog is going to reference these three issues. I am hoping that they are issues for other cooks in other families as well, and that sharing my struggle helps someone else with their struggle.