Munch Menu V.6
Do you bribe your kid to try new foods? Let’s talk about it
If you’re new here, welcome! To get started, check out my first munch menu, which includes my dietary philosophy and an overview on how to use these weekly meal plans. Also, make sure to stock up on my (mostly) non-toxic munchkin kitchen essentials which help make meal prep much easier.
It may come as a surprise that I, Phoebe—mother of one 2 year old child—am not a parenting expert.
For the most part, I’ve let the stack of assorted child-rearing books gather dust on my desk. One of the benefits of being toward the last of my friend group to have kids, is that I get most of my advice from conversations with my favorite people. And, when pain points arise, occasionally, the internet.
When it comes to rules at the table, I’ve mostly followed my own intuition and tried to remember the bigger picture: my desire to raise a kid with a healthy, joyous relationship to food. I don’t want to force-feed, or pressure her with the reward of my approval. And yet, sometimes this comes in direct conflict with my desire for her to try something new.
As most of you probably already know, getting that first bite is 90 percent of the battle.
Which is how I’ve found myself doing something I never wanted to do: bribing.
We have steered clear of most dessert foods in our house, so bananas and berries are my daughter’s drug of choice. They are a powerful negotiating tactic. And I’ve used this tactic on occasion to get her to try just one bite of something she’s never tried before.
There is no moral to this story, other than illustrating one of the many mental guilt spirals I can be prone to in every slice of parenthood.
But I would love to hear your approach and if there are any other strategies you’ve used to force/encourage/inspire your littles to try new things.
These menus may take you and your munch outside their comfort zone. So let me be the first to say that I am right there with you. I can pretty much guarantee that the green beans in this week’s edition will go systematically rejected on her plate.
This brings up one of the best pieces of parenting advice I’ve received (I truly cannot remember the source – if it was you, claim it!).
It’s your job to serve a healthy meal. It’s not your job to make them eat it.
The only other tactic besides bribery that has worked well for me is getting her involved in the kitchen.
This week’s menu includes “shitake chips,” which are essentially crispy pan-fried mushrooms with better branding.
After having failed to ever get my munch to take a bite of mushroom (she eats it as ravioli filling no problem), she rose to the occasion after helping me cut up the shitakes for said chips. As you can see from the uniformity in these pictures, she is obviously ready to stage at Noma.
Please join the conversation and share your thoughts on the subscriber chat (or in the comments of this post).
This week’s menu includes a lot of quick fix ideas (including the shitake chips) and not a ton of meal prep. Dog-ear it for any weekend you have coming up where you won’t have much time in the kitchen before the start of a busy week. And bonus points for getting a sous chef to help slice the mushrooms.
Happy munching!
WEEKDAY MUNCH MENU V.6
THE GAME PLAN
Store-Bought Spotlight
(elements you can buy)
Hey Day Apricot Baked Beans: Most baked beans have tons of added sugar, and while these are definitely on the sweet side, all Hey Day products have ingredient lists I can get behind. You’re perhaps getting sick of my proselytizing their products at this point, but I promise that they are not sponsoring this Substack (though I would love to manifest it!!).
Chicken Sausage: I mentioned in last week’s email that I’m a huge fan of a small-batch brand called Seemore’s. My second go-to is D’artagnon, which makes a Mediterranean variety and one with mushrooms that are both incredibly flavorful. I know these small brands are harder to find or you have to mail-order in bulk, so use whatever you love.
Tempeh: If you’re not familiar, tempeh is a fermented soybean cake with a similar nutrient profile to tofu (plant-based protein!). The blocks are firmer and more textured, sometimes containing other grains in their whole forms. It’s a great alternative to tofu if your diet skews vegetarian. However, you can always sub smoked tofu this week instead! My munch likes the tempeh pan fried in cubes and coated with some sort of sauce.
Brown Rice & Millet Ramen: Lotus Foods makes my favorite alt-noodles from interesting ancient grains and heirloom rice varieties. Their black rice ramen is also delicious and a fun way to shake things up on your munch’s plate in the name of SSBD (same same but different).
Southwestern Potato Hash: This is a new one for us, but I was turned onto this freezer staple via my friend Liz Moody (who also has a fantastic Substack with quick health tips and life hacks). It’s a combo of sweet and regular potatoes, mixed with black beans and peppers. The perfect complete side, and you can repurpose any leftovers into a quick breakfast option.
Goodles: This newcomer to the boxed mac and cheese game claims to have all sorts of vitamins and nutrients packed into their powdered cheese. Whether or not I fully believe the health claims, I will say that it is a delicious way to get your own dose of childhood nostalgia if you were a Kraft orange mac addict. They now have a GF version and vegan options and I’ve been impressed by the noodle quality. But use whatever boxed mac you like or have on hand!
Gotham Greens Pesto: This is by far my favorite store bought pesto brand, usually found in the refrigerated section. I prefer the flavor of their vegan version, which doesn’t have cheese. PRO TIP: freeze cubes of store bought sauces in silicone ice cube trays and start a freezer baggie labeled “pasta sauces.”
P.S. Have you been enjoying Munch Menus as a free subscriber? It takes me many many hours to put together these game plans every week. If you love them, it’s a very reasonable $1.50 per week if you do the annual option. A small price to pay for someone to do all the planning for you!
Meal Prep
(elements you can make in advance)
This week is pretty light on the meal prep and focuses on a lot of quick fix things. You can of course do plenty in advance: pan-fry the sliced chicken sausages, tempeh and halloumi. But those things also take under 10 minutes the night of. Your call!
Herby Rice: Cook white rice according to package directions. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (mint, parsley, basil, chives and/or dill). Bonus points for getting your munch to deleaf the herbs for you – it’s a great kiddo task.
Green Beans with Pesto: Steam the green beans and toss with the store bought pesto of your choice, or make from scratch.
Sesame Everything Sauce: This week’s paid subscriber recipe! It takes 5 minutes to throw together, but also keeps forever, so you might as well make it ahead.
Quickies
(non-recipe recipes you can cook the night or day of)
Shitake “Chips”: Thinly slice shitake mushrooms (as thin as possible). Place a small cast iron skillet over a medium-high flame and coat with olive oil. Pan fry the mushrooms until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Remove to a plate and season with salt. You’ll want 2 mushrooms per munch. Alternatively, you can make shitake “bacon” with this recipe.
Fried Eggs: My preferred method is in a small cast iron pan with a lot of olive oil. Get the pan and oil very hot. As soon as you add the egg, you can turn the heat down or off. Tilt the pan and spoon the hot oil over the whites until they are bubbled up and set, the edges crispy. Season with salt and serve over the hash.
Pan-Fried Halloumi: Halloumi is such a versatile cheese and another great vegetarian option as a main course. Simply cut into planks and pan-fry in oil. If you want more guidance, or think your munch might like the dense, salty cheese better with a little honey, this recipe does just that.
Mac and Cheese: Follow the box, babe.
FAMILY MEAL IDEAS FOR WEEKENDS
If you’re someone who goes the family dinner route, don’t worry, I still got you! Every week I’ll add two ideas from my archives or the internet that have been kid-approved in my house. You can make them on the weekends or rotate them into a munch menu.
Teriyaki Baked Chicken: We talked about hero sauces last week, and one that’s always been reviewed well at my table is my homemade 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce. This one pan meal uses the sauce as a marinade for chicken thighs, which you then bake in the oven until tender. The whole thing comes together in 30 minutes, and you can always throw broccoli in with the chicken to make it a more complete meal.
Rice Surprise!: If the shitake chips were any indication, I think a lot about the names I give dishes and how they will play in my focus group of one. When I came across my pal Julia Turshen’s recent recipe for a Rice Surprise, I knew she was onto something. What munch wouldn’t love a rice surprise? Especially when part of said surprise includes boursin cheese? This recipe also uses frozen broccoli and would be a great “quickie” to add to your weeknight rotation. Julia is one of my favorite recipe writers who I’ve known since I was a toddler myself in the industry. If you don’t already subscribe to her Substack, get on the list for her lunch recipes (like this one) that drop every Tuesday.
TELL ME: hop over to the subscriber chat and tell me about the “hero sauces” you swear by!
Thanks for reading Munch Menus! This post is public so feel free to share it with fellow stressed out parents that could benefit from it!
My kids aren't so little now (12 and 10), but what I've noticed is that they have both gone through phases of wanting (or not) to try new foods. Never at the same time tho, always one will refuse while the other eats it 😂 We've now learnt to roll with it. As long as there are options on their plate (or in the fridge) that they will eat, they will now usually try it (even just a teeny mouthful) and won't be hungry if they don't eat it. Instead of bribery, when they were toddlers we used to switch round the order of foods, which worked really well i.e. if they really want yoghurt/fruit for pudding, serve it first (they'd get it anyway). Then they aren't super hungry/hangry, have had what they want and are more likely to try the new savoury dish. Every child is different, and every phase is different, but that doesn't make it less stressful. Good luck - you're doing an amazing job! X