Hot Dogs..... Or Not

My girls are pretty good eaters. And by that, I mean pretty healthy. They love their fruits and veggies and eat pretty much whatever meat I give them (chicken, beef, turkey, pork, fish...). They love ALL kinds of fruit and most veggies. Sounds like a dream!! But they do have their fall backs and it can be hard to get them out of the rut. Like this weekend. All they think they want to eat are hotdogs. So I give in and give them a hotdog, but with fruits and or veggies. They don't complain about my extras and they do eat it all, but I would much rather they eat something other than a hotdog. Even if they are all-natural and nitrate/nitrite free!!

We are out of town this weekend and I asked them what they wanted for dinner. They of course said, "hotdog". But they also wanted oranges. We went to the produce stand earlier and oranges were a GREAT price. It is a treat for them because, even though we live in Florida, oranges have been expensive! Haven't had them in forever. So, as I was fixing their plates (without hotdogs), I asked them, "do you want hotdogs or would you rather have chicken?" Their answer was still hotdog. I didn't say anything more, just fixed their plates. And here is what they sat down to at the table:

Grilled chicken, grape tomatoes (which they picked out at the market), carrots, cucumbers and oranges

They never asked about the hotdog, they scarfed it down and asked for more! Small portions in fun designs more often then not lead to more consumption - they ask for more! Sometimes it is all about the presentation. :-)