Why is it SO HARD not to eat kids' leftovers?
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snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.3 -
The idea of eating off of another person's plate makes me want to gag. I don't care who it is. I don't like to see wasted food either so I make sure not to give them more than they will eat. They may go back for a second serving if they are still hungry after round one.3
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I find myself back in my childhood and I want to eat those nuggets and that mac n cheese. I know thats what helped get me here, and it is hard to resist them... it only takes one second to take it off the plate and shove the whole thing in your mouth. Longest second EVER
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I'm not a mom, but I agree with fixing smaller portions. An omelette is an individual thing, but if it's like tacos or beans or something. Fix a smaller portion at first. If he/she goes back, that's fine -- but at least you won't have a wasted plate of food to throw away. It's easier to just have a pot of leftovers than a plate somebody's picked over.1
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ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »The idea of eating off of another person's plate makes me want to gag. I don't care who it is. I don't like to see wasted food either so I make sure not to give them more than they will eat. They may go back for a second serving if they are still hungry after round one.
This is kind of me. I'm weird about sharing food or drinks and DEFINITELY not something that's been touched with kid hands, ever. And I swear, our children are wolves. They eat with their hands all the time. Absolutely everything gets picked at and the morsels deemed suitable are wrapped in a tortilla. Even spaghetti is generally a taco in my house.1 -
My 2yo literally chews food up and spits it back out on to the plate. He's actually doing that right this minute. No way in hell I would eat after them.2
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Because it's usually comfort food, and it's food you probably haven't created for yourself/ordered for yourself in years. There's something exotic about the crusts of a grilled cheese sandwich when you don't eat those regularly. When my kids were little, I ate those teether biscuits--better than biscotti!And it seems like such a small amount--an 1/8 of a sandwich, a half of a cracker.
BUT, it adds up. I lost weight when I first began my self-imposed ban on kid leftovers, without any other diet or exercise changes. I don't eat them anymore.
I think you should occasionally splurge on kid food if you really like it. I have just figured out that I really like grilled cheese and oatmeal raisin cookies! Every now and then, I enjoy. And a hot, fresh, made-for-me version of kid food tastes really good, so now I don't crave their soggy disgards.3 -
Hey I get it. Young kids ate bottomless pits one day and pick at that lovely dinner the next. It's natural if frustrating.
And our own parents and grandparents lived at a time food was much more expensive. It's an old recording that gets handed down. And yeah they got frustration from us when our appetites ebbed and waned.
But right now you are not living in WWII or thr Great Depression so remind yourself that you need to watch your calories not eat every morsel.2 -
storyjorie wrote: »Because it's usually comfort food, and it's food you probably haven't created for yourself/ordered for yourself in years. There's something exotic about the crusts of a grilled cheese sandwich when you don't eat those regularly. When my kids were little, I ate those teether biscuits--better than biscotti!And it seems like such a small amount--an 1/8 of a sandwich, a half of a cracker.
BUT, it adds up. I lost weight when I first began my self-imposed ban on kid leftovers, without any other diet or exercise changes. I don't eat them anymore.
I think you should occasionally splurge on kid food if you really like it. I have just figured out that I really like grilled cheese and oatmeal raisin cookies! Every now and then, I enjoy. And a hot, fresh, made-for-me version of kid food tastes really good, so now I don't crave their soggy disgards.
This is how my wife and I do grilled cheese...
http://www.closetcooking.com/2011/12/mushroom-grilled-cheese-sandwich-aka.html
My wife usually makes a really awesome tomato soup to go along with it while I make the sammiches...
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JeepHair77 wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »The idea of eating off of another person's plate makes me want to gag. I don't care who it is. I don't like to see wasted food either so I make sure not to give them more than they will eat. They may go back for a second serving if they are still hungry after round one.
This is kind of me. I'm weird about sharing food or drinks and DEFINITELY not something that's been touched with kid hands, ever. And I swear, our children are wolves. They eat with their hands all the time. Absolutely everything gets picked at and the morsels deemed suitable are wrapped in a tortilla. Even spaghetti is generally a taco in my house.
Man.... I just CAN'T! My husband has taken offense because I won't drink after him. And the kids hands..... **SHUDDERS** even though they wash their hands before meals I do NOT trust that they haven't picked their nose or ear or something when my back was turned!My 2yo literally chews food up and spits it back out on to the plate. He's actually doing that right this minute. No way in hell I would eat after them.
Pass the barf bucket! We had a bag of potato chips....we put some into a bowl to share while watching a movie.....I kept getting kind of wet chips. Turned out my child was licking off the seasonings and then tossing the licked chips back into the bowl! Kids really just wallow food around in their mouth then spit it out or lick it or what not. None for me thanks!
I will add that the whole "spit" thing keeps me from EVER eating at ANY buffet. I have witnessed people take the same plate they just ate off of back to the community trough and serve themselves again allowing the serving spoon to touch their plate. LORD HELP MEE!! I just CAN'T!!!2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
This is how my wife and I do grilled cheese...
http://www.closetcooking.com/2011/12/mushroom-grilled-cheese-sandwich-aka.html
My wife usually makes a really awesome tomato soup to go along with it while I make the sammiches...
That is a very adult and amazing grilled cheese sandwich. Serious food porn!0 -
At this point it would have to be pretty amazing food for me to eat dd's leftovers.
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jbirdgreen wrote: »I'm not a mom, but I agree with fixing smaller portions. An omelette is an individual thing, but if it's like tacos or beans or something. Fix a smaller portion at first. If he/she goes back, that's fine -- but at least you won't have a wasted plate of food to throw away. It's easier to just have a pot of leftovers than a plate somebody's picked over.
I actually do have a one-egg pan, so I can make cute little one-egg omelettes. But then if she wants more I have to go and make another one, which is time consuming. And I don't want to offer her filler foods - if she wants to eat lots of eggs (which she often does) I want to encourage it, as she's tall and grows fast and needs the protein. But I will consider the tiny omelette solution next time!
Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I took evasive action this time, hopefully all your suggestions will help next time as well!1 -
Have you considered making omelet muffins? They refrigerate/freeze and reheat okay and you can have several ready.
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/omelette-muffins/2 -
1. Gross. I can't even with kid leftovers. Gag. They touched that. They got their spit in that. I've seen where their hands have been...
2. Give them less to start with so they don't waste it.
3. As others have said, save what they don't eat for a future meal for them to eat, or for five minutes from now when they are magically hungry again. 0 -
I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Ok so I know this is weird but before you clean off the table have something in your hand you don't like in squeeze bottle. Pickle juice, vinegar, mustard. Squeeze it onto kid food. It works until you break the habit 2
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.
Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?5 -
This might be irrelevant, I don't have kids. If your child is old enough to eat that much and feed him/herself, aren't they old enough to be taught how to dispose of the leftovers? Then you don't have to handle the food? Just a thought.4
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kshama2001 wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.
Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.
Oh I give up. Eat all the damn food and get fat as hell what do I care. I never said processed food was garbage or kids were toxic. I said not to treat your body as a trash can by eating food your kids are not going to eat and no one else is going to eat. If you don't want to keep them as leftovers and they only other option was to throw them away then YES they are garbage. But apparently I should encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control because EAT ALL THE FOOOOOD!!!! Good lord. You people are impossible.
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I mean, it's kind of flattering that you all think my thread is worth fighting over, but I'm not waiting for a consensus on the burning question of what to do, I already threw the omelette away...
@marie9910 that's a good thought - it's hard to get out of the habit of doing stuff for them and parents tend to be slow in noticing that our kids aren't toddlers any more! Time for more independence? Perhaps it is.
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OP
Just don't make your portion or eat at the same time as your kid.
My beloved aunt used to do that with me when I was very little and we didn't have much. She refused to get a portion for herself when everyone was at the table. She was our aunt/mom/nanny/everything, making up for her deadbeat brother (our father)1 -
I go about this a completely different way. I have a hard and fast rule that I instituted about 6 months ago; Mom doesn't cook until ALL the leftovers are eaten. It has saved me loads of money on groceries! Whatever isn't eaten in a reasonable amount of time gets turned into what I lovingly call "Kitchen sink soup." The first 2 weeks are the hardest (so.much.whining.), but after that you're golden.4
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.
Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.
Oh I give up. Eat all the damn food and get fat as hell what do I care. I never said processed food was garbage or kids were toxic. I said not to treat your body as a trash can by eating food your kids are not going to eat and no one else is going to eat. If you don't want to keep them as leftovers and they only other option was to throw them away then YES they are garbage. But apparently I should encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control because EAT ALL THE FOOOOOD!!!! Good lord. You people are impossible.
I fail to see how not understanding why 'leftovers = garbage' equals "encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control."
Perhaps what you're trying to do is encourage the OP to think of leftovers as garbage as a mental trick? In that case it would be more clear if that's how you framed it, instead of insisting that something is garbage when it is not necessarily so.
Take leftover grapes or baby carrots for example. Would you have a problem putting these leftovers back in the frig if they had been untouched by the little munchkin's snotty hands?3 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.
Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.
Oh I give up. Eat all the damn food and get fat as hell what do I care. I never said processed food was garbage or kids were toxic. I said not to treat your body as a trash can by eating food your kids are not going to eat and no one else is going to eat. If you don't want to keep them as leftovers and they only other option was to throw them away then YES they are garbage. But apparently I should encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control because EAT ALL THE FOOOOOD!!!! Good lord. You people are impossible.
I fail to see how not understanding why 'leftovers = garbage' equals "encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control."
Perhaps what you're trying to do is encourage the OP to think of leftovers as garbage as a mental trick? In that case it would be more clear if that's how you framed it, instead of insisting that something is garbage when it is not necessarily so.
Take leftover grapes or baby carrots for example. Would you have a problem putting these leftovers back in the frig if they had been untouched by the little munchkin's snotty hands?
I wouldn't have had an issue with putting the omelet in the fridge but if the only option I was entertaining was the trash can or my mouth and I didn't actually want to eat it then I would chose the trash can because clearly at that point it is garbage. I'm sorry that offends you so much. I'm still not changing my opinion to make you happy.2 -
endlessfall16 wrote: »Just don't make your portion or eat at the same time as your kid.
I don't like doing that, the social bit of eating together is important to me. Especially if it's just the two of us in the house and we're having omelettes or broccoli together (Daddy's kryptonites).4 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.
Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.
Oh I give up. Eat all the damn food and get fat as hell what do I care. I never said processed food was garbage or kids were toxic. I said not to treat your body as a trash can by eating food your kids are not going to eat and no one else is going to eat. If you don't want to keep them as leftovers and they only other option was to throw them away then YES they are garbage. But apparently I should encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control because EAT ALL THE FOOOOOD!!!! Good lord. You people are impossible.
Wow. Deep breaths. Calm down. It's just a discussion. No one wants you to encourage anything of the sort. We disagree around here from time to time. If your goal here is to convince all of the other people commenting then you may have forgotten the purpose of the thread. It's okay to have differing views. Imagine how boring it would be if we all agreed 100% all the time.4 -
You can chew gum while cooking/cleaning their plates until its second nature to just toss it without tasting.0
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Heather4448 wrote: »I go about this a completely different way. I have a hard and fast rule that I instituted about 6 months ago; Mom doesn't cook until ALL the leftovers are eaten. It has saved me loads of money on groceries! Whatever isn't eaten in a reasonable amount of time gets turned into what I lovingly call "Kitchen sink soup." The first 2 weeks are the hardest (so.much.whining.), but after that you're golden.[/quote
I love this rule! A lot of my meal prep started getting wasted by my picky family. I turn the leftovers into frozen meals for people's lunches.1 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.
That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.
An omelette hardly qualifies.
I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.
We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.
But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.
Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.
Oh I give up. Eat all the damn food and get fat as hell what do I care. I never said processed food was garbage or kids were toxic. I said not to treat your body as a trash can by eating food your kids are not going to eat and no one else is going to eat. If you don't want to keep them as leftovers and they only other option was to throw them away then YES they are garbage. But apparently I should encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control because EAT ALL THE FOOOOOD!!!! Good lord. You people are impossible.
Just wow.... this is just plain rude.3
This discussion has been closed.
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