Chow Kids. Are you raising one?

Question

Are most of the kids of Chowhounds following in the footsteps of their parents? What were the first signs that your kid was a Chowhound in the making?

My daughter would gobble up vast quantities of any expensive goat cheese from the time she was a little tot. She also loved vinegars and other odd foods that most of her preschool peers wouldn't touch. She shocked our east coast relatives when they asked her where she wanted to go out to dinner when she was young, maybe 6 or 7, and she replied "Thai." I think they were expecting McDonalds or something similar. By 11, her favorite restaurant treat was to go out for sushi. She adores pesto and other flavors that some kids have to grow into.

Hope she gets a good job when she grows up, to pay for her expensive taste in foods!

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Absolutely! My chowhound is the kid who the servers perk up to see. He tried to swap lunch with the Japanese-American classmate who always brought sushi & seaweed. Loves goat cheese, shellfish, pho, brussels sprouts, and... gosh, it's hard to know what else is notable since he's what I'm used to. Loves trying to improve his chopstick skills, watching the sushi chef, open kitchens, pizza machines, commercial espresso machines, live lobsters in the tank... Also: baking, visiting the farmers market, ethnic groceries, gardening, fruit picking, peeling, chopping, stirring, mixing... The more you involve children in the pleasurable work of getting food to the table, the more they enjoy it.

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My daughter went to bed a bit ago as I sang to her (badly) along with opera (Schwarzkopf's Die Zauberflote). We had just shared an artichoke and some simmered chicken livers - which she loves. Today she also had some French carrot soup, roasted chicken & Jasmine rice, and some blackberries, banana, honey, and homemade yogurt. Dana Zsofia is 5 1/2 and laughed at my opera singing, had pate on bread and raisins this afternoon for a snack. Now I'm listening to Prokofiev (The voice of enigma) and in spite of it's (the music) excessive heaviness, I appreciate that my daughter eats well! 

Whoops, just went to "Sadness" in "Principles of Lust". Much brighter!! Hahaha!! Almost like his work with Eisenstien and the charge of the Teutonic knights across the ice in "Alexandre Neyvsky".

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Mine from 4-15, then highschool. Now junk food. Hates everything else. It just depends. Actually I hope my son learns to cook what he likes. I don't necessarily like him to be a CHOW HOUND. As long as he likes what he cooks. And I hope he can cook on his own. My tastes are mine and his tastes should be his. I just hope he appreciates good food and takes the time to cook on his own.

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I didn't become "interested" in food till my 30's so I sure don't expect my son to be a little chowhound. That will for him to decide when he is older. He just eats what we eat. Which is wide range of food from broccoli (and most veggies), fruits, breads pastas rices..meats.eggs..blah blah blah .and McDonalds. I don't see the horror at eating at McDonalds. It's not his fault his daddy is not rich. He eats well..is active..healthy weight and all that. I will never deny my kids certain foods (expect artificial sweetners and soda..he's only 2). I don't believe in taboo foods(like candy or fast food)...moderation. He will be fine. Don't make him into a weirdo.

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Mme Mouse (20) and Lima Bean (17) are both chowkids. They were raised with good, CHEAP, wholesome food.. a lot of it home made (I was a single mum, studying full time, with 3 jobs, so luckily, no money for take away), much of it home grown. 

Mouse is an eater of fine victuals, rather than a cook, but Lima Bean is an excellent cook, so much so that I let him make a number of dishes for my wedding 4 years ago. He was 12 and did all the potato salads without supervision. He also makes all his own pasta, by hand. His latest offering, fettucini "tinted" with roasted capsicum was awesome. 

And no, he doesn't want to be a chef, he wants to be an economist!!

I put it down to having had him moulding meatballs in bulk for my catering business..... a 3 y/o boy's hands are JUST the right shape for a cocktail meatball!!

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I'm 15, so I guess i'm a chow kid. but my parents aren't chowhounds, but im working on that haha

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I've got a little chowbun in the oven right now, and we fully plan to make sure our kid is exposed to everything we eat. I was raised that way, and DH was not - it's been my goal in life to turn him into a chowhound over the last 14 years, and by gosh, it worked! 

SIL (DH's sister) is determined to turn her kid into an anti-chowhound. She would read jars of babyfood and if the ingredients included onions or garlic or anything "exotic" like that, she deemed it off limits to the kiddo. 3 years later and he's a completely picky eater. Gee, wonder why?

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While I don't have any kids of my own, you comment about when your daughter wanted Thai when she ws young reminded me of myself when I was around that age. My mom was of the "at least try it once" before turning a nose to it. If I didn't like it she would not push. So, I was pretty much eating all sorts of things my young friends would not touch. Also had grandparents on my fathers side that were of the "anywhere you want to eat" for my birthday. All the other kids were heading to McD's. Me? "Can we go to that French country place?" (At the time one of the nicest/most expensive places in out city) I think my poor parents swallowed hard at the thought of what it would cost. Grandpa didn't even blink. I still remember that meal...LOL

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Yes, if his love of tripe and fish eyeballs are any indicator. My son is almost 4, and just loves eating. He adores restaurants, hassles us endlessly to take him out for sushi, and thinks the multiple delicacies to be had when we go for dim sum are the height of a good time. He was a great eater as a baby (we have a very funny video of him gobbling down broccoli rabe when he was 10 months old). He went thru a difficult stage when he was about 20-26 months old, but we persisted in not giving him "kids food" (out motto: eat what you want from what we put on the table, no special meals though no pressure to eat everything either) and then he phased out of it. Like the OP's child, he loves things with new or strong flavors (though he still doesn't like spicy).

If I had to characterize him, I'd say he likes culinary adventure. Unlike many kids his age, he loves trying new things, and gets bored if we don't vary what we serve. It is a pleasure to go to other people's homes or to restaurants with him, because he literally sits there and gobbles the food up. We went to a friends house this weekend, and she served squash soup, and he just kept saying "Mmm, this is soooo good."

The reason, I think, is that my husband grew up pretty poor in Mexico, so there were no such things like special foods for kids. You eat what the adults eat from about 5 months, just cut up smaller. We did the same with him.

The one food he absolutely hates is peanut butter. We have a joke now where we tell him that if he doesn't behave we are going to make him have some peanut butter.

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We raised our son not just to eat but to cook. Following my example (I did, and still do, most of the cooking at home) he was whipping up Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people at age 19, in a college apartment with three roommates. Now 21 and still in school, he has a better-equipped kitchen than most 30-somethings.

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My answer is 'kind of' - my kids mostly ate what we made at home, they both like fish and sushi, and in general are happy to try almost anything. But, in the advent of the teen years, a lot of that good eating has kind of flown out the window. My 17 year old lives on hot pockets and mcdonalds when he's out of my sight, and my 15 year old lives mostly on fruit, yogurt and pizza. So I like to think that the foundation is there, and they'll come back to it at some point.

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I love this topic.

Two kids, same type of background (lots of home cooking, mostly vegetarian, farmer's market, variety of restaurants, cook's walk trips to local ethnic enclaves to eat our way up and down the street, lots of food ethics talk and politics), two slightly different results to date.

D1, 15, is the picky one by family standards, but not when compared to her peers. She's a baker, happiest with very specific directions in the kitchen, unhappy with approximations.

D2, 12, is definitely a chowkid. She's the one who picks out what we're getting at the cheesemonger's, the one who at age 9 turned to me after having truffled potatoes to say it was the best thing she'd ever had in her life (and who then saw the chef and went up to him to tell him how much she enjoyed her meal). We just had a tasting from the caterer we'll be using for D2's bat mitzvah, and D2 was raving about the contrast of textures and flavors in different dishes and quizzing the caterer about ingredients. She's the cook, happy to experiment and not hung up on exactitude. 

Their peer group frightens me. Their friends come over for dinner and say that they are amazed about how good vegetables can taste, or how something I've made for dinner that I regard as rather utilitarian is one of the best things they've ever had to eat. And then there's my niece and nephew, 10 and 7, who are so picky that they needed to be bribed to try the (four) different pies I'd made for T-day dessert. The angels wept.

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When my son was about 4 we watched Iron Chef Japan every week. He declared he wanted to be an Iron Chef when he grew up and would set about making such culinary creations as apple slices on American cheese slices topped with apple juice. (It's a wonder the dogs under the tables survived the ordeal).

Now I've got a 12 and 14 year old. Thankfully, they eat a much wider range of foods than I did when I was there age, but still nowhere near as much as I would like them to since I have to cook it. Some of their preferences are surprising (they love shellfish), some not (they hate most everything green). I think it might take something like college dorm food before they appreciate what they get now.

Greatest triumph: Getting them to eat eggplant without them knowing it.

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I think I've shared this before, but a while back my now-15-year-old daughter made a comment about craving "comfort food." When asked for specifics, she said "you know, something simple. Like macaroni and cheese. Or sashimi."

Both my kids will eat chicken feet at the dim sum place and tripe in their pho, but turn up their nose at a McDonald's burger (although they know the location of every In-n-Out within a significant radius). Chowpups for sure.

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It sounds like a lot of parents are doing a really good job of exposing kids to different foods. At different ages, they get different...*ideas*...but keep on going, parents. They need exposure.

I too have kids that are discerning, but adventurous eaters. 

Example one: Last week I talked to College Son and asked him if he wanted some chow. He asked "what?" and I gave him a list of things leftover (lentil wats and chicken hash, etc) and containerized for him, ending with a pigs' ear and ceci chili. It was at the last that he really perked up (nothing he'd had before) and wanted to eat it. And still wanted to see if I had any salt herring on hand that I'd like to pass on.

Example two: My DD 16 has instituted a night when she has friends over for dinner. Not just any dinner, but any interesting ethnic thing I can come up with. It's been Filipino adobo, it's been tonkatsu, it's been sushi and Finnish fish stew. Next week DD wants a full-blown borscht (with rhubarb soup for dessert). The great thing is: her friends love it, and are learning how to enjoy different ethnic flavors. 

Great kids, frineds included. Hungry for flavors because they've been exposed to a lot of different flavors.

Always feed kids well, and wisely and widely. Even my teen is pestering me for the date that the Farmers Market opens (sigh...tooo long.).

Kudos to all of your kids!

Cay

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Everyone enjoying this thread, have you checked out the new column at Gorumet magazine dot com about food & kids? Apparently it's a subcategory of Food Politics? Anyway, here's a link: 

http://www.gourmet.com/search/query?keyword=the+kid%27s+menu&

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I am only nineteen, and don't have any children yet, but my parents come from a varied background (I am English, Irish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, German, Canadian, and Czech), so I grew up eating relatively traditional foods. Living in a very Irish/German community meant there was little "foreign" (to me, at the time, eating traditional corned beef, boiled potatoes, sausages, etc, were not foreign at all...) influence. I did eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, and very little fast food. I don't believe I drank pop/soda until I was 10 or so years old. It just wasn't allowed. But when I was around 12 or so, my parents were introduced to traditional Indian food by one of my mom's co-workers. Ever since then, we eat everything and anything. I enjoy sushi, Indian, Japanese, European, traditional Italian, Spanish, Mexican, African, etc.etc. We grew up eating fish, and all sorts of traditional sausages and pastas. I prefer gourmet to fast food:) My dad and I are total foodies, and regularly eat out. My dad constantly teases me about how much he spends on me when I am home from school:)

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Five Chowhoundumkegs!
No.1 Son: 29, lives in S. Korea cooks and chows. Worked at Thai restaurant in college because he hated dorm food. Cooks what he misses from US. Just made Passadumkeggrandson!
No. 2 Son: 25, went to culinary school (cooked birthday dinner for Martha Stewart when he was 16) , won Iron Man competition for scholarship. Ran kitchen in Las Vegas, got Spanish & ESL degree in Costa Rica and now teaches in Phuket, Thailand. Sends papa chow porn photos.
No. 3 Son: 24, vegetarian, but tolerant of meatheads. Loves to bake bread, soups and other good foods. About to move to DC to look for work.
No. 4 Son: 19, learning to cook, 1st apt in college. When 10, said, "I'm becoming a connoisseur of herring." Won't go to chain restaurants. Wants to learn to cook from me when home.
No. 1 and only Daughte:. 21, La Reina Del Mundo, adopted in Bolivia, will out eat her bros. when it comes to chicken and rice. The only one who phones home and says, "Poppy, how do you cook....?" Lives in Austin and loves Q and Mexican. Works as a hostess at a Mexican restaurant while going to school.
The whole gang will be chanting SALTENAS, SALTENAS, SALTENAS, as I drive over the 59th Street Bridge, going into Queens to our favorite Bolivian restaurant.
Cherish and feed 'em good while ya got "em. They grow up fast and are gone! Only one hound left cook for; she married me; Mammadumkeg. Chowcito.
Charlie Chan Keg

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My 6-year-old got her own 6-inch chef's knife for the holidays. I supervise her VERY closely when she uses it but she's really getting the hang of it. She's getting her own sushi kit for her upcoming birthday and I suspect it will be her favorite gift. I'm a little worried about trying her first efforts but,hey, beats the hell out of her getting a *$&@^! Barbie doll.

I can't get her to eat hamburgers or tomato sauce on pasta because pesto is the only acceptable option. Sushi is always the restaurant meal of choice, followed by authentic (not Chinese-American) Chinese food. On the other hand, we're going through some fairly normal "Ew, I won't eat that" routines, including many foods she ate happily as a toddler. Ultimately, everyone's tastes evolve. I hope that eventually her palate will open up again to trying new things and I suspect that, due to her early exposure to so many tastes, it will. Hey, it took untilmy early 20's until I would try new foods.

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Well I'd like to think so but in reality, I'm developing sympathy for Ronald Reagan's position on ketchup as a vegetable serving.

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Well, my mother-in-law didn't and doesn't cook, my wife was very picky about food when I met here. My stepson who's 17 now (was nine when I met his mother) has been set in that little minded way of thinking about food.

It really is frustrating, since I'll try anything (except balut, eggs with legs, can't go there), that's all I ask of them. My wife (and Steven), eat many things today that they would not have tried prior to meeting me.

We do have two Chow cats, Jack and Milo.

I use to joke with my wife about Jack being my sous chef... whenever I was in the kitchen prepping or cooking a meal, he was right there. Today we have two cats that will try anything you put down in font of them.

I've read up on foods that are harmful to cats and do not give them anything that could prove harmful.

Chow kids, Chow cats, same difference!

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We have four chow kids and they are both knowledgable about food and cooking and proud of that fact. We have always made food fun. We have theme nights (country specifac nights (scared the heck out of them when we showed up in makeup and dreads for our Jamaican night!), food specifac nights, medieval feasts, raclette nights with odd food and spices and our annual "crazy food nights"). Our crazy food nights have included everything odd (for Western Canada palates that is) from camel and jellyfish to sheep testicles, duck tongues, pig tails and snouts you name it. When we travel (which we do a lot) we look for contenders for these nights. Their friends lobby to be invited to these events (and have for years!). 

We have not been to a fast food place in years (although sub shops, pita places etc are our fast food) and my kids have no interest in them. They have been with other people (friends etc) and tend to order a salad or the like. They do this because (we think) we have taught them about food. These kids know food. They can detect processed food from 20 feet away.

We have found that by making food interesting and by being consistent in providing fresh non processed food, it just becomes the norm. Our 16 year old is interested in our upcoming trip to Mexico as much for the real Mexican food as for the pools and scantily clad young men....or so she says.

The trick is - please note this moms and dads to be - start early and be consistant and persistant. Do NOT allow the kids to dictate what they will eat...they need to know early that they know nothing. They will have enough good experiences over time to get the point across that they need to eat a few bad things to find a few good ones. Don't order off the kids menu EVER!!!! Instead order small portions of adult meals or share with them. NEVER cook alternate meals for kids. I know it sounds like we are strict, but we are not as a rule. This is a biggie for us.

We always have multiple salt varieties, balsamic vinegars, oils etc at the table. We let the kids experiment with flavors. A couple love to help cook, the others prefer to have it made for them. They never order from a kids menu, understand when to send food back (with manners of course). We have shocked more than one server with an underdone steak identified by a 12 year old before being cut open. Our kids will try, often only once, any new food. Along with out crazy food nights we have a VERY ornate.....spit bucket. Try it and spit it out you want, but try it is the rule.

So, after this long unfocused post (does anyone else hate this tiny typing window we have to use on Chowhound), my point is this: make it fun and make it NORMAL to eat right. You know you have done a good job when your kid asks if her presentation for her grade 5 class can be how to prepare a proper muskox carpaccio with truffle oil and crostinis....or your 10 year old asking to order raw oysters as an appetizer. Our kids favourite foods (at present) include, carpaccios, duck confit, frog legs and unagi. That tells you something too...okay, proud dad, over and out.

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Be careful what you wish for.

When I was younger my parents never served anything processed. Almost every night my mother would make a meal that most people would pay $25-30 to eat at a restaurant today. Sure on occasion we had roast chicken, but it would be served with some sort of appetizer, or a spruced up salad. I grew up on gourmet cheese platters and fine wines (I believe the statute of limitations are up, so i can mention this). As a teen I learned to love sushi, but ironically didn't love all types of cooked fish until only years ago. Still can't find a liking for salmon, but hey, even top chefs hate every day ingredients. I was made to eat what was put in front of me, and while I might have hated it then, I appreciate my parents concern in my experiencing food. 

So why the initial statement. Well, I eat a lot. I love to eat. Given the opportunity, I'd probably prefer a great meal to many of life's other indulgences. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with this it has pretty much ruined restaurants for me. Other than convenience, I find that 95% of all restaurants are terrible. Sure some have that one item, but most are well below average. Why pay $30 for a dish that is made to appeal to the masses who have very different tastes than I do, when it will not appeal to mine. 

Italian restaurants are the biggest culprits, and sadly, and I've had this conversation with several raised eyebrows with my friends, Italian households are equally as guilty. Ironically, about 3/4 of the best italian meals I've had were not produced by anyone who has any Italian blood in them I'm constantly hearing about Arthur Ave you this, and 'classic italian" that, and frankly I'm unimpressed. I would love to go to Italy and experience real Italain food, because I just know it can't be as bad as what I have experienced over the last few years. I'm a beginner cook at best, and my basic Italian stuff blows away what I've had at many an Italian grandmother's table. 

The other problem is money. My parents used to by sashimi grade tuna by the lb and we'd have feasts on the stuff, but to do so now, it would cost me a fortune...and are you really getting Sushi grade tuna? Probably not.

I remember once going to a French restaurant with my parents and friends when I was 9-10, and I asked the waiter if I could instead of having the escargot appetizer, if I could have two orders with some nice french bread for soaking up all the sauce as an entree. The waiter paused and explained what they were to me, and I said, "if I didn't know that I wouldn't have ordered them." They sat there in amazement as I ate these with such exceitement and enjoyment. 

Obviously, my initial comment was to be taken as a joke, but my love for food, and my high standards have made me a little more than a hound, and a bit of a snob, as is also apparent, but a majority of my posts on CH being f the negative variety. I can only blame my parents!

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When my daughter was young and in preschool we had a restaurant that we lived above. She went to the preschool and one day they called me , very concerned and said that my daughter wouldn't eat the cold sandwich they provided each day. I clued them in to her foodie tastes and they said I could send her lunch in if she would then eat with the other kids. A few days later the director of the preschool came in to the restaurant and said "I want Lizzy's lunch". I had sent a pasta dish with fresh local wild mushrooms that I picked with prawns etc . Lizzy was about 3.The dish eventually went on the menu as "lizzy's lunch"
 I also caught one of my cooks asking her if the red sauce was right....she told the cook correctly ( I checked and she was right) She is 17 now and enjoys food and will try anything. 
As someone else mentioned , I hope she gets a really good job to support her food habits

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My son, now 3, was born with a serious heart defect. As a result of this and other health issues, he had many problems with feeding and weight-gain...every calorie counted and we kept track of everything he ate for about two years and counted daily caloric intake. (Many surgeries later, including open-heart at 4 months, he's fine now!) One of his nutritionists suggested adding Tabasco to his baby food to "wake up" his taste-buds and spark an interest in food. So our litle boy started on spicy foods almost right away, and we fed him absolutely anything that he showed an interest in eating...which meant that he usually ended up eating off our plates, and we're into food in a big way. 

Ironically, we were having dinner tonight and he handed my wife his Kit Kat Bar that he wanted for dessert and instead demanded a bite of her Heirloom Tomato. Enough said! 

But there are still times when I'd give anything for him to eat a cheeseburger or chicken nugget. Instead, he wants quiche for dinner.

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People who are in the food business are just so delighted to find Chowpups. We just had a fantastic dinner at one of our favorite restaurants -where my son chose to go as a special treat- and the chef invited him into the kitchen to help make dessert. I guess if you spend all of your time interacting with little ones complaining that you're not serving not chicken nuggets, it's pretty thrilling to find a kid who appreciates your creations and eats with gusto. It makes it even nicer to go places and realize you're be remembered (fondly) as the family with the kid who loves the mussels.

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I have 2 boys. One is definately a chow pup, the other, not so much. We raised them both the same, just completely different kids with completely different tastes, and personalities. 
My youngest (age 7) is a pure joy to eat with. He loves thai, mexican, and the last time we took him out he ordered lasagna off the 'grown-up' menu because it had proscuitto and goat cheese. The kids version was plain. Loves mushrooms, asparagus, basically all fruits and veggies.Cooking and eatng with him is always fun and exciting.
The oldest (age 9) is disgustingly kid picky. Wants pizza, and nuggets and is not too pleased with being asked to try new food. He is of course reuired to try, not required to eat. (Through this he has just learned he loves moo shu, even though he thinks it 'looks gross.') I try to work around it by making my own pizza and fancy nuggets in hopes to broaden his palate. Thankfully he does love veggies, and most fruit.
Wow, I just figured out their food taste completely match their personalities. The youngest is wild and crazy- just like his food choices Oldest is mild and predictable, just like his food preferences!

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My children are discerning eaters. My 10 year old loves quince paste with her bleu de gex (when we do cheese & cracker night). Unfortunately, my kids make terrible diners at friend's houses. Although...mac & cheese seems to appeal to all children! The only food they truly cannot abide is...American cheese. No one in the famiy enjoys this "flavor".

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More of a chow kid that I ever was or ever will be. The moment I knew was when she had just turned three. We went to Sheraton Palace in SF because my DH's company was having a conference there, so we went to use the pool. After swimming, I asked, "Would you like to eat at the restaurant here? Maybe share a prawn and scallop pasta? She replied, "I LOVE prawns and scallops!" We ordered and eat our very enjoyable meal. 

She's almost 12 now. She loves sushi, sashimi, and pretty much most foods. She won't eat papaya, which might be the only thing I eat that she won't. I don't eat a lot of things. When she eats, she can make food look like it taste a lot better than it really does because she really enjoys eating.

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I shared an artichoke with my 2.5 year old last night! Yippee! I was really concerned that the strong flavor would be too much for him but he loved it!

But I do wonder sometimes if he’s eating more for me rather than himself. He knows that I’m excited about food and he knew that I was excited about that artichoke (it’s SPRING!). Children, particularly small children, copy their parents. Well, whatever the reasoning behind it all, he’s eating artichokes, asparagus, and avocados…three of my favorite things that my husband isn’t very interested in. 

Perhaps rather than teaching him to taste, I’m teaching him to be willing to try. I can live with that.

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It is great to see so many kids being raised as CHOW kids! Yay! We are trying too. While my husband from Jersey likes to corrupt with pep. pizza and french fries, we try and keep her on a varied diet. Her favorites right now are spinach or basil pesto (since birth this has been a fav), homemade wholegrain pretzels, raw veggies, any kind of medium to mild hot pepper sauce, beans, & ham hocks (boiled or roasted). We're in the middle the countryside in Germany, so our choices are somewhat limited, but at 3 she is still a happy and somewhat adventurous eater :)

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i was a chow kid! my mom said that it always shocked waiters when i was three years old and ordering steamers at a seafood restaurant. 

i have definitely grown into an adventurous eater, and it always helped that my parents encouraged me to try new foods but never made me eat something that i disliked (but only if i had in fact tried it).

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Don't have my own kid... but I hosted a Thai exchange student (17) for 11 months last year. I became friends with her aunt while spending time in Thailand and when I heard she needed a host family I could not resist. 
She had never left Thailand before and was from a smaller town, and really was put off by typical american junk food. But I took her to any place in town that was decent and we cooked a lot of meals together. I think we tought each other, lol. She can now tolerate cheese, and I love my fried rice omelets. Now back at home, she uses some of my recipes--and that makes me happy :)

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We totally have a chow pup. I guess I just have no patience for picky. We eat absolutely everything and expect him to as well. This love of diversity can backfire, though. Especially on nights when we just want to grab a quick burger and he holds out for sushi, or lobbies for Greek (because he has an absolute craving for grilled octopus) or, Heaven forbid, the raw bar. This kid can eat his weight in oysters on the half shell. I don't think he's ever ordered from the "kid's menu". Eye roll if I'd even suggest it.

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I'm trying to raise kids who think about the food they are eating; where it came from & if it was once a living thing, to be mindful of that and to use every part of the animal in their cooking; how food makes them feel afterward;and how fortunate they are that if they want chicken nuggets, they can have it. If they want steak, they can have that too. And so forth. Because at least half the world doesn't have this luxury, and believe me, it is a luxury.

Like my parents, who did not forbid any food from me, I don't for my kids. If they want McDonald's, it's ok. But I set limits, as in not McDonald's every day.

I grew up eating McDonald's, KFC, all the so-called chains, and I'm one of the healthiest people I know. But I also grew up with regular home-cooked meals , where dinner every night comprised a seafood dish, lots of fresh vegetables, soup, rice, meat, etc.

We ate simple because we were poor. We didn't buy the best cut of anything, believe me. For a while, we used canned chicken broth as the base for our soups. And we LOVED the greasy pizza we'd get from the corner place.

Now, living in one of the best gastronomical cities in the world (New York), I can avail myself to anything I desire. On my agenda for this week: dinner at a Greek restaurant and another dinner at a steak house. And my kids are super fortunate to have the opportunity to be exposed to such diverse culinary delights. 

But mostly, like their mother, my kids are fortunate that they never go to bed hungry (unlike their grandparents--my parents--for whom hunger was an all-too familar feeling growing up). And they know it, appreciate it and don't take their fortune for granted.

And that's really the only type of "chowkid" I want to raise.

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I had two boys here for fostering last year. They had come from a home of neglect, a Mom too busy getting high to buy or cook food. The poor wee guys were digging thru the cupboards eating anything they could, the older would try to cook for the younger, telling me how he tried to microwave scrambled eggs for them, etc.
Even when she did bother feeding them it seems hot dogs and noodles were the menu. So when they landed here it was quite the shock for them, THREE meals a day and stuff they had never ever seen before. They would try most of it, especially the younger one, and I truly had to be careful they didn't gorge themselves and get sick at first. As soon as they got off the bus they wanted to know what I was making for supper. I liked to tease them sometimes, telling them we were having stuffed rat with cockroach sauce or grasshopper stew!

Some things I had to introduce carefully, I first gave them breaded fish because they were only ok with fish sticks.....then the breading came off, next time the sauce would be on it....they slowly started to enjoy a wide variety of foods. Some things, like shrimp, were an instant hit.

The older boy developed a real interest in cooking and I'd let him help in the kitchen and explain things as I went along, we would also watch "Chef at Home" together, he loved that show and it was also good bonding time for us to have "our show". The younger wanted to be involved so he made himself the waiter and drew a menu and prices for our "restaurant"....home of the one dollar beer ;-)

Once the younger boy lost a bet with me, he chose his own payback and ate an entire can of peas, what a funny little character he is.

It was a very fun experience watching them find out there is so much good stuff out there, seeing them finally relax and stop eating as if there would be no food the next day, and teling them meals that are good always have love in them :-)

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I have two kids, a boy (5) and a girl (3). Mom is Japanese and takes pride in preparing quality food for the kids. We are one for two so far. The boy is serious about his food and is taking a cooking class after kindergarten on Mondays. Last week he brought home spinach quiche and chocolate dipped strawberries. Amazing. He eats everything and gets super excited when we make sushi at home.
The girl on the other hand, wont eat veggies and is always asking for chocolate, pizza and snacks.
She loves fruit, but is a work in progress. She loves her soba noodles, but she picks out anything green!

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I don't have kids, I'm only 18, but I was a chow kid and my brothers, 13 and 11,are huge chow kids. All three of us are members of Southern Foodways Alliance, the 13 year old is a master butcher and can break down wild game of all sorts at a particularly shocking rate of speed(he also gardens and raises 100 chickens). The other started helping us make homemade wine last year and has a strange understanding of the nuances of different varieties of black truffles. Having read other responses, I feel like we may be a bit strange...

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I raised three kids who know, like and appreciate good food. I'll leave it to them, whether they were raised "chowkids." This brought a memory, though; maybe 20 years ago, of hearing a (perhaps) 6-year-old girl give her order at a local Basque/French restaurant:
"I'd like still water now, so I can have it with my escargot. For my entree I will have the lapin en moutarde, and please bring me a Shirley Temple with it."
I cannot describe the look on the server's face: something between delight and consternation.

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My 6-year old is somewhat of a chowkid. When he helps me in the kitchen, he is very serious about using his own special apron, which has a slot for his tasting spoon. He also has his own knife (kinderkitchen "dog" knife) and cutting board. He prefers to sprinkle his own kosher salt from our salt cellar on his meals. He claims to not like "spicy," but one of his favorite condiments is mustard. He likes visiting farmers' markets, especially when the vendors are offering samples of their produce. This caused a problem when he was a little younger, because he thought he could help himself to anything on any of the tables! He still loves "blue box" mac, as well as fast food, and it usually takes some coaxing to get him to try new foods, but at least I know that when he leaves home, he'll have some basic cooking skills, exposure to lots of different foods, and, hopefully, share my gratitude for the variety and abundance we are fortunate enough to enjoy.

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I used to freeze cubes of blended grown-up food for my first baby. One night I wasn't home and left directions for my husband to feed the babe a cube of spinach. I came home and found babe contentedly finishing a cube of thawed pesto! These kids love artichokes, chicken liver, eggplant, lamb, all kinds of things. They each have one real dislike; one hates cabbage, one hates ricotta cheese. No sweat -- they don't have to eat these things! But they do try everything. When the older one found a Chinese boyfriend, the boy's family would take everyone out to dim sum at authentic restaurants. Apparently my daughter impressed the family and the waiters because she was one of the few while girls they had seen who were willing to eat fish stomach soup and all kinds of things. The lesson my kids have learned is; Fear No Food!

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One of the greatest rewards of bringing up a Chow Kid is the payoff all these many years later. At four, she giggled and squealed when she tasted smoked fish; at 15 her eyes lit up when that first Damariscotta oyster captured her; and just last week while on a road trip, this almost-21-yr-old tasted really good chopped liver, looked at me reproachfully, and said, "Why haven't I had this before?" Right up there with first words and steps!

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Yes my kids are well on their way. As babies ( one is 2 1/2 the other 13 months) I always made my own baby food and they basically ate whatever we were eating....god bless the magic bullet!!!!! I pretty much allow my kids anything they want almost all the time but with that in mind if you ask ( my daughter who is almost three) what she wants its almost always fruit or something healthy. She enjoys helping me cook and being in the kitchen. I love it!!!!

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My 13-year-old daughter is starting to do a fair amount of cooking and she's not nearly as picky as she used to be. She still doesn't like really spicy food though. It's a work in progress.

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I really hope so. I've noticed, at least with my family and friends, that an unwillingness to venture outside eating a strict list of foods correlates with a fear of new experiences in general. Maybe not true with everyone, but certainly with my circle. I think that limits a person so much, and instead I hope that exposing my kids to a variety of new tastes gives them a little security as they encounter other new experiences throughout their lives.

I don't even care whether they prefer a McD's burger to what I feed them at home, I just don't want them to fear the experience of doing something new.

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My son used to be quite the chowpup, but between a very stressful bullying situation and being introduced to school lunches lost that tendency for a while. I have been quite relieved recently to see him slowly coming back around. I have permitted him to order from the dreadful "kids' menus" in the meantime, and have requested only that he sniff--not even taste--what I'm eating. We are beginning to branch out more at home, and he's getting more interested in grocery shopping with me. I hope/think he's heading back towards being an adventurous eater, if slightly more cautious.

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