You may remember the phrase from 1970s Alka-Seltzer commercials, “Try it, you’ll like it!” The urban dictionary defines it as a lie your parents tell you, especially about food. It’s the theme of the Dr. Seuss book, “Green Eggs and Ham”. Around here, it usually follows me telling Ben about a new recipe and him responding, “That sounds terrible!” (A guarantee, by the way, that it will be delicious.)
One night a few years ago, I made a salad topped with Mandarin oranges. Ben popped one in his mouth and said, “Oh, that’s good. I never knew these were so good!” I was confused. I replied, “Ben, I sent those in your lunch box to school every day and you always ate them.” He said, “No, I used to open the container & throw them in the trash or trade them for chips.” Really? For YEARS I sent Mandarin oranges in Ben’s lunch every single day because I thought he loved them. Apparently, he’d never even tried them. All I could do was laugh.
Sometimes we have preconceived notions about a food whether we’ve eaten it or not. We may not like the way it looks or smells. We may not like the way its name sounds. Rutabaga isn’t particularly audibly appetizing to me. But the only way to know whether I will like the way it tastes is, in fact, to try it. This can be a real obstacle for a child newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease who may believe all gluten-free food is gross.
It’s true that there are many gluten-free packaged foods that taste unpleasant, and a few bad experiences can even make an adult skeptical. I took some cookies to a Final Four party the other night. Of course, I advertised them as gluten-free. While this appealed to a couple whose son is gluten-intolerant, everyone else was immediately hesitant to try them. Mind you, these were homemade oatmeal cookies fresh out of the oven, not something odd and unheard of. I watched the crowd tentatively view the pan until finally one person tried a cookie and eagerly finished it. The ice was broken. By the time the evening ended, only a couple of cookies were left. Thank goodness for that first adventurous taster.
If you are the parent of a gluten-intolerant child, an adventurous approach to avoiding gluten may be the greatest gift you can give him. Playfully sampling new foods, trying new recipes, and expanding her food vocabulary will help your child feel like the choices are abundant and fun to make. She may not be able to eat a traditional croissant, but the world is still her oyster.
Delicious, kid friendly, and gluten-free doesn’t have to mean expensive, difficult, and time consuming. This Cooking2Thrive recipe can be made with ingredients available at any grocery store. In fact, you may already have all the ingredients in the pantry. If so, grab a kid and have him bake you these cookies:
PB & J Cookies
About 25 cookies
Baking parchment
1 cup sugar
1 cup natural crunchy peanut butter (peanuts & salt)
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp Concord grape jelly
Water
Preheat oven to 350º. Line cookie sheet with baking parchment.
In medium bowl, combine sugar, peanut butter, salt, and egg. Mix well, then stir in jelly. Form dough into small balls approximately 1 inch in diameter. Place balls on cookie sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart.
Put water in a small cup. Dip a fork in the water and use it to press each ball flat, then press each ball with the fork a second time at a 90º angle to the first pressing.
Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Remove parchment to cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes, then remove cookies from parchment directly onto rack to continue cooling. Serve.
Helping prepare recipes like this can be a mind opening experience for your child. Once he has prepared and sampled a delicious gluten-free cookie, he still may not be convinced each time you say, “Try it, you’ll like it!”, but he’ll be much more likely to feel good about adhering to the diet that makes him healthy.
When you keep an open mind and adventurous approach, your gluten-intolerant child will learn to see possibility and abundance rather than deprivation and restriction in the words gluten-free. That makes me feel better. How about you?
