Chefs Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith of Chicago inspire foodies with their expansive cooking empire, which ranges from a catering business and a cooking school to a Food Network show, "Party Line With the Hearty Boys."
Yet at home, their 2 ˝-year-old son, Nate, is a picky eater. "It's a struggle to get him to eat pizza. He eats pasta and hot dogs. However, he likes Leyden cheese with cumin seeds. He's a little boy of extremes," Smith said during a recent phone interview that also included McDonagh.
McDonagh and Smith adopted Nate as a newborn. "He came home from the hospital with us," McDonagh said, sounding as excited as he likely was on that day 2 ˝ years ago. "We were feeding him [his bottle] within five hours."
A struggle to get a child to eat pizza? You would think they would be happy if he didn't want to eat it. With their culinary skills, I would hope they'd steer him into healthier eating habits...hot dogs and pasta aren't exactly the choices that come to mind.
If you start children off early, with healthy eating, it will stay with them. Worked with my family and with daughter. Plus, we are all healthier for it...lots of water, vegetables, fruit, a very balanced diet.
Being a parent doesn't come with a book, getting kids to eat what we think is correct is a life long process and then we really never succeed. They all develop their own taste, wants and desires. All we can do is hope we instill the basic presumption, that over indulgence of anything is not good.
A struggle to get a child to eat pizza? You would think they would be happy if he didn't want to eat it. With their culinary skills, I would hope they'd steer him into healthier eating habits...hot dogs and pasta aren't exactly the choices that come to mind.
If you start children off early, with healthy eating, it will stay with them. Worked with my family and with daughter. Plus, we are all healthier for it...lots of water, vegetables, fruit, a very balanced diet.
My mom tried so hard to get me to eat the healthy things, she always cooked well balanced meals, but alas I was so stubborn, I wouldn't even try them. It still didn't stop her from trying new tricks, but for years I wouldn't eat vegetables, I helped with the garden every summer, got to raise the veggies and pick them, but wouldn't eat em!
On the other hand my brother's daughter wouldn't drink anything but milk and water as a child, not that she was trained that way, because her brother loved kool-ade! Kids are complex creatures!
My oldest would only eat veggies as a child. Picky eater. Did not like what I thought of as typical kid foods, pasta hot dogs pizza. We had a garden and he wo uld be out there for hours eating peas fresh off the plant. Now he won't eat many vegs. My youngest son, ate everything. No problems. As a little kid, his favorite shows were Chefs Around the World and Martha Stewart. Favorite present when he was 5 was a junior cookbook. My daughter not picky either. Loves being in the kitchen.
My neice only drinks milk, eats pasta with butter. Does not like much! :icon_confused:
Rainlover 
My youngest son, ate everything. No problems. As a little kid, his favorite shows were Chefs Around the World and Martha Stewart. 
Favorite present when he was 5 was a junior cookbook. My daughter not picky either. Loves being in the kitchen. 
Sukie 
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