Hate their veggies? Not if they were eating art!
Would your kids want to drink this cocoa? One of our regulars is creating salad art to help her kids eat more veggies and sharing it on her new blog www.kidseatingart.com.
Could this adorable owl concinve them to nosh some veggies? (From www.kidseatingart.com)
We all know how frustrating it can be to watch your kids push their veggies around their plates and not eat them.
Well one of our regular contributors, New Mom, has created a lovely new blog to inspire parents to help their kids eat healthier by making it fun and beautiful. She calls the blog Kids Eating Art (www.kidseatingart.com) and each day she posts the artwork she creates from fruits and veggies.
She started out just posting the photos on Facebook, but with encouragement from her friends she created a blog to share with the world. (You guys may remember that New Mom and I went to high school together.)
I am amazed by the details she replicates and how the objects really look like what they are supposed to be. My favorites are the Hot Cocoa, Owl and Bunny. (The Hot Cocoa is very colorful!) Be sure to click on the link to see all the photos. She usually adds more each day.
New Mom uses step-by-step photos to show how she builds and layers each “painting.” It’s easy to follow even for the un-art inclined – like me! Also you can send New Mom your salad art for her to post on the blog as well.
New Mom writes on the blog about her philosophy on food for her two girls:
“… we didn’t want our kids to grow up with any food issues, and we REALLY didn’t want picky eaters on our hands….so when I was pregnant with our first, I started my research. And everything I found pointed me to the ‘chill-out’ method of raising non-picky eaters. (I named it the chill-out method, that’s not really official!) What this means: We don’t make our kids clean their plates. We just present them with healthy food and let them choose what they eat. In fact, there was a quote from a handout we received from our doctor, published by the local children’s hospital, that basically said “It is the parents’ responsibility to provide good, healthy food for the children. And it is the children’s responsibility to eat it.” (I’m paraphrasing) There have been nights when my husband and I have repeated that over and over to ourselves and each other, while our girls didn’t eat. It helped to remind ourselves that forcing them to eat is counterproductive.”
“Another thing we are concerned about is the issue many young girls face when it comes to food–eating disorders. Now you may think that 3 and 1 are too young to be concerned with that, but right now, it’s a matter of properly training ourselves to be good role models, to model healthy attitudes toward food, and to emphasize healthy eating rather than dieting. Once you realize how much kids listen to things you say but also watch what you do, it will make you examine yourself more. I sometimes ask myself, ‘do I want our daughters to think this way about herself? About food?’ And if the answer is ‘no’, then I know that I need to work on better modeling a proper attitude.”
“OK, so what does all of this have to do with Salad Art? I’m not completely sure (see, I told you this was a work in progress!) All I really know at this point is that we want our daughters to be healthy eaters. To be adventurous eaters and not picky eaters. To enjoy food, but not to be obsessed with it. And I suppose that my Salad Arts fit, because they smile when they see veggies and fruits. They laugh because they are eating a cat’s whiskers. Or a boat’s sail. And if they grow up to be imaginative and fun-loving, then all the better.”
So I wanted to share her food creations and her blog with you so hopefully it will inspire you to have some fun with your kids’ veggies too.
What do you think: Do you like New Mom’s creations? Do you think you could do it? Would it help your kids eat more veggies? What do you want to see her make next? (I wonder if she’ll take requests!)
- By Theresa Walsh Giarrusso, Momania at ajc.com
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
73 comments Add your comment
deidre_NC
January 22nd, 2011
7:29 am
wow…..sure didnt expect to see so many people getting their panties in a wad over how to present food lol…i dobt i would have ever made this ‘art’ with food…but my kids always ate about anything (except any kind of liver lol) but i have done things like make green spagetti noodles for a christmas even spagetti dinner….they hated it…thought it was gross because it was green lol…i agree if the kids are involved in buying-growing-cooking the meals they are more likely to at least try the food-even then if they dont like it they just dont like it. the best part of the whole idea to me is getting the kids involved in the vreativity of it all….and tthe smiles on their faces…yeah-the smiles are the best part :)
deidre_NC
January 22nd, 2011
7:30 am
i also made ‘hamdogs’ once–rolled hanburger into hot dog shapes and put them in a hot dog bun…just for fun lol…
Steph
January 22nd, 2011
8:16 am
Ok people. calm down. Everyone has their own style with parenting and I truthfully think this is a great idea if you have trouble getting your child to eat veggies. In my family, we are all very healthy and all the kids are served veggies since they can eat solid food!!! But unfortunately it doesnt mean they will eat it and some have even gone 2 days without eating because of the “eat it or dont eat” method. Different things work for different people. Stop acting like selfish idiots because Im pretty sure there are areas of your parenting ideas that arent so great to other people either
fk
January 22nd, 2011
8:36 am
Cute ideas, and if it works, it works. I have to say, too much thought in preparation for me. My son is far from a picky eater at 20. I grew up with salad at every dinner, so we have that, too. Starting from shen he was a toddler, I usually served salad and at least two other vegetables with dinner (not always cooked) and gave him two fruits (e.g., 1/2 of an orange and 1/2 of an apple), or a few strawberries and grapes, etc., at lunch. I would do repeats of the ones he ate and did not eat. He loved plums. If he refused the same thing 2x, I simply did not make it again, unless we, my husband and I, liked it. There was always another choice or an alternative. I also kept grape tomatoes, cukes and other fruits cut up in see-thru bowls, easily visible in the refrigerator. They do look appetizing. The key is not to start them on junk food at an early age, because he likes that, too. He thought the only time to get McD’s was when we took long car trips, made it a special occasion rather than a weekly routine. He could spot those arches on the interstate miles away.
I grew up in a large family, so we rarely had prepared foods, other than the staples, Velveeta cheese and tomato soup. My younger brother and I were jealous of our friends who got to have, seriously, Spaghettios, for a hot lunch. My mom would boo-hoo the thought of buying such a gimmick food. She made her own sauce and we could’ve had that over pasta. No, we wanted the “real” thing. Well, eventually, after years of requests, she relented and served it for lunch one day. Gross! And you know what, we had to finish it. Never again.
tim
January 22nd, 2011
9:28 am
I have a neighbor who feeds her 12 yr old son Burger King 7 days a week for at least the last 6 yrs. 12 chicken nuggets, 1 order of fries, 1 order of onion rings, 2-3 cokes, and a whole lotta catsup. Exactly the same every day. She fed her son only 1 flavor of baby food until he was 3.
For lunch M-F she makes him a p butter only sandwich, chips and a juice box for lunch.
The son is overweight and doesn’t get any physical activity at all. He only plays video games with dad or watches tv. Neither Dad or the son is interested in any physical activity.
The mom always drives her son to a very nearby school, picks him up after school, and heads to Burger King.
Mom and Dad eat chicken wings from Publix or Wal Mart 3-4 nights a week for dinner…..and she considers herself a good cook.
The husband won’t eat veggies and smokes 2 packs of cigs a day, and won’t cut back, even tho his parents died of lung cancer. Mom smokes too.
I feel the son is going to be an obese, chain smoking, eating disorder man…..courtesy of his parents.
Is this normal?
q
January 22nd, 2011
9:30 am
I eat vegetables. My momma was not big on cooking. It was hamburg, potatoes and peas every night. One day a year there was a change, Thanksgiving. Then it was turkey, peas and potatoes.
Believe it or not, I can eat a variety of foods, and i still like peas. Breakfast was toast, orange juice every morning for 17 years. Lunch was at the school cafeteria. I like d some of the stuff they served.
Ideally speaking there should be more variety than that, however, we are a very food oriented society, dozens of food joints in just one block. I would like to think that there is more to life than eating. The other night at the state dinner for the Chinese president, I did not see the menu, but that is what we should all be eating,
Wow...anger anyone
January 22nd, 2011
9:59 am
As a mom of one, family breadwinner, 50+ hour a week worker, and top chef in my house, I have to say this is adorable stuff. I also have to say that some of you are really angery people and seem to really enjoy cutting off a fellow mom at the knees. Why in the world do you care so much about how another mom spends her time with her kids. Did any of you who are so adament that New Mom is being manipulated stop for a second and ponder that perhaps her children get to enjoy time with their mom, learn how to enjoy food on a different level, participate in their food preparation and generally be happy? Isn’t this a good thing? Isn’t this something we all wish we could do all the time and try to fit in wherever we can.
Quit cutting other moms down. It just makes you look hateful.
Kay Lees
January 22nd, 2011
10:18 am
I think I am more impressed with the fact that you and your husband take the time to actually sit down and eat dinner together as a family. This is something that we always did every night with our girls. The time that you are taking right now will bless you in the years to come. Maybe they won’t eat their veggies who cares. But what they will do is remember that they have/had a great Mom who took the time to prepare fun things for them to eat. And I bet by the time they are school age they will be making you art to eat. Keep it up Mom you are doing a great job.
Robin
January 22nd, 2011
10:34 am
New Mom:
Thanks for sharing you Salad Arts with us. They are cute, and I think my daughter would love them. Of course, I am lucky, because she already likes tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, green beans, potatoes, corn, cabbage.
Thanks for the ideas, and keep them coming please!
Tiffany
January 22nd, 2011
11:09 am
New Mom- my daughter and I looked at the pictures of your food art on your blog together, and we both agree that the food art is totally cute and unique. What a caring and creative mom you are! Your ideas are delightful, and I like the way you use different items, depending on what you have on hand. Making meal time fun for your children is something to be proud of. I know your children will have fond memories of this when they are older. I could even see you publishing a cookbook about this in the future. Thanks for your creativity-and keep up the good work!
DB
January 22nd, 2011
11:43 am
Wow, there’s a lot of MEAN people out there. No one is saying that you should do this every day to sneak vegetables into your kids. Newsflash: It’s FUN. Just fun. That’s all. She’s not saying embrace it as a lifestyle, for god’s sake. Here’s a gal who has more imagination than I do when it comes to food, who is having fun with it and is just sharing. And everyone starts lecturing her? WTH?!
Creativity is such a gift, and if new mom is using food to spark her children’s creativity (or even to feed her own), WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT?! I would never have spent the time or the trouble to do it — but then again, I wouldn’t spend the time knitting a sweater, making a quilt or painting a picture. It’s just not in me. That doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate and enjoy someone else’s efforts.
catlady
January 22nd, 2011
1:27 pm
I guess you know my opinion already. Anything you make this big a deal about, you are setting yourself up for trouble. Eating is a natural process. We get hungry; we eat. Put good, nutritious food on the table and make no comments about it. Folks eat or they don’t. If they don’t, there sure are not any snacks set out later. (And snacks are fruit or yogurt or cheese, not junk). They won’t starve to death if they elect to miss a meal. And it IS an election. If you want to set up a struggle, focus on making the food cute. Later, the struggle will be over something MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than food. You are setting the table, literally and figuratively, for the future.
I am constantly amazed by parents who seem to do everything they possibly can so that they can say, “I can’t get him to eat that.” or “She is such a picky eater.” It’s like raising a picky eater is a badge of honor! For goodness sake, just cook good food (or serve raw) and let everyone have how much ever they are hungry for, with no interference. No coaxing, no hand-wringing.
I can tell you the more you make something natural into a bone of contention, the more likely you are to have some REAL fun when your child is 12, or 13, or 14. Teachers can pick out your child–it shows that much!
Good food, water, fresh air, sunshine–all these things are needed for children (and plants) to grow up properly. Your job is to provide these things, not to entertain, coax, over-protect, dither, or coddle.
It’s imperative that your spouse be on board with this as well.
Tiffany
January 22nd, 2011
3:05 pm
I don’t understand all the negativity here either. This reminds me of people who love to bake and decorate beautiful cakes and cookies. Desserts can be a work of art as well. The fact that the food art is nutritious is a plus. Nobody said you had to do this everyday or could never serve regular looking food ever again. This is all about having fun, being creative and having fun with your kids.
newblogger
January 22nd, 2011
5:15 pm
Good grief! Some people on here need a vacation. But by all means, please go someplace where they won’t dress up your food and you will only be allowed to drink lukewarm tapwater. We wouldn’t want you to be “manipulated” by any food that is presented in any other way than the way nature intended. My kids are a little old to try this on, but they would probably get a kick out of it. I would have tried it when they were little, but I’m not very artsy. Keep up the good work New Mom and shame on those who look down their snotty noses at you. Holier than thou is not a good look for anyone.
Hindu Elvis Pimp
January 23rd, 2011
10:51 pm
Lice? What lice?
TwentyOneThirteen.com » Blog Archive » Sweet Art
January 24th, 2011
6:45 am
[...] Hate their veggies? Not if they were eating art! – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) She calls the blog Kids Eating Art (www.kidseatingart.com) and each day she posts the artwork she creates from fruits and veggies. She started out just posting the photos on Facebook, but with encouragement from her friends she created a blog to share with … Jan 21, 2011 11:54am [...]
Friend of new mom
January 24th, 2011
9:19 am
I have read all of the comments and I am shocked. First of all, I know new mom personally and I am not one bit surprised that she has made what she wanted all of her life (to be a mom) into a daily adventure and something that brings joy to herself as well as to the children she was blessed with. Second, I am so sad for that angry, crazy, mean woman who had the nerve to quote the blog and then make fun. How sad and unfortunate for your children (and for you) that you have so little imagination and fun incorporated into your daily life. New mom said she always made a salad for the kids and THEN got the idea of making the art….They don’t eat the veggies b/c it’s art…she started making it into art b/c it was fun. And, yes, of course, any working mom that has a long commute daily would not have the time for something like this except for maybe on a weekend or special occasion. New mom never said “you are inadequate if you don’t do this”. Sounds to me like the haters out there feel inadequate and guilty b/c they have to run through McDonald’s on the way home from work. Oh, and believe me, I understand the plight of the working mom. I, too, am a working mom so something like that would only be done when I had the time. That is one reason that weekend meals are always better…I have more time to plan and prepare. Why do we live in a world where people feel the need to criticize instead of build one another up? A simple “that’s a cute idea but I don’t want to, don’t have time, etc..” would have sufficed or how about “Wow, that’s awesome new mom!”. So, Newmom, I think your food art is incredible and I also think that you are a special, gifted, concerned, sweet mother who is doing a wonderful job making sure your girls learn healthy eating habits and also that food can be fun. Don’t pay attention to the haters…they are just jealous that you get to be home with your babies!!!
new mom
January 24th, 2011
11:38 am
Hi guys!
I had tried not to comment anymore on this blog, but I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who wrote such kind words and came to my defense…to those I know personally and those I don’t. And some who have written that you know me, yet I’m not sure who you are! But thank you, I really do appreciate it. :)
mombiealert
January 24th, 2011
1:32 pm
About every third Mombie scatters “veggies” on a plate in something other than a random pile and decides “She’s onto something”! This shows up number 2 on the top 5 “cliche’s mombies do” list, behind white turtle neck, red santa sweater vest, matching earings and ahead of lol’ing on facebook abouth too much darn volunteering at the little guys school today!
mombiealert
January 24th, 2011
3:03 pm
Oh, and #4, Those denim vests in the summertime, and #5 on the top 5 “cliche’s Mombies do” list, Being younger than 30 and using the word “Festive” to descrbe…anything.
Cammi317
January 24th, 2011
3:22 pm
Cute, but I would never do it. Thank goodness my daughter likes a good variety of fruits and vegetables. I have never been one of those parents that do things like: (1) Cut the crusts off of sandwiches (my daughter never wanted it done because she was not started off that way. As far as she is concerned the crusts and the end pieces are just as good as the rest of the bread) or (2) Drown food in ketchup, sauces or gravies (The only time my daughter asks for ketchup is when she is out eating with friends and that is only because she feels like the odd man out). I would occasionally make a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake on a Sunday morning for fun, but she would have eaten regardless….who doesn’t like pancakes?
motherjanegoose
January 24th, 2011
4:01 pm
O.K. I have had lunch with newmom and know she is a sweet person with a heart for her kids. One of her children is my birthday twin minus almost 50 years…haha!
I am a creative person and admire anyone else who is creative, in the different ways they express themselves. That being said, I would not delve into the veggie or any food art. It is simply not something I am into. I tried to cook good meals for my kids. If they were hungry, they would eat. If they chose to skip what we were having, they would be hungry in the morning and then they would eat. This only happened a few times in our house. Both eat lots of things they did not eat as a child. Their taste buds have matured. They tasted it while younger but enjoy it while older.
@ cammi 317….no crust cutting here either. That one sends me into orbit. What is the difference between cutting off the crust or cutting off the top part of the hamburger bun? To me, nothing and kids eat hamburgers quite often!
newmom, you might be onto something here…authoring a cookbook.
Kat
January 25th, 2011
10:45 pm
newmom: I think the art is great, and something that your children will remember for the rest of their lives. Photius: I think your kids will be in therapy; you might wish to go for some anger management class too.
I don’t think going to this extent is for me, but I focus on other things that my kids will enjoy. Spending the extra time (it obviously takes some extra time) means that that is how you wish to spend your time with your children. Others do other things with their kids. It’s just different ways of expressing yourself (and veggies!). No one should say it is “wrong” because you know your kids better than anyone.