I got a babysitter so I could go out for a friend’s birthday.  I figure when the kids really don’t want me to go, it’s time for treats.   So dinner may incorporate stuff we might not eat regularly, but I still try to choose the best of the worst and accompany with healthier side dishes.  And no matter if they’ve finished they’re allowed ice cream for dessert.  Anything to make the babysitter’s job easier and their time with her more fun.

My children, like many other kids, like hotdogs.  But we have them rarely.  I only buy organic nitrate and nitrite-free hot dogs, most likely from Trader Joe’s or Applegate Farms.  As I just posted earlier, contributing factor(s) in meat-associated health problems isn’t the meat itself but the stuff they put in (processed) meats.  Cold cuts laden with sodium, nitrites and nitrates have been linked to cancer and other diseases.  I have stayed away from them for years, before I knew any of that, because they tend to be a migraine trigger.  I boil them then in a pan slightly brown outside to give it the snap. 

So, I made hotdogs with a fairly plain salad, cauliflower and mixed grains and rice.  I steam my cauliflower for a few minutes until a toothpick can just go through easily.  It’s not overcooked and it reduces the granular texture that can put some kids off raw cauliflower. One trick that I got from my mother, is to add a squeeze of lemon juice, butter, salt and pepper to the cauliflower when it’s time to serve.  Lemon and black pepper are great together and they give it a little zing.  My middle son adores cauliflower but we don’t have it very often since it’s my husband’s least favorite vegetable.

The grains were Three Grains Blend  (rice, barley and spelt) from TJ’s.  Chicken stock was used instead of water.  It gives it the umami taste (“The Good Taste” or “5th Taste”) or savoriness that almost everyone enjoys.  You can try to add something that has umami to foods that kids might not otherwise like to hit the right notes in their brain.  MSG is used in Asian cooking just for that purpose.   An umami addition can change something they would find yucky into yummy (like sprinkling some parmesan cheese on top of some broccoli). You can read more about it here.

Anyway, I feel it’s not always necessary to have just junk as a treat. The trick is finding the right ratio that satisfies kids and moms.  I try to make sure mine get what they need while giving in to some of their wants.  Babysitters love happy kids too.