Ali Hassan is a man of many talents – actor, comedian, chef, and proud father of three. His fun cooking demos with great recipes soon caught fire on YouTube; and now his
cooking site, Bland is Boring, is the go-to place for families looking for healthy, delicious and interesting meals.
I asked Ali to share a recipe and some tips for feeding a busy family – from the perspective of a chef and a Dad!
AO: Ali, what’s a quick, easy recipe that parents can make in advance?
AH: So – the best recipe for moms that I can recommend right now is one that involves QUINOA – our Spicy Quinoa Salad (see video below).
Instead of feeding our kids processed and packaged foods, why not introduce them to something that has a fantastic nutrient composition, sans additives. It doesn’t require a huge adjustment if your family already eats rice. Just slowly start replacing rice with Quinoa, maybe every 3rd time you make rice. Making it taste good? Now that’s your job!
AO: What are some tips on getting our kids to eat healthy, diverse foods? How do you involve your kids in the meal prep process?
AH: One thing – what works for one kid doesn’t necessarily work for another. Which is what makes them so irritat—errr…wonderful.
I had read widely that getting kids involved with the cooking process will make them more inclined to eat the finished product.
One of my favorite days in 2011 was when my wife left me alone for an evening with my daughters and we made pizza from scratch. The girls each had a cutting board and diligently cut slices of peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and red onion (my 5 year old wore swimming goggles to get through the onion cutting). They poured and smoothed out my tomato sauce onto 2 round pizza doughs, covered them both with their incredibly unevenly cut vegetables and with a few types of cheese that they had grated. 30 minutes later we had 2 very delicious pizzas come out of the oven.
I giddily asked “who’s ready to EAT?!” only to hear the answer “No thanks”. As I searched for something to shoot myself with, I realized we cant expect change to come overnight. It HAS come in our house, but its taken time. Three rules I’ve put in place that are non-negotiable are: 1) you have to TRY everything, 2) you have to finish everything on your plate and 2) never say the words “No Thanks” to Papa.
They are working well so far. Sometimes I can see they really aren’t keen on what I’ve made so I give them VERY small portions so that they can follow rule number 2. The key to getting this all to work is to capitalize on the rule-following that they learn in school. Respect, kindness, responsibility, initiative, co-operation, etc…are all being learned and instilled in schools – don’t be afraid to be an opportunist with these concepts at home.
Despite the fact that our pizza experiment was a complete failure (yes, “our” experiment – I consider the kids to failed miserably that day as well) I always try to have the kids involved in some way with the meal. Whether its chopping vegetables, pouring the water for everyone, setting the table, or slicing dessert. Anything that gets them involved in the process can eventually give them an appreciation for food and mealtime.
And the most important thing I can share is about Choice. DON’T GIVE ANY. What the hell is choice. Seriously. When we were kids, we ate what was served to us and that was end of it. I know we like to make our kids feel like they are so very important so we give them choices. Stop it. Maybe give them choices about which glass they want their water in, which plate and cutlery they’d like to use, what time they’d like to eat or even in what order they’d like to eat. But the food is there and they should be grateful that they have some. I dont even tell my daughters what we are having for dinner, because that can give them 8 hours to work themselves up about how much they hate something they’ve never even seen or heard of.
Like I said, changes cannot happen overnight. BUT – you could prepare them mentally for changes that are going to start in the house in a month or so. Good luck and Godspeed. Some days you might need both luck and the Lord on your side when it comes to getting your kids to eat!
Each of my kids has such a different approach to food. My son will try anything so it’s a pleasure to try new recipes and experiment with new meals. My girls, however, are traditionalists and very wary to try new things. I persevere anyway, trying to incorporate something new each couple of weeks – sometimes it means they don’t eat much, but i’m starting to go crazy after all these years with no variety.
“1) you have to TRY everything, 2) you have to finish everything on your plate and 2) never say the words “No Thanks” to Papa.”
Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. I have a child with food aversions and this is impossible. He makes it sound so simple. I dream of this!
His recipe does sound delicious!