Sushi, Artichokes and Cod Liver Oil? Weird Foods Kids Love
By Charlotte Hilton Andersen, REDBOOK
Crab legs, stuffed mushrooms, artichokes, and sushi: My 7-year-old's request for his birthday dinner read like a tasting menu from one of those restaurants that don't put dollar signs next to their prices in the hopes that you'll mistake those large numbers for the national deficit. At this rate, my son will want caviar for his eighth birthday. As I contemplated how my kids have acquired such expensive tastes, it made me think that, with their reputation for pickiness, maybe we don't have enough credit for eating weird foods. So, I asked my mom friends to see what strange foods are their kids' favorites:
1. "My stepson's first choice is typically sushi (where he will happily eat sea urchin). If we are eating in, he prefers steak. He is nine! He is already quite a foodie." -Danielle
2. "My oldest really enjoys eating cloves of garlic, jalapenos, pepperoni and green olives as snacks." -MJ
3. "My 9-year-old asked for lobster and filet mignon for his birthday dinner last year. Thank goodness there was just the three of us!" -Lori
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4. "Laura's first favorite food was steamed broccoli. You should have seen the way she'd flap her arms and squeal as I spooned more florets onto her tray, as if I were serving up piles of cookies." -Melissa
5. "I used to give my 3-year-old 'oily juice' (juice with fish oil in it, because we never eat fish). He loved it so much he wanted it all the time. Gag." -Sierra
6. "My kids used to beg for kale chips-until I messed them up a couple times in a row and ruined their love for them." -Laura
7. "When my daughter was two and a half, she went to a friend's house to play. The mom offered her a snack. Rachel responded, 'Do you have any lobster or carob chips?' The best part was she'd never had either!" -Shellie
8. "My 18-month-old son loves to eat kidney beans plain. I will open up a can, put it in bowl, and he will eat the whole thing. It baffles me (not that kidney beans aren't delicious), because he pops them in his mouth like they're candy." -Kirsten
9. "My kids love crab, shrimp, and other ridiculously expensive seafood. My friend envies me that my kids will eat that stuff, but I envy her that she doesn't have to pay for crab legs for four!" -Michelle
What "weird" foods do your kids love to eat? Have your kids ever surprised you by eating something you never thought they'd touch?
Read more of Charlotte on Redbook's The Motherboard blog.
Charlotte Hilton Andersen is a mom of 5 and the author of the book The Great Fitness Experiment: One Year of Trying Everything and the blog of the same name.
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