Are your kids like mine? They have 3-5 favorite foods and insist they like nothing else?

This is 100% true for my oldest…except her 3-5 foods has now dropped to 1-3.

My middle guy likes probably 8-10 foods. He will occasionally try something new and end up liking it.

Now…my littlest man…he likes…almost…everything. After he finally takes a bite. 

He will tell you he doesn’t like whatever you’ve made. But you’ll ask him to take a bite off of your plate…which has the very same thing as his…and suddenly it is his new favorite food and you’re going to bed hungry.

On Friday, we went to a local fish fry at the Moose Lodge. The food was delicious. My oldest ate nothing but 6 potato wedges. Middle guy insisted he didn’t like the fried cod. While I was getting our lemonade, he devoured a piece and then asked for more. My little man refused everything but the wedges until I mentioned the dessert table. That’s when he started eating the cod and declared it amazing.

Today we went to an indoor swimming event with scouts. Everyone refused lunch before we went insisting they would not be hungry. At 3pm—they weren’t just hungry, they were hangry. We made it home and I got them a snack while I finished up the dinner that had been bubbling away in the crockpot. I made my mom’s old fashioned American chop suey—think 1972 style. This is a family favorite served with both rice and mashed potatoes.

I don’t make the rules but I’m assuming it’s because my grandpa liked it that way.

All of the kids refused all parts of the meal. We grabbed some leftover cold pizza and sidestepped a disastrous dinnertime meltdown. I asked little man if he wanted to try a bite. He did not. I asked if he just wanted a bite of potatoes. That turned into trying the rice which turned into him eating half my plate and asking to have it again tomorrow. The other two refused completely but I’ll still take it as a win.

In case you want the recipe, I’ll post it below. If you cannot find the bead molasses, you can use regular molasses but I do prefer the bead. My mom always said you needed to get it at an “old person” store. One that catered to the older crowd. I find these to be independent local stores rather than the big chains. Your two options are below. Chop suey meat is really just a combo of beef stew meat and pork stew meat. I’ve used chuck roast and pork chops if I couldn’t find what I need.

Mom's Chop Suey

1 stick margarine or butter
4-5 celery stalks chopped
1 onion chopped
¼ cup soy sauce
1.5-2 chop suey meat 
1 jar bead molasses
1 can bean sprouts drained
1 can water chestnuts drained
Corn starch and cold water

1. Melt one stick margarine or butter.  
2. Trim the chop suey meat and chop into bit size pieces. 
3. Add chop suey meat. 
4. Add chopped celery and onions.  
5. Brown the meat and soften the onions.
6. Add the molasses and add enough water to cover. 
7. Add soy sauce.  
8. Cook until meat is tender.  
9. Add spouts and water chestnuts.  
10. Thicken with cornstarch and water.  
11. Serve with mashed potatoes and rice.