Simple Salmon

My kids love fish, especially Salmon.  Here's how I keep it easy, quick, and delicious and they gobble it up every time.

For my family, I usually buy about a pound and a half and it's never enough... (guess I should get more huh?)  Salmon can be pricey so I look for sales.  I do not, however, like frozen Salmon.

This is such a simple dish, there really isn't even a recipe. Here's what I do:

1. Squeeze lemon juice on the top and bottom (also, I almost always have the skin removed- fish skin grosses me out!)

2. Pour olive oil on the top and bottom and rub into the fish.

3.  Generously sprinkle Fox Point Seasoning from Penzey's Spices http://www.penzeys.com/ on the top and bottom and rub into the fish. *Fox Point is a combination of salt, shallots, chives, garlic, onion, and green peppercorn. It is great on pretty much everything (great on veggies and really tasty with eggs!)  It is such a simple way to add flavor to anything really quickly and it's pretty much foolproof!

4.  Cook on a hot grill, flipping to grill both sides, until it flakes easily with a fork and looks "done" in the middle.

That's it, and I'm telling you my kids gobble it up every time.

So... if your kids are picky eaters, at this point you're probably saying, "Ok, but my kids won't even try it."  And, if your kids are picky eaters, at this point you're probably right.  I'm new to blogging and struggling with what to post when and I have so much I want to talk about, but I don't know where to stop or start (and I tend to be wordy as it is!).  So for now, if you're wondering how I got my kids to eat salmon, I'll tell you that they probably first had it at about 9 months old.  They started early, which helps a lot!  If you have a baby, I highly suggest that you start with real food like fish early- don't grind it up or make it into baby food, just serve little pieces when you're eating it. If you're kids are older and already think they don't like fish, or won't try anything new, the process will be a little more difficult and I'll get to that. For now, I posted about the salmon to give you some idea about how my family eats.

We actually had this fish for dinner tonight which is what made me think of it.  I did vary it slightly.  I've been following a lot of money saving and couponing blogs lately (current favorites are Hip2Save and Moneysavingmom) so I did "Salmon" on a budget.  What we actually ate was called "White Salmon" and isn't really salmon at all aparently.  A pound and a half of fresh, wild caught, White Salmon was only a little over $7.  As a side I served Uncle Ben's broccoli cheese whole grain white rice (Only $0.50 after using the coupon on the box) to which I added extra broccoli.  So, all said, the dinner was under $9 and was healthy and delicious!

Kid Hint:  I have found that my kids approach a meal better if it feels familiar.  Since they know they like Salmon, I made sure that I called it Salmon and cooked it the way I usually cook salmon.  The broccoli rice was new so we talked about all of the ingredients that they were familiar with. "Well, you love rice, cheese, and broccoli, so I'm sure you'll like this.  I loved cheesy broccoli rice as a kid."

Real Life:  My daughter and the baby loved the broccoli rice, my middle son did not.  He likes cheese, broccoli, and rice but (at least tonight) this combination was not his thing.  I encouraged him to eat a little more but did not make it a big deal. I have learned from experience that he will likely eat it the next time, but if I force it, he may start deciding that he doesn't like broccoli, or rice.  He ate tons of fish, so I was happy!

So What is a "Good" Eater?

Since I claim that my blog can help you teach your kids to be good eaters, I figured I should start by defining what I mean when I say "good" eater. 

It started with my daughter... my mom said to me, "She's a really good eater."  Honestly, until that point, I hadn't thought much about it.  That was over five years ago, and now, two more kids later, I am often told that all of my kids are good eaters.  So here is my attempt to define what that means:

1.  Good Eaters eat (and enjoy) vegetables, fish, whole grains, beans, spices and many foods that are
not typically considered kid friendly.
2.  Good Eaters enjoy food and have a positive attitude at mealtime.
3.  Good Eaters can and will find something to eat at any restaurant.
4.  Good Eaters will eat the food that is served to them when they are a guest in someone's house.
5.  Good Eaters are willing to try new foods.
6.  Good Eaters understand that eating food is enjoyable and that eating good food is good for them.
7.  Good Eaters make good choices about what to eat and recognize how eating certain foods makes them feel (good or bad.)
8.  Good Eaters do not have diets that are limited to "kid food."

Parents of Good Eaters:
1.  Can cook just about any recipe without worrying about whether or not their kids will eat it.
2.  Are not perfect and do not expect their kids to be perfect.
3.  Recognize that learning to eat well is like any other learning process- it IS a PROCESS!

In my blog posts, I will attempt to teach and not preach.  I am not here to judge what or how you feed your family.  I simply hope that I can share some of what I have learned along the way.  All too often parents have said to me things like, "Wow, I wish I could get my kids to eat (vegetables, fish, etc.)"  Once a friend said, "Can I send my daughter to your house for a week to learn how to eat?"  I never know how to respond to these statements.  I feel bad because I want to help, but I don't want to sound like a know it all and I kind of feel like giving another parent any kind of parenting advice is kind of like my husband giving me driving advice!  I figure in this blog, I can give advice to those who want it, and learn from others as well, because I am still, and will always be learning!