This is a picture of Max eating ...chocolate...not ketchup toast. This was some big, 1 pound chocolate car that one of the kids made at a birthday party. It was quite disgusting, but Max loved it and worked at it for days until he had successfully eaten the entire car. Anyways, I was looking through my pictures to see if I had any pictures of Max eating ketchup toast, one of his staples, but I only have pictures of Max eating treats, which could mean one of two things: I only take pictures of Max eating treats, or Max only eats treats. The latter probably would be more accurate, but Max does eat a few good, healthy things, FEW being the operative word here. I will now attempt to list the things that Max eats:bagels with cream cheese (only white cream cheese, no pink please)
pizza bagels
pizza
pepperoni, but not on the pizza
pasta with red sauce
chicken nuggets (only nuggets, no grilled, baked or cooked chicken please)
french fries, what kids won't eat fries?
macaroni and cheese
ramen (pronounced: WAH -MAN)
raisins
grapes
berries
smoothies -occasionally
pop corn
and finally...ketchup toast
Don't ask me how this came about. My mom eats ketchup on toast and claims it is a Swedish delicacy. I think it was a poor, desperate, American Mormon missionary attempt at making toast seem not so boring. At any rate, Max had no prior knowledge of ketchup toast the day he asked for it. He just one day out of thie blue decided that ketchup should go on his toast instead of the usual...nothing. So, I made it thinking, "one bite and he'll be done". But Max ate not just one piece of ketchup toast that day but TWO! And ever since he has been a believer. He is getting his daily recommended dose of Lycopene for sure! Now it is no wonder Max is so small, given the above mentioned diet, but he is growing. I can tell because he is outgrowing his pants from two years ago and the treats supplement his diet sufficiently. Now those with kids who have serious food aversions probably think this is no big deal, and they are right. I am sure there are kids whose lists do not even amout to 15, like Max's list. I am not complaining one bit, I am quite pleased with his list, which has grown from 5 to 15. I just have to laugh because I have two other children who will eat pretty much everything and I always thought picky eaters had only their parents to blame. Try as we may, and we have force fed Max a few things, only to find that they sit in his mouth and sit and would probably sit there all night until we give in and take it out so he won't choke before bedtime. I guess the point of all this rambling is that I am always trying to think of new foods for Max to try, but he is content, and growing, and I am sure one day will eventually swallow the grilled chicken we force into his mouth. In the meantime I'll just be happy with ketchup toast.
I know you are all watering at the mouth for the recipe for ketchup toast. I will make you wait no longer:
Ketchup Toast
1 piece of whole wheat bread (for optimum health)
some ketchup
Put bread in toasteror toaster oven. Toast to your likeness. Pour or squeeze ketchup onto the piece of toast and spread an even layer over toast. Cut into squares or triangles, whichever you prefer. Enjoy.
Now if that does not satisfy some of you food snobs I will give you a recipe for Max's favorite chocolate chip cookies, they happen to be his dad's favorite too, and mine, and a few others'. They are affectionately named Big Mo's Cookies thanks to Stanton Neilson.
Big Mo's
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter - soft
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 oz. chocolate chips
Mix butter and both sugars together until well blended. Add egg and vanilla, mix until combined. Add dry ingredients, then chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet by the tablespoon for regular size cookies or by the 1/4 cup full for really big, dense cookies. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes depending on your oven.
