Tore-key Cheese

I have a 2 year old who constantly surprises me with his love for the most unexpected food.  No matter how hard I try to get him to try a new dish I slave over, he will refuse.  His mouth will be in full lock down mode. When I give him the freedom to choose whatever he wants, the most unpredicatble items appear in my basket.  Today it was okra, spinach, apple chips, and 3 pints of strawberries.  I asked if we were making strawberry popsicles and he said "No mommie.  Chalk-late, strawberry, pancake."  I then asked what we were making with the spinach, he said "cookies".

On our way home he saw L'Angolo, his cheese shop.   He asked to stop.  This isn't your run of the mill cheese shop.  This cheese shop has what I consider high quality cheese.  I am not a cheese connoisseur by any means but 100 grams of some Turkish goat cheese cost Dad about 25 usd.  Am I getting ripped off?  Probably.

After trying 8 different kids of cheese with apples, Makkie found his love.  And by love, I mean he inhaled, INHALED the last sample he was given.  After he realised there was nothing left in his hand he started screaming at the top of his lungs "MORE TORE-KEY CHEESE MORE MORE MORE TORE-KEY! DAT ONE DAT ONE TORE-KEY CHEESE TORE-KEY CHEESE!" This continued til he was served the cheese.  The owner of the shop said "Wow, he really likes goat cheese, that's great" while the customers all applauded me for raising such a healthy child. 

"Tore-key Cheese."  He ate half the bar. 

A conversation on how parents let their kids eat whatever they want came into the conversation.   My contribution to the conversation didn't go too well.   It was frowned upon.   Yes, he has a cookie every day if he asks.  Yes, he has ice cream every day if he asks.  If you empower your kids to choose certain foods, like whole grain cereal for dinner or ice cream it becomes a lot less precious.  Telling them "No" just let's them want it more.  I was too lazy to cook last nite and asked what he wanted for dinner.  Since he's been with Oma the last 3 months he decided on ice cream.  So we ventured out and he ordered chocolate ice cream.  Did he finish his ice cream?  No, he had about 5 bites.  Majority of it is in the freezer and the cone wasn't even touched.  What did he ask for when we returned home 30 minutes later? Buckwheat pita pizza with fresh sauce made from roasted eggplant, carrots, bell peppers and fresh tomatoes, topped with parmesan cheese and ground lamb.  He polished off his pizza and had multi grain cereal for dessert. 

As for the spinach cookies,  he ate two!