Works for Me! Wednesday: Muffin Tins

One of my daily tasks as a Mommy...possibly one I will be doing for the next 18 years...is making sure my children eat something nutritious and filling at each meal. This is no easy job, considering I have one child who is such a chatterbox that he struggles to find time to eat amidst all the talking and another child who really only prefers chicken nuggets, french fries, raisins, and frozen waffles (Seriously, she will go on a hunger strike--which we let her do--rather than pick up "foreign" food). The food war is an eternal one here at casa de phillips.

Recently I have started serving Isaac's food in a six cup muffin tin. He likes how each group of food has their own location and is always excited to see what surprises are tucked away in his special plate. Often times to encourage eating rather than talking, I will put a special "bessert" (a gingersnap, a few chocolate chips, or some marshmallows) in one of the cups and tape a piece of paper over that opening. In order to take the paper off and reveal his surprise, Isaac has to eat the majority of his other food.

Here is his lunch from today (Not too outstanding due to the fact it was a school day and we rush through lunch to get two tired kiddos to bed): Another great thing about using a muffin tin as a plate is that they do not break. Isaac is responsible for taking his dishes to the sink when he is finished eating. A while back he accidentally dropped one of our plates and it broke. Fortunately I was right there to help him but now we stick to unbreakable dishes.

Now if we can work on the other one's devotion to all things chicken nuggets, the meal time battles might possibly end before these two are in high school...

Check out other Works for Me! tips over at Rocks in My Dryer.