The Birthday Dinner. Fit for a 10 year old?

15 years ago

Yep my baby turns 10 today, and as tradition in the family, he got to pick the menu. He actually started planning it a few days ago, and this morning informed me what he would like.

Appetizer - Arancini (fried Italian Rice Balls with mozzarella and tomato sauce on the side)

Salad - Roasted Golden Beets with Spinach

Entree - Planked Salmon with Honey Balsamic, Penne, Broccolini with crushed red pepper and garlic

Dessert - Carvel Brownie Ice Cream Cake (I got off easy on this one!)

I am so blown away with his ability to put flavors and ideas together, he really is a little gourmand in the making. Hopefully, I will remember to get a few pics as the night goes on.....

Thanks for reading.....

Alexa

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Comments (19)

lowspark
15 years ago
Date and time please? I'll be there!! LOL, sounds like a wonderful meal!
foodonastump
15 years ago
You've got to be kidding me. It's a stretch for me to imagine that my son would try rice balls and beets and salmon before his 10th birthday, let alone request them!
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Christy, your daughter isn't going through what my son has (he has an eating disorder...yes at age 3 and has had since two weeks after birth). My son goes to bed at 10 and sleeps to 9. That's what he needs for sleep :) he also takes a nap now (he didn't sleep more than 15 mins at a time the first year and never more than an hour at a time for the next year and a half so he owes me naps until he's 40). I think swapping out the meals (snack with you, "dinner" when you were doing that snack) is a great solution. But just for grins and giggles, I'll share some of my son's lessons (we spent three months in the hospital with therapists and doctors learning to eat). First, I wouldn't try the big guns since it sounds like your daughter is healthy. If this issue is causing a dangerous weight loss (more than 10%) big guns are necessary...but again ;) It does not sound like that's the case. So for the little guns :) Those hugs and napkin drops are control issues and you need to learn to be tough about them. If she drops her napkin, do not pick it up without the help being earned. Ie "dropped napkin...complaint" then you say, I'll pick it up after you take a bite. Do not address the issue beyond that. Don't ask her to take a bite again, do not pick up the napkin, do not give her a hug, do not laugh if she trys to preform her way out of the situation, just move along and eat, and even if she's screaming like a banshee...don't touch the napkin. Yes that's hard, but it's a big deal. That alone has made a huge difference in getting our son to eat (he's chronic fail to thrive so we do use the big gun techniques as well). If she takes the bite, immediately pick up the napkin and return it to her, or give her the hug or whatever it was that she was stuck on :) And say "Good Job taking that bite" with great enthusiam, and make sure this comes from both you and your husband. She's 3...that positive attention (on the YEA ON THE BITE reaction) is going to be a big deal to her. If she drops the napkin, wants the hug, whatever, do it all over again. We do it aproximately 40 times a meal..or did. The great thing about this technique is eventually they don't need the over abundant praise after each bite. And you don't end up with the power struggle. Many of the kids in our feeding program developed their problems in the toddler years. The stubborn little poops like control, and they can learn to turn off their hunger drive (my son has no natural hunger drive at all). You've nothing to worry about if this is only a dinner time thing...but if it extends to other meals, you have to nip it in the bud big time, and really, this is a good time to start so it doesn't extend as she continues to struggle to gain control of her life. There is no answer for every solution. Every child is different, and some have bigger issues than others. Bed times vary per child, and that's ok. Eating times do as well. And eating patterns, and even eating habits. We are so thrilled if our son eats voluntarily that I could give rip what he eats...that means we don't limit his food to "healt6hy food". If he wants an M&M while we're eating dinner (he joins us at the table late as well, but he only has his chosen snacks which he mostly plays with) we're happy to see him eat the M&M. He needs the calories. Unlike most children though, while he's allowed as many M&M's as he wants, he rarely eats more than a couple. Anyhoo, I'm a professional "mom" who's spent over a million bucks on my son's eating disorder, so I just wanted to share a trick that made a big difference for us (and one we saw work with all of the other kids as well). It's hard as a parent to listen to your child scream for whatever it is they want...but it's a control issue on your side too :) They can't always win (my son is 3 now...I totally get how much they try to win LOL) Best of luck!!!
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coconut_nj
15 years ago
Omg Alexa. LOL. When I read the title of this thread I said to myself this is going to be a hard one. LOL. I'm just glad we didn't have to help you figure out what to serve him. Phewww. What a great dinner. I love this kid. Happy Birthday young gourmand!
teresa_nc7
15 years ago
Sounds delicious! I love those ice cream cakes! That's what my boys always wanted for their birthday cake.

Teresa
lsr2002
15 years ago
It sounds wonderful to me. Does he plan a menu regularly, like once a week? Sometimes I think it much harder to decide what to have than to cook it; that's when I say to Max, in a loud voice, YOU PICK!

Happy Birthday to your son.

Lee
annie1992
15 years ago
David always wants a Dairy Queen Cake, the darned things cost something like $25, I'd rather bake a cake!

Have fun. When my girls were 10 they would have wanted pizza, iceberg lettuce with ranch dressing and chocolate cake. In fact, Ashley still would.

Annie
mustangs81
15 years ago
WOW! That is amazing coming from a 10 year old; heck, that would be amazing for me to come up with.

When my DD was 10, she wanted tacos for her birthday dinner.

Happy Birthday little gourmand.
wizardnm
15 years ago
Please pass on a Happy Birthday from me.
It should be an interesting dinner, I hope you post pictures.

Alexa, stay on your game, he's not going to let you slide in the kitchen...ever.

Nancy
arabellamiller
15 years ago
I LOVE arancini. Care to share your recipe?

Sounds like a fabulous dinner for a fabulous kid.

AM
nancylouise5me
15 years ago
Alexa, OMG! What have you been teaching your kids!lol Both my daughters are college aged and can cook quite nicely. But I doubt they even knew what Broccolini was when they were 10. Job well done girl! NancyLouise
caliloo
Original Author
15 years ago
caliloo
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone - yes this kid loves great food. The other one would have asked for either a 28 oz steak and nothing else, or pizza/wings/etc.

Here is the arancini recipe I used this time, I omitted the egg wash because the rice was pretty sticky already, and I halved the cheese cubes (8 oz cheese total) It was plenty! Oh, and yes, I drizzled with olive oil and broiled instead of frying. They were really good. Next time I am trying a recipe that calls for shredded mozzarella instead of a cube in the center... still looking for the ultimate recipe.

Alexa
caliloo
Original Author
15 years ago
Salad course
caliloo
Original Author
15 years ago
Broiled Arancini Italian Rice Balls (Arancini)

These rice balls are great as an appetizer or a main meal with a nice salad and broccoli and garlic side dish.

1 lb white rice
4 eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 lb mozzarella cheese, cut in 16 cubes
1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
olive oil

Cook rice until sticky.
Let cool.
Mix rice, 4 egg yolks and grated cheese in large bowl.
Form rice mixture into balls (the size of a large meatball)) enclosing cube of Mozzarella inside each rice ball.
Beat egg whites.
Dip each rice ball in beaten egg whites and then in bread crumbs.
Drizzle with olive oil and broil on all sides until well browned.
To serve, split open and top with tomato sauce.
Makes 12 to 14.
spacific
15 years ago
Alexa, for my DS' birthday last summer (also his 10th), he requested grilled salmon, cheese ravioli with pesto, broccoli and ice cream cake!

Thanks for the Arancini recipe. Next time I cook rice, I'll make extra and give it a try.

Happy Birthday to your DS from my DS!

Ann
donnar57
15 years ago
Add me to the list of those with children who never would have requested something this fancy! Mine are grown now and still request their favorites. My youngest had her 24th birthday on Tuesday, so I invited her and her husband over for dinner. She requested either "old hen and noodles" or lasagna. I explained that lasagna was not something I usually could do after school (and I'm not on spring break till the 18th), so she was happy with "old hen and noodles". (I fix a whole chicken in the crockpot, then make noodles in the drippings from the chicken. Not exactly the lowest calorie noodles, but they're good.)

Donna
User
15 years ago
Amazing palate and I too am amazed at his ability to plan such a cohesive menu. Is this the same one that loved the Ice Wine? Kids got class!
Tracey_OH
15 years ago
I love it! Happy Birthday to your baby. My baby will turn 10 in July and I can tell you now his first choice would be McDonald's. Makes me want to bang my head against a wall!. Sounds like you had a truly wonderful dinner.

Tracey
cookie8
15 years ago
Yet another "wow". We DID have McD's for my son's 10 yr birthday this past December. Hope your guy had a great birthday. AND, I am going to make this dinner, what a nice combination.

The Birthday Dinner. Fit for a 10 year old?

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