How I Keep My Family Happy: The Food Edition

The nice ladies over at SocialMoms.com asked me how I keep my family happy. And one of the the easy answers to that is I try to keep their favorite foods in the house. Each one of them likes something different and it can be a challenge at time to meet all of their needs... but you know what they say about the way to a man's heart. It's true at my house too, but not just for the man! :)

Bruce likes ice cream, home baked chocolate chip cookies, chips and dip, and beef. If I can manage to keep at least one of those things easily accessible to him on any given evening, then I have succeeded in keeping him happy. I think I get the most points for homemade cookies though. And I just use the Toll House recipe on the bag!

Yanfei (our Chinese exchange student) is 16 17 and likes sweets, including fruit. She seems easier to please though and can be satisfied with a jar of Nutella and fresh bread. Though I think she's eaten it straight from the jar before.

You'd think that since Charlotte and Mary are so close in age it would be the same foods that keep them happy. But nope... couldn't get off that easy. Charlotte likes fruit "chewies" and cheese crackers of all types more than anything else. Mary would probably be happy if she could have milk, bananas, and "flat cheese" (aka sliced cheese) all day long. (But can you imagine the resulting constipation?!)

And since I'm part of this family too, I try to keep me happy as well. A good cup of coffee is usually enough to keep me happy in the morning. But by the time the evening comes along, it usually means having a special "treat" like Girl Scout or Pepperidge Farm cookies hidden away in the back of the freezer. Really though, I'm less picky about WHAT it is and more picky about the atmosphere it's consumed in. If I'm alone, with my laptop, and there's some soft music in the background, then that makes me happy. (I live less than 2 miles from a 24-hour Starbucks!)

Overall, it probably seems like we eat a lot of junk food. But that really isn't true. We keep these items as special treats to be enjoyed. If Bruce ate ice cream and chips and beef every day, none of us would be happy when his arteries got clogged. And I've already talked about what might happen if Mary got her food wishes! Then NONE of us would be happy!

What are your families' favorite foods?

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

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