Making Peace with Our Palate

It's been awhile since I last posted. I wish I had some great new recipes for you and some new ideas for finger foods.

Instead, I am going to write about something that has been under my skin for awhile.

I don't like cooked spinach or kale.

I don't like smoked salmon or really any kind of salmon at all.

I know I should like prosciutto and melon, but all I can hear is my mom exclaiming during wedding planning, "you want to serve our guests ham and cantalope...together?!!!" And I can't get past it either. It's kind of weird if you think about it.

There are a lot of foodie foods I just don't like.  And, as I have learned, Baby G doesn't either.

I wanted more for her. I wanted to develop a foodie palate that would overstretch mine. Instead, I am finding she is a lot like me and maybe that isn't so bad after all. And, at what point do I mention she is just 10 months old?

Yes, I have been having these internal wrestlings over a girl who has only been eating for about 4 months. I worry that she only likes the sweet stuff- carrots, peas, bananas, fruit, and carbs- bread, oatmeal, more bread. I guess she's not an idiot, right? Sweet is better than bitter cooked spinach and fishy salmon spread. Bread, especially my homemade bread, is awesome. She's not into meat, but I went through several vegetarian stages in my life. And really, after 4 months, I should probably just be happy that she gets food into her mouth, even if it is just to spit it out.

And yet....

I worry. A lot.

I question myself. A lot.

I hear other moms talk about their adventurous eaters and I feel a pang of jealousy. I watch Baby G make a terrible face after I give her some pureed chicken enchilada soup and I feel like I must be doing something wrong. I swear she was open to more tastes when we first started solids and now I already have a picky eater.

She's getting most of her nutrients from formula which I have to keep reminding myself, and we have plenty of time, a whole lifetime really, to develop her tastes. I didn't even have asparagus until I was in college.

Anyone else dealing with these type of worries? Any words of encouragement from the more experienced mamas out there?