How to get DS to eat goat?

THIS is what I was trying to get at. Some examples, I have one child and a husband who love asparagus, I will eat it with hollandaise, the rest of the house doesn't like it. I make asparagus about twice a year, and when I do, I make a different veggie for the rest of the family.

DH and I love brussels sprouts, all the kids hate them, when we have brussels, I make a different veggie for the kids. I pick the onion out of pot roast and beef stew for those who don't like it. I do not tolerate the 12 yr old whining that he hates beef stew when it tastes EXACTLY like the pot roast he loves (I strain the meat and veggies out of the stew for him, but he is going to eat it ... I use the SAME RECIPE for both and add some extra broth/water/juice to make the stew)

My point was, when you are cooking for a family, you cannot cook a different meal for each person, everyone has different tastes, people do learn to eat things they don't particularly love.

Exactly. The OP already knows he LIKES it. He is 7, so his reasoning is still a little too young to explain about how nicely the animals are raised compared to commercial meat, unfortunately.

My 12 yr old likes to annoy me about food, so when he asks what's for dinner, the answer is "meat" and that's all. That's the answer he gets regardless of whether it's beef, pork, chicken, or moose!

I think your dessert solution is good. My husband about has heart failure if I stick to my guns and don't allow snacking when a kid didn't eat dinner. He went to bed without dinner many, many times as a child, because they were poor, and it bothers him to think they are hungry. Since my kids graze all day long, I know darn well they aren't hungry.

My daughter decided she was a vegetarian at 16. I said fine, you don't have to eat meat, but you will eat a peanut butter sandwich any time we serve meat. That was all well and good until the day I saw her eat a pound of bacon in a sitting....and then claim it wasn't meat :eyeroll:

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I wouldn't make him eat it. I'd let him have cheese or pb like Alice said. It wouldn't be a hill to die on for me. I think it seems like he knows where it comes from ect If I didn't want /couldn't afford to do the pb or cheese thing, I'd just let hiim eat the other foods.
I doo think being forced to eat things can be hard on a child in the long run. At our house I cook thats what there is for supper, but if there's one thing out of 3 you don't like or want after having at least tasted it once in the past then its no biggee. I wouldn't cook another meal though.

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Read the whole thing, Alice has the best idea, JMHO.
Nancy

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I agree with Alice. Unless yours is a household full of junk food (and i'm sure, like most of us on here, it isn't ) and he's eating that crap all the time, then he's likely getting the nutrition he needs. I think parents need to carefully weigh the pros and cons before picking their battles. And studies have shown (along with folks I know personally) that kids who are pressured over food will likely have hang-ups later on. I know I did.

You don't want to eat goat? Fine. Make yourself a sandwich of some sort or check out the leftovers in the fridge. I do agree with no sweets/snacks until something resembling dinner has been consumed.

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I am a vegetarian.

dd defines this as "person who eats side dishes"

I assume you are not serving a meal that consists entirely of goat meat. If the rest of the family eats it - it is not going to waste. It is only going to waste if it is being put on his plate and then thrown out.

I wouldn't let him make a scene and spoil dinner for everyone else (nor would I let his brother taunt him with comments about who is being eaten) but I think it's fine to let him eat what he wants (without depriving others) of the other food on the table. If that involves fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and if you sometimes serve beans (cheap) and nuts (PB & J lunch? also cheap) he will have a healthier than average diet even if he skips every meat you ever cook.

Also, my dh comes from a family with food control issues - I would like to respectfully encourage people to rethink the withholding dessert (assuming the child ate something healthy a proportionate amount of dessert is reasonable - "we want you to eat healthy food and not fill your stomach with empty calories") and forcing kids to eat stuff they don't like. Some people come through that just fine, but many end up with bad adult relationships to food.

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I would not force him. Had that done to me as a child and was a vegetarian for many many years because of it.

I would not make him a sandwich. I would give him cheese in place of the meat on his plate, but expect him to eat everything else.

I don't really cater to whims here, but I do know there are certain foods each family member really does not like, and there are always options as in extra veggies, cheese etc.

OLF

I wouldn't force him to eat "Sweetie" or whatever the animal is. But neither would I allow him to fix something else in its place. I'm guessing you have other food on the table. Unless you are eating goat 7 meals a week, missing the protein portion is not going to stunt him. Just don't make a fuss out of it, and great going in sticking to your guns about no dessert. That is his choice -- honour it but don't give in on your rules -- otherwise they'll be other things he or the younger one decide they don't like if there are no consequences.

Might I suggest that you institute a new rule? If you're going to eat it, don't give it a name!

I didn't care for ham as a small child, so I was told it was "pig", and I'd eat it - still didn't like it much, as it was rather salty. Never could eat a runny egg or a raw tomato, still can't, but it was never forced on me.

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I stopped eating meat around the age of 14. I cooked and prepped my own food because my parents wouldnt do anything "special" just because I didnt want to eat meat. I didnt eat meat for probably at least two years. I used peanut butter and others for a protein filler.

I unfortunalty had to go back to eating meat when I was unable to control my anemia. Sometimes you have to allow a child to realize the consequences of their actions. I dont regret not eating meat, I also dont regret when I started eating meat again. I think i needed to test the waters more to say

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Not necessarily, we have talked with our kids about this from a very young age and both had some understanding at this age. We watched documentaries as a family, did research, read books together, etc. People have this notion that small kids need to be sheltered from things that our society assumes they don't understand. IMO kids don't understand because they're sheltered. Give them the opportunity to learn and they will soak up much more than you may have imagined.

True, but you've not taken into consideration that taste buds change. With children, especially, foods often need to be introduce numerous times before they take to them.

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“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” - E.B. White

I think Alice has the best idea too. Don't make a big issue out of it, let him eat a peanut butter sandwich (that he prepares himself). the more of an issue is made out of it, the bigger the issue will become to the point where it becomes a power struggle as he gets older. Pick your battles with children wisely.

More people around the world eat goat then any other meat. Could you maybe get some interesting international recipes and make an occasional "big deal special meal"..kids hate missing out on special treats so perhaps he would join in.

Ditto on not allowing the 4 YO to taunt about the source of the meat. I also agree on not naming what you are going to eat unless you name them chop, roast, bacon and southern fried etc....

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I got my pickiest eater over the hurdle of eating goat meat by grinding it into sausage and making pizza with it.

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normally id say give him 1 option of something else...

but in this case hes eaten it before and liked it so its not like hes refusing it based on taste...hes simply refusing it based on where the meat came from.

my first suggestion would be to talk to him...why do you not want to eat the goat when you liked it so much...give him the circle of life and food chain talks and go from there.

if hes still not comofrtable id go one of 2 options, either not tell him, sneaky yes but if hes simply doing it to be arward (not taste based) then i wouldnt be opposed ot it...
or tell him, well this is what im making...you can either have that or you can have last nights leftovers (if there is any) or he can make himself a sandwich...it has to be nutritous, youll help him make it if he needs help, but your not maing it for him, your not taking orders, its not a resturaunt and since eveyrone else is hapy with the meal its his problem. hes old enough to understand and tae responsibility for that side of it.

How have you served it? Have you ground it for burgers? Pulled goat meat for BbQ sandwiches? Maybe try something different. Could it be the obvious it's a hunk of meat, therefore a hunk of a certain goat issue to him?

I cannot eat steak, chops etc, but am fine with ground meat. It kind of takes it away from the animal that one more step.

Just don't tell him what it is. He's 7. You are the parent. Make a non-committal answer like, "This is called Chevon. Mom went to the store yesterday and came home with some things for the freezer." And to make it true by bringing home a bag of ice or something. He doesn't need to know what he is eating exactly. He's seven. You are the parent. I wouldn't let this become an issue.

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Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

That is true.
And a lot of people have this rule at their house.

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Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Gee, I wonder how I ever survived childhood and puberty without eating meat? Must be the reason why I'm only 5'10" (I'm female) and my brothers are both 6'6". We could have all been 7 feet tall if only we'd eaten meat during those vital growing years!

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Isn't it interesting how we all have different ideas of parenting? I wonder if it the way we think is age related because we were all raised in different decades?
Personally, I just wouldn't tell the kid what it was other than a roast or steak or whatever. I wouldn't let it become an issue. If it did, then I would have an Eat it or have PB and cracker attitude. But my kids are grown with kids of their own now. I wonder if younger people wouldn't be more likely to cater to the child.

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Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

And one wins snarkiness for stating their opinion (not to mention the opinion of many in nutrition)? Nice. This is actually the first time I have come across this here.