Maybe if they haven't already chewed it!

One of my favourite meals as a kid was called Cod Creole.

This was a mixture of tinned smoked fish, onion and dried tomato soup cooked together with water to make a fishy sauce and served over boiled rice.

I have made it recently and it is as delicious as I remember, though my boys weren't so keen on it ...

As children, my siblings and I were expected to eat everything put in front of us, and every last mouthful served up to us. I think the only things I was ever allowed to say no to was oysters and toheroas.

Toheroas are an endemic Kiwi clam that are said to be delicious - bleurk - and Oreti Beach in Southland is one of only a few places toheras are found in New Zealand and my home turf. Restrictions were put in place in the 1950s and by 1990s any harvesting was banned.

The last season down there was 1993, where with a limit of 5 each of at least 10cm still saw more than 15k harvested over a nine-hour one-day season.

Since this kai moana was already restricted during my childhood, I think there was a special exemption since they would be wasted on me.

These days I think you need a customary permit approved by your iwi, if you are a Maori decendant. Not sure what you can do if you are Pakeha ... I digress.

I remember sitting at the kitchen table in Margaret Street, Invercargill with my plate of Cod Creole and my siblings. For whatever reason, we had decided that we were NOT going to finish that meal. I don't remember how long we were forced to sit there, but I do remember the day going dark. Eventually my sister comes up with a plan and we all empty our plates out of the kitchen window onto the lawn down the back side of the house. Such was the expectation to not waste food and eat everything put in front of you.

So a major internal battle to this day is not wasting food.

Thou shall not waste food on thine own plate, nor the plates of thine offspring.

I was reminded by Tania today that one of the big causes of excess food intake for mothers is finishing the food on their kids plates. So it's true: kids make you fat.

Sitting at Charlotte's house today, we talked about the extent of this problem. Only one mum easily avoids this and told us it was as simple as it grosses her out. She's the slim one.

Really wish it grossed me out! The other mothers all agreed that it's worse than that: we are willing to eat pretty much anything off the plates of our children as long as they haven't already chewed it!

My children are growing up in a world of excess and I really want them to learn to eat what they enjoy and eat it in moderation. Which means that I try not to force them to finish their plates while encouraging them not to be fussy and to make the time for eating. Ughh.

So the point is that I am creating new rules on how food should be approached through parenting.

Thou shall endeavour to create/select only enough food, but never feel guilty for not finishing a dish.

Thou shall never eat off the plate of thine offspring, if the only purpose is to prevent waste.

Done.

Image: Foodstyle.co.nz