Kids Dish

Rowena Cory Daniells
(who also writes as R.C. Daniells and Rowena Cory Lindquist) is an author of nearly 30 published books for children, and a fantasy trilogy “The Shadow Kingdom” which was published internationally. Rowena’s next book, “The Evil Overlord” will be published in Jan 2008 as part of the new ABC Books series “The Lost Shimmaron”.

KidsDish: Hi, Rowena! How many kids do you have, and what ages?

Rowena: 6 children. 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and a husband who thinks he’s a child.

KidsDish: How much influence do you have over the food they eat?

I buy the food. I discovered 20 years ago you can cook food and put it in front a toddler but you can’t make them eat.

KidsDish: What are their favourite foods?

Rowena: Each one has a different favourite and each one hates something different. These often clash.

KidsDish: Do you have trouble getting them to eat healthy food, like fruit
and vegetables? What methods have you developed to encourage them
towards healthy food?

Rowena: They hardly ever eat fruit. They will eat some vegetables. I can’t afford to buy food to throw it out. So I only buy what I know they will eat. I find they get a little more adventurous in their early teens.

I hide vegetables in the meat by throwing in a can of diced tomatoes, kidney beans or grating pumpkin into the mince.

KidsDish: Do you enjoy cooking for your family? What are some of your
favourite things to prepare?

Rowena: I hate cooking. When the children were little my father in law had a heart condition and diabetes. So I had to cook food he could eat, food my husband would eat and food the children would eat. I ate the scraps.

Rowena: Now I prepare large dishes of things like Chilli con carne, Mexican meat for tacos, beef Stroganoff and Bolognaise, and freeze them in individual serves. That takes care of my husband for the week. Then I make a huge pot of vegetable soup and freeze that individually. That takes care of me.

The older children come in from jobs at different times, will dash out to have dinner with friends, or will arrive starving and want food in 30 seconds. The three youngest ones currently will not eat the same thing. So I end up running a restaurant.

The three youngest boys would happily eat steak or roast lamb but I can’t afford to feed them that, so they get it once a week or so. For the longest time the safe fall back was peanut butter sandwiches and milk.

KidsDish: What’s your breakfast routine?

Rowena: They get their own breakfast. Toast & cereal. Or I make pikelets or eggs and bacon.

KidsDish: Do any of your kids cook, or prepare food? If so, what sort of
food can they prepare?

Rowena: Toasted sandwiches, bacon and eggs, poached eggs, French toast, noodle dishes.

KidsDish: Do you ever feel guilty about what you feed your kids?

Rowena: All the time. My father refused to eat vegetables and sister was allergic to fruit, so my kids have inherited these odd food likes and dislikes.

I cut out white bread and only buy the Helgas light rye or soy and linseed. I only buy raw sugar and lite milk. We don’t have soft drink or cordial in the house. We rarely have fruit juice.

KidsDish: What’s your favourite vegetable?

Rowena: Spinach. I know, it’s crazy. I eat normal food.

KidsDish: Tell us a little about yourself…

Rowena: Food is only an energy source not a way of life.

KidsDish: Thanks for taking part in this interview!