My 2010 New Year's resolution may prove to be an insurmountable challenge as it involves not just changes to myself but also major changes in my children!! I pledge to try a new recipe each week (not frozen or out of a box)in an effort to expose my 3 children to new foods and expand their palate. The goal is that by the end of the year they will be eating what we eat (more or less) and I'll no longer be a short-order cook and on the fast-track to the Betty Ford Clinic!

I tried to convince my kids that trying new foods would be a good resolution for them this year but they weren't biting! (no pun intended)

This is also an experiment to determine what causes a picky eater? Is it genetic? Are some kids just not as adventurous as others when it comes to trying new foods? (Perhaps the frequent gagging at my dinner table is a sign that may be my answer!) Or is it that I've been lazy and haven't really forced the issue or exposed them to enough new foods on a consistent basis? Maybe it's karma because I was a picky eater myself as a child??

Getting my kids to eat new meals at dinnertime has been the greatest source of my parental frustrations and I'm hoping this little experiment might put an end to the insanity, chaos, gagging, whining and wine consumption that ensues in our household every night! Isn't mealtime supposed to be a time of family happiness? Please tell me there is light at the end of this 52 week tunnel??? I'll keep you posted.....