It can be difficult when you have different tastes than your family. I do my best to accommodate my husband’s taste buds, my toddler’s ever-changing preferences, and my own cravings. We all like different things and sometimes it gets downright hairy trying to please everyone.
When Tim saw me making this salad, he stood looking over my shoulder for a minute, and then the conversation went like this:
Tim: What are you making?
Me: It’s going to be a Mango and Avocado Coleslaw.
Tim: Who’s going to eat it?
Me: Us. You, me, Meghan.
Tim: I’m not eating it.
Me: Why not?
Tim: I don’t like avocados.
Me: Yes you do.
Tim: No, I don’t. When’s the last time I ate an avocado?
Me: Yesterday. You ate guacamole.
Tim: That’s different.
I tried to convince him that he would like this, but he was being stubborn as ever and would not try it. I begged and pleaded and he finally tried one little piece of mang0 (one of his favorite fruits, which is why I think he would really like this). “There, I tried it!” he exclaimed, although I hardly count that as “trying it”.
Then there’s the case of Meghan. I was going to give her this as it was prepared, with everything mixed together, but I chickened out. She has this thing about mixed together foods. She used to eat them, but currently will not. Everything must be deconstructed. Nothing can be touching. So instead of giving her a helping of the coleslaw, she got a deconstructed version:
Her dinner plate included: avocado, mango, a piece of cheese, an edamame pancake with miso syrup, and half a piece of bread with peanut butter. Tim and I were having the edamame pancakes and coleslaw. Well, I was having the coleslaw. I added cheese and bread to Meghan’s dinner since the edamame pancakes and mango were new to her. I always make sure she has some of her favorite foods on her plate when I’m offering her new foods to try.
Meghan did pretty well with her dinner (that was her second piece of cheese), but would not try the mango. I tried to tell her it was fruit and she would love it, but she was not interested. After I told her it was called mango, she said, “No, I don’t like flamingo!” No, sweetie, I was not trying to feed you a pink bird. Silly girl.
So I bring you this coleslaw that I love, but my stubborn family didn’t want to try. It is light and refreshing and the simple seasonings are perfect. Maybe your family will like it. If not, you can have it all for yourself.
Print
Mango and Avocado Coleslaw
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
A fresh and tasty coleslaw recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1 mango, peeled and cubed
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 10 mint leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and mint leaves. (To chiffonade the mint leaves, stack them on top of one another, roll them up, and slice them.) Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the shredded cabbage, mango, and avocado. Drizzle with the vinaigrette mixture and gently toss to coat. Serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 257
- Sugar: 12.75g
- Sodium: 209mg
- Fat: 20.5g
- Carbohydrates: 20.5g
- Protein: 2,5g
Question: Are there any foods that you love, but your family won’t eat?
Please do your post on planning your meals and snacks for you daughter…i’m getting desperate and running out of healthy ideas. I hate getting so discouraged 🙁 I want her to eat healthier but it’s tough for me to figure out what to fix. Please help! 🙂
Thanks for the reminder, Julie! I will work on it. 🙂
That looks delish! I love avocado and mango:)
There are several things that I like and my family doesn’t. I generally use lunchtime for ‘my’ foods and do more all-family meals at dinner time. My kids LOVE mango. It’s pretty cheap here in San Antonio, so we eat a lot of them. Mmmm, now I’m craving mango….
What’s not to love about mango? I think Meghan will love them after she sees them a few more times. They’re not cheap, here, though, so I don’t get them too often.
love the combo of mango and avocado YUM!
Haha my husband is the SAME way! Why do I feel he is gonna be more picky than my daughter will be?
As for the coleslaw…looks soo yummy! Iblove avocado AND mangos 🙂
That looks great! Good luck with the family taste buds 🙂
Oh my! This situation is so familiar in my family. I can’t get enough of Asian flavors, especially Thai and Indian curries. I also love nuts, beans and various grains. My husband doesn’t. Luckily, we both love many veggies. My older kids (11 and 6) are generally easy to please. This came with time and patience.My 22 month old is a typical toddler who eats very little. Meghan looks like a great eater. She will surprise you one day with a broad palate because of all the healthy variety she has been exposed to.
PS. I gave up chocolate for Lent…any great ideas to curb the craving?
I would say carob, but that’s almost like cheating! It’s a rainy, chilly day here and I’m actually having a mug of hot carob right now. Mmmm! 🙂 Good luck to you–I gave up all nut butters for Lent so I feel your pain!
There is some chocolate almond butter that I made sitting in my fridge tempting me everything in open the door. I eat nut butters as much as I do chocolate, so I know how hard that is to give up. Good luck to you too. The reward is that I remember to give thanks every time I think of chocolate….much thanks will be given!
Yummmm!!!!! this sounds phenomenal!!!!
This looks delicious!
This is definitely something you would like! 🙂
Isn’t it frustrating when this happens? I always tell people I have three boys. My husband being one of them. He will totally put his foot down about certain foods like this, too. Like Candy, I am very interested in the edamame pancakes and miso syrup, too. We will definitely try this. I am right now baking your apple pear snack cake (second time we’ve had it) because I happened to have some pears that were getting very ripe and I had all of the other ingredients. That never happens! So, I’m making dessert, then your roast portobello fajitas. So excited!
The edamame pancakes and miso syrup recipe was from the Food Matters Cookbook by Mark Bittman. They were pretty good, but I have some ideas on how I’d like to tweak the recipe to make them better. If it turns out I’ll definitely share the recipe.
I am very interested in your edamame pancakes and miso syrup! Any plans to share those? The coleslaw sounds yummy too! I totally know how you feel when you are the only one excited about trying a new dish. Sometimes it is SO frustrating, but then I try to see it as there being that much more for me!
The recipe for the edamame pancakes is from the Food Matters Cookbook (Bittman). They were okay, but I have some ideas on how I’d like to tweak them to make them better. I’ll definitely post the recipe if they turn out well.