Goûter AKA afternoon snack

Prosciutto e melone

In simple terms, the goûter is the French word for afternoon snack. In reality, the word implies so much more. There is a whole French series of unwritten and written social rules that go with French eating that Americans simply do not understand. Our food cultures couldn't be more estranged. I have been really trying to find a good way to make my son's tummy happy, feed him well and make sure I don't become a slave to the snack food industry and sugar cycle. The goûter has been our perfect solution. 

Tuscan melons have a wonderful sweet
flesh and thin rind. Perfect for snacking.

I mentioned that we have been trying to get out of the vicious snacking cycle for a while and needed a game plan to accomplish it successfully. Not only was baby snacking all the time but so was Momma. That only leads to bad things. I reevaluated our food and did a lot of reading to find what looked like the best option for us. Our first stop on the road to the goûter was looking up children's recipes. I was saddened to find that the majority of kid's recipes are for mac 'n cheese, breaded chicken strips, cookies,  cakes and other generally not ideal foods. I knew there had to be a better way. If you keep feeding kids the same crud, at what point do you expect them to develop a varied flavor palate? To embrace those fruits and vegetables you know they need? Are we supposed to hide food in sauces, under ketchup, inside pastas and fake Oreo cookies forever? That is not the way I want my child raised. Why would anybody train their child to be skeptical of food because they know that there are hidden veggies in it? That is just silly. 

How about raising kids who like veggies? 

Crazy, I know.

The reading I have been doing started with the book Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. The book was filled with great inspiration and a nice primer into the differences between our parenting styles. While I am more of an AP (Attachment Parenting) kind of person, I can see really valid reasons for almost all of their practices. My husband and I in the pre-baby wisdom decided on what to follow and not to follow from her book. After our son arrived, we had to tweak a few of those things. Generally, we have been very happy with the advice taken from Mrs. Druckerman. 

He is so darn cute. I know I am biased but come on...who wouldn't love that face?

After Bebe, I found my way to French Kids Eat Everything.  From that book, we have completely turned around our eating habits and are raising a food adventurer. The goûter is the French answer to the snacking dilemma that most Americans fail to see as a problem. I mentioned previously that I hate seeing kids with snack food everywhere while they throw sucker-induced tantrums at 9am. YOUR TODDLER DOES NOT NEED SUCKERS. Period. There was a time when people used to have sweets on special occasion. We would savour it. The Queen of England had chocolate brought to her and savored it because it was such a rare and precious commodity. Vanilla was an exotic flavor and considered simply the best. Now we eat ice cream regularly, "treat" our kids daily and generally use our pie holes as dumpsters for every vile lab created concoction with sprinkles on top and then wonder why our kids have never-before-seen rates of cancers, obesity and attention problems. 

The French system is breakfast, lunch, goûter, supper. Admittedly  the supper is much later than most parents are okay with. Americans like to have our kids in bed by the time that most French people are serving up their aperitif. In my family it is much easier to have a 4pm snack that leaves a happy belly than to try to make my son wait until my husband is home and supper is ready. When I tried that I had a screamy baby pulling at my apron strings and a husband who arrived home to a frazzled wife about an inch away from duct taping the child. Peace is restored with the 4pm goûter. 

What to serve? I try to make a well rounded day based off of our primal diet. I would say that we are paleo but since we have been trialing sheep and goat cheese, I think that moves us into the primal category. For breakfast we eat eggs. Every day we eat eggs. I still have yet to tire of them. That is usually served with a little bit of chicken sausage or leftover veggies and a slice of bacon. Lunch is typically a vegetable saute of some sort. It really depends of what the market has in season. We have stopped going to the grocery store for everything except the occasional baking good and coconut milk. It is liberating. 
Since we have had loads of meat and veg until snack time, we typically do a piece of fruit. 

Today we ate one of my all time favorite snacks: prosciutto e melone. The slightly salty prosciutto wrapped around the sumptuous, juicy melon makes a heavenly snack. I could describe it further but I fear it would be X-rated. It always takes me back to sitting in a trattoria in Bassano del Grappa in Northern Italy. The key to making this treat is finding a good melon. I happen to find a vendor at the market that was growing Tuscan melons. They have a thin skin and rich golden color. The flavor is deeper and sweet. If there are none around, just use a very ripe cantaloupe.  Wrap the prosciutto around the melon and devour. You can cut it into pieces and add torn strips of the prosciutto if you like as well. My son really enjoyed his goûter today. That gave me plenty of time to make supper in peace. Happy bellies make happy babies. 

Powder is a Khao Manee mix. Part alley cat, part Thai royalty.
The "Diamond Eye" cats are rare and beautiful.  They are
extremely smart and affectionate.  He is sure he is a toddler too.
You never know what you will find at your local animal shelter. 

Even our kitty was all smiles today. I think he was just trying to get some of the prosciutto.