Best Foods for Sick Little Kids

The last time we were in New Orleans, which was about three weeks ago as part of our cross-country road trip, we made reservations at Stella! We had never eaten there before. Since it was on our long list of NO restaurants to try and we were staying dangerously close to the place, we decided to give it a try. The minute we walked in we realized Stella! was not a kid-friendly establishment. To the restaurant’s credit, they didn’t kick us out.

I didn't take photos at Stella! But I did get Truman eating beignets at Cafe du Monde!

We’re training Truman to behave in fine restaurants and we’ve found, as long as your child doesn’t do anything too obnoxious, finer restaurants tend to be very gracious. The menu looked divine, but there were no kid-friendly options. And I wasn’t jumping up and down about spending $35-45 on an entrée that Truman might only eat the edge of. I considered an appetizer (in the $20s) or halving an entrée when our waitress suggested we order for our son one dish from the seven-course tasting menu. (The chef agreed to make this exception.) Truman ordered the fifth course, the Steak and Egg – seared filet of prime beef tenderloin and sunny side up Clyde’s Farm Araucana egg with breakfast potatoes, truffled hollandaise and Texas toast with foie gras butter. He devoured every morsel on his plate.

There’s a point to this story. Yesterday at lunchtime my son, who was just diagnosed with strep throat, was beginning to feel better. He was tentatively eating his first bites of food in hours. (That morning and the night before I held his little body as his stomach turned concave and rejected everything in it, which was next to nothing. Poor guy.) He was nibbling the edges of a cheese quesadilla and somewhat ignoring the leftover homemade chicken and noodle soup I had made the night before. I asked what he felt like having for dinner that night. I figured he’d say a hamburger and I would gladly oblige. He said, “I want a steak with an egg on top of it like in New Orleans.”

I suspect his little body was craving iron and protein. And a good meal. There’s no doubt he loved his dinner at Stella! Which makes me like Casual Kitchen’s logic on the topic. Daniel says the best foods when you are sick should meet some or all of the following criteria:

• Energy Dense. These foods are those that are high in fat and protein. That stick-to-the-ribs sort of fare that stays with you a while.
• Comfort Foods. We adults generally associate these foods with what our mothers made us. I wonder what will be Truman’s comfort foods…
• Easy on the Stomach. Popsicles for sore throats; low-acidic foods for tender tummies. And there’s always the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) for bothersome diarrhea.
• Laughable Easy to Make. This probably applies more for sick ones who have to fend for themselves. I don’t mind going to a bother for my sick little boy, but it is good advise to heed when I inevitably catch what he has.

Photo, JWJourney