Our Favorite Thyme Cornbread

When I make stuffing for Thanksgiving, this is the part of the recipe. It's called Chestnut & Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing and the recipe calls for making this cornbread one day in advance. I found that as the cornbread sat on the counter for that day, I had to keep telling my kids, including my picky eater, to stop eating the cornbread.

What I needed to do instead of keeping the kids away was to readjust my attitude. If my picky eater wants to eat this cornbread, then I needed to give him full permission to eat it. It wasn't about my time required to make another batch of cornbread for the stuffing. It was about my picky eater enjoying a food, this food, and me allowing him the opportunity to do so. Then if he wants to eat it in December, I'll make it again. If he wants to eat it in January, Ill make it again. If he wants to eat it in February....you get the picture. He loves the stuff and I make it for him readily.

What I stumbled across is a lesson for everyone who has a picky eater. They are a different breed those picky eaters, but we, as their moms, need to make eating happy and pleasant--for them and for everyone around them. We need to focus on taking all of our negative thoughts about how miserably difficult they are with eating and forbid ourselves from ever turning those thoughts into words. Then, we must help them enjoy eating. That means, we must make food that they appreciate and make it frequently. In the end, we are trying to make the whole experience of eating so wonderful, that they forget that they are picky! It's one step at a time and we are on year nine of baby steps....but we are getting one baby step closer to the goal everyday.

INGREDIENTS:

2 boxes of corn bread
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 large eggs
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 pan with baking spray. Combine muffin mix and thyme in large bowl. Whisk to blend.

2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add broth, eggs, and butter. Whisk to blend.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake bread until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

4. Cool bread in pan on rack. Cover and store at room temperature or cut up in squares and put on the counter for your kids to eat all day long. :-)


Recipe by Bon Appetit

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.