I'm done.
I have heard the dreaded words, "What's for dinner?" one too many times...
Upon my response, "spaghetti... or meatloaf... or fajitas..."
I repeatedly got one of the following:
"Ewwwwe, I don't like that."
"My teeth hurt and I can't eat that tonight."
"My throat hurts..."
"My stomach hurts..."
"Can I just make myself a macaroni bowl?"
The answer to all of these is the same... "No you can't have something else... This isn't a restaurant. You can eat what I made or have some bread."
Note: Bread alleviates any possible fragments of guilt I might encounter for forcing my children to bed with "a sore throat/stomachache, etc" and "no dinner".
So... a colleague at work brought me an article from the New York Times written by Leslie Kaufman titled "My Sons, the Sous-Chefs" about a Mom with a brilliant idea...
Enlist the little "ungrateful imps"...
Oops I mean "snot dragons"...
I meant to say "darling children" to offer their own contributions in the kitchen.
So last week we started
"Mission Kids in the Kitchen"
(imagine that spoken by James Earle Jones with a Star Wars type echo).
Here's the plan:
1) Each child (2 in my case) chooses a meal that they would like to eat in the coming week.
(Mom or Dad gets to assist with suggesting side items so that a well rounded meal is achieved... No one wants to end up with macaroni, rice and potatoes people!)
2) We grocery shop for the week every Sunday afternoon, so the menu must be picked by then so we can stock the pantry with the needed ingredients on Sunday.
3) On the evening of the chosen meal... the child who made the selection... helps with meal preparation. From start to finish.
4) After dinner the opposite child helps the adult with clean up.
Here's how it looked at my house this week:
Monday was Conner's night to cook. He's 13.
His meal of choice was Fettuccine Alfredo from scratch.
He located a recipe from the internet.
He served mushrooms, shrimp and asparagus on the side (so anti-mushroom members of the household) could have their meal fungi free. We also made some Texas Toast.
He measured.
He salted.
He delivered.
Brother had KP Duty!
Tuesday (Valentine's Day) was Logan's night to cook. He's 8.
His chosen meal was a Rachael Ray recipe called Mini Cheeseburger Pizzas (Italian Style). He found his recipe in one of my cookbooks.
His side dishes were strawberries, grapes and chips.
He cut pizza crust into circles with a cookie cutter.
He sauced.
He delivered.
And big brother was in charge of clean up.
Lesson Learned?
I asked both boys what 3 things they had learned...
Conner
1) Add a "little" before you add a "lot".
2) Lemon juice is probably the perfect zing to everything.
3) If you're baking bread, check it constantly.
Logan
1) Sometimes you can use a lot of seasonings.
2) You can be really creative when you're cooking.
3) It's fun.
Well... I have to say I'm pretty pleased with those conclusions!
I also have to say that I had fun too! It required a little more planning and dinner took a little longer to prepare... but it was well worth it!
There was one very satisfying moment when Husband popped into the kitchen on Conner's Chef Night and asked, "What's for dinner?" When Conner proudly stated "Fettuccine Alfredo"... husband promptly began whining loudly... and proclaimed that he didn't like Fettuccine Alfredo and declared he was going to cook himself a macaroni bowl instead". There was a MOMENT of shock on the faces of my children, and then the sudden realization that he was acting... just... like... them. Hmm... Made them think a little. Thanks hon!
Note: I do realize I'm still in the "honeymoon" period of this little experiment... and future resistance to my secret plan to groom one of my children into chef material is likely... but I am counting this as a "WIN"!
Bring on next week's menu!
Conner: Asian Honey Chicken
Logan: Mom's Chicken Spaghetti
