Getting the Monkeys to Eat More Than Bananas

Our kids used to be very easy eaters. They weren't picky, loved all the food groups, and were willing to try new things. Over the last year or so I've been struggling more and more with them. Almost every dinner is a tug of war. And we have very simple rules: Just try it. If you don't like it, don't eat it. If you're still hungry after dinner and there is no more of what you do like (even if there is) you may have an apple, banana, carrots...something healthy. See? Nothing complicated.
Still, things they used to like they don't anymore. Things they liked last week they don't this week. Things they didn't eat the first time they will when rewarmed. I don't get it! They even spit out pizza the other night!

I know! It's amazing I haven't lost my mind!

I've tried to get them more involved in the cooking process to get them more interested in the eating process. It's not working so well...they love to cook, but that is not related to whether or not they'll eat the food! Anyway, tonight Gracie chose one of my favorites, tuna melts. The recipe was out of Paula Deen's children's cook book.

I've always made tuna melts by slapping tuna on one half of a roll or a piece of bread, a slice of cheese on the opposing side of the soon-to-be sandwich and broiling it. This occasionally leads to picking the cheese off the sandwich, but what's a mom to do? Paula Deen, in her culinary brilliance and motherly wisdom, mixes shredded cheese into the tuna mixture and then tops the sandwich with potato chips before baking it!

I know! So smart!

My only suggestion would be to leave the chips off until after the baking (wrap sandwiches in tin foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes). I was looking forward to the crunch that it didn't have. Gracie pointed out that was because the chips were touching the tuna and got wet from it.

I know! She's smart too!

The other meal idea I have is something I threw together last night. I must have been channeling mom, who can never repeat a recipe because the original is just a mish-mosh of things from cans and bottles and containers. It's almost always good though, as was my dish last night.

I was online chatting with Mary and mentioned that I had some meatballs in the fridge and wanted some ideas for what to do with them, excluding spaghetti and subs. She suggested stroganoff. I found a recipe that called for cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, and wine. What I had was cream of celery soup, beef bullion cubes, and sparkling apple cider. Let me tell you...mmmmm.

If you'd like to try to recreate this original (I think) creation, I simply dissolved the bullion cube in one cup of boiling water, mixed it with the soup and about two cups of sparkling cider. I let it cook on low in a large saute pan with the meatballs. Just before my egg noodles were ready, I mixed some corn starch and cold water together, stirred it into the faux stroganoff, brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for a few minutes to thicken.

I know! I'm pretty clever myself!