It wouldn’t truly be me if I wasn’t completely honest, but let’s be realistic. When we all decided to have unprotected sex, we knew the consequences: We’d have to spend money on diapers, cheap baby furniture, ridiculous amounts of clothing, and toys that now bombard my once pristine living room. We also knew that the day would come when our precious babes would outgrow formula and require something a bit more substantial, so it’s really no shock that we are now required to cook for a family.
I’m not a picky eater, my husband is not picky, and, thank goodness, my toddler is not picky. I told Cal once that I’d never be able to handle a picky eater because I couldn’t deal with cooking separate meals. Of course, this was before I realized that at one point in Ethan’s youth, I was doing just that: I was feeding him food that I certainly wasn’t going to eat for dinner. We used to buy a pound of hormone free ground sirloin, season it, shape multiple little patties out of it, rest them between strips of wax paper, put them all in a plastic bag, and toss them in the freezer. Then, for dinner, I’d whip one out, toss it in a frying pan, boil some organic corn or peas, and PRESTO, dinner for my boy! Bottom line: There’s no miracle food out there for kids. You have to decide what your child WILL eat, and then get creative from there. And be aware, a child picks up on a parent’s picky habits.
I would never make the rest of my family suffer because one parent or child was a picky eater. Cal suffered this fate as a child growing up with a picky older brother. Can’t have this for dinner ’cause Stuart won’t eat it, can’t have that for dinner ’cause Stu will cringe at it, and so on and so forth. Not in my home, baby! Cal would have to fend for himself if he refused to eat my meals, and Ethan too. That’s how crazy I am about everyone eating the food I prepare for them. After all, I’m not cooking for the freakin’ joy of it!
Enlisting spousal help is essential if cooking makes you crazy. And you can go about it in several ways:
1. Have him cook, everything. It works for Bobby Flay and his wife.
2. Make cooking dinner an enjoyable experience that involves the entire family. View it as a time to unwind from the stress of the day’s events by sitting back, a glass of red in one hand and a measuring spoon in the other, while discussing the idiots at the office or the brats at the park.
3. Have him prepare all the ingredients during the weekend, so all you have to do during the week is assemble and cook.
4. Have him occupy the kids during the weekend while you prepare AND assemble the entire week’s worth of meals and then store them in the freezer. Yes, the entire week. It’s called Freezer Cooking and you’ll need a cookbook specifically dedicated to it to know exactly how to do it. Don’t fret, there are plenty out there.
5. Most importantly, stop viewing cooking as a chore. Do you really want your son or daughter to grow up disliking cooking so much that he or she goes into a panic every time the dinner hour roles near? Determine the foods YOU like to eat, and find recipes that incorporate them because if you don’t like what you’re eating, you’ll never want to cook. Or, find a few good cookbooks that incorporate quick & easy meals, like Giada and all her busty glory.
Final bottom line: Hire a personal chef. But if that doesn’t fit your budget, quit your griping and just think of making dinner as one more accomplishment you’ve achieved for the day, until tomorrow roles around.
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