Tonight’s dinner was a disaster.
It is definitely a candidate for a full chapter in my What Was I Thinking Cookbook. In my attempt to mix it up, and try something new, I came up short. Seriously short.
Tostadas with rice! I dug up the recipe in an old, well-worn Mollie Katzen cookbook. It wasn’t the recipe, rather it was my execution and poor planning. Perhaps I was enticed by the sketched drawing of a tostada topped with lots of great ingredients, and I envisioned my family being excited about creating their own personal tostada creation. Halfway through the making of the refried beans, I caught a glimpse of what would really happen at the table. First of all, how well would the twins – at 2 – be able to eat the tostadas, or even understand that the fixings would be placed on top and they’d have to keep the corn tortilla flat while eating. I cringed at the clean-up that was in store for me.
Then I thought, beans, who likes beans?
• Addie does, but would she like them all mashed up in a refried bean concoction?
• Grayson would certainly be a trooper and try the refried beans, but
• Nicole and Keely will probably not even want it to touch their plates.
OK. Next ingredients:
- Homemade salsa. No one would partake in this except Greg and I.
- Shredded cheddar. This was a definite ‘yes’ from all the kids. They’d eat it.
- Shredded lettuce – mm, perhaps a bit here or there, but no overall excitement over placing that on their tostada.
- Carrots – yes, carrots. My kids love them. Why not chop them up and have that as a topping? I did, but they weren’t impressed or inspired to use them as a topping.
- Corn? Not eaten.
- We’re not a sour cream or guacamole family, so I didn’t even put that on the menu.
- Rice? Rice? Oh, rice. To top it all off, I realize as I am setting the table, that I totally forgot to make any rice – the one thing I’m sure the kids will eat.
So, as we sat down, everyone wanted a tostada – crunchy and round, a bit exciting to eat. “OK everyone,” I said with excitement in my voice. “You get to choose what you want on your tostada. How fun is that?”
• “Yucky,” whines Nicole.
• “I want cheese,” screams Keely.
• “I’ll try it Mom,” acquiesces Grayson.
• Addison starts digging in as she always does.
It doesn’t take long for any of the eating momentum to slow down.
Nicole hasn’t even attempted to try it. Grayson admits he doesn’t like it, Keely stills screams for cheese – only cheese, and Addison is quickly losing interest. To make matters worse, Greg was not home yet, so he wasn’t there to be my back-up in trying to get the kids to eat dinner.
I’m back in the kitchen before the kids scatter from the table. It is egg salad sandwich for Grayson, peanut butter and jelly for the girls. I, finally sit down to eat the virtually inedible meal. The kids fill their bellies with dinner number 2, while I try to create a tostada that meets my original expectations. Then Greg comes home. I am ready to take off to the pool for a workout, and leave him with a million apologies for the meal. He, as always, thanks me for having taken the time to make dinner.
His tone will soon change. When I mention dinner to him later that evening, he looks at me with a smirk on his face, and says, “What were you thinking?”
Next time, I promise to think.
