Dinner with kids

  This is not another diatribe about kids and restaurants and the ensuing arguments for both sides. That dead horse has been kicked enough, I think. I enjoy cooking tasty dinners and I consider myself a cooking chemist. There is something amazing and awe-inspiring that happens when a few choice ingredients are put together to achieve a completely different texture and taste. Gravy is my latest obsession, but I don't make it very often due to our perpetual "eating right" phase and it's intense deliciousness. Our meals are sometimes my experiment on changing and eating leftovers. My loving husband laments how my cooking is too good as witnessed by his waist size. My kids are a different story. The chorus of "I don't like that," "I don't want that," and "that's yucky" starts immediately. I make a nice dinner then the fake gagging starts. Often stories of starving children around the world are told to no avail. My frustration is intensified the next day when the child whining the most and loudest admits "it wasn't half bad." It also astounds me the boy who lived on mashed potatoes has now decided they taste worse that dirt. He has actively boycotted all potato dishes which I find very odd. Our family has a predominantly Czeslovakian heritage. We genetically love cabbage and potatoes! My husband has a very German lineage. He's on the same page as me, add the taste for beer. I constantly try not to take it personally. They do try it after many threats of taking away tv, xbox, and other technology. It is getting better though. I had a child actually enjoy green beans as long as there is bacon cooked with them. It's all about the small victories!