Supper Wars

Most days, if my children are asked what they want for dinner, the answer(s) will be some combination of:

• Spaghetti
• Pizza
• Macaroni & cheese.

It's odd, because not one of them considers any of those three things to be their favorite food. (With the possible exception of the 14 y.o. - I think pizza worship arrived with puberty.) Those seem to be the autopilot responses. I'm short circuiting the autopilot this week. Since I'm home with them all day, every day, I'm taking the opportunity to serve the kid foods for lunch. Hopefully, this will leave the way clear for new foods, or twists on familiar meals, at supper.

I had the luxury of extra time to plan this weekend. We'll be alternating meals between the strange and the familiar, as well as combining something old and something new in the same meal. Really hoping this keeps the whining to a manageable level. The plan, so far:

Pan Fried Deviled Eggs, on Mixed Greens (New!)
Delicious! Kids did NOT appreciate at all, unfortunately.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
w/Rustic Bread (Old favorite)
Easy win; used up roasted chicken leftovers from Christmas dinner

Adobo Chicken w/ Rice & Salad (Variation)
Attempting to make one of my favorites more acceptable to them. No one but me is a fan of dark meat, so I'm trying a couple of skin-on split chicken breasts, in addition to the thighs. 24 hours of marinating, so this is an advance planning only meal.

Baked Tofu w/ Drunken Noodles (Old favorite),
Edamame Succotash w/ Roasted Red Pepper (Variation)
Figure if I keep putting bell peppers in dishes, I will eventually stumble upon a method of cooking and presentation they like.

Turkey Burgers (Old favorite), Couscous Salad (Variation)
I'm upping the parsley, mint, and vegetable content of the salad. So far, shifting the ratio gradually is going smoothly.

If all goes well, New Year's Day will be kid food heaven. Peanut butter & honey sandwiches for lunch, and they'll get to make their own pizzas for supper. I'll be having shakshuka*, extra spicy. Like hot curry dishes, it's an acquired taste, one which I'm not going to push them into... yet.

*Shakshuka is an amazing dish. It's an excellent brunch, or as comfort food on a cold rainy evening. I use a combo of fresh and canned tomatoes, instead of just canned, but other than that, this video seems to be dead-on.

More Vegetarian Recipes videos at 5min.com