Kids meals

Karma has given me a swift kick in the rear this week. This is to say, that when I was a child, I was what you might call a "picky eater." One of my favorite meals was spaghetti with butter. No sauce, no herbs, nada. My poor mom actually had me make a list of all the foods I would eat. There were probably about 4 other things on it, all falling under the basic food group bland.

I spent quite a few nights sitting at the kitchen table while everyone else was excused because my dad told me I couldn't leave the table until I finished my meal. As I sat there, falling asleep in my untouched brussel sprouts or whatever, I swore that I would NEVER make my children eat something they don't want.

Fast forward to this week. As of Sunday, my sister-in-law, her husband and their three children have been visiting - we love them all to death and have been so thrilled to have them here. But man, those kids are some picky eaters! Anna's favorite food is - you guessed it- noodles with butter and cheese. But not our kind of noodles or cheese. We managed to make some kid-friendly pizza last night with homemade dough and mozzarella, but had to refer to tonight's eggplant parmesan as "candy plant" to get our 8 year old nephew to eat it. Anna stuck with noodles - at least she's consistent. There were no complaints against the homemade pasta though, because they both helped to make it. I think we're on to something there. Tomorrow we're going to see how Tilapia fish sticks and corn-on-the-cob go over.

We've tried hard to stick to our local eating this week while considering the appetites of our visitors. We've stretched, they've stretched, and I think we'll all come away with something new.

PHOTO: J.J. finally gives his seal of approval to ribs from Tarheel Beef, smothered in Sal's homemade sauce. The proof is all over his face.